Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

The hottest international act has created another masterpiece with Welcome to Mali, a tantalizing array of  traditional-meets-rock tracks that will make you wonder how “the blind couple from Mali” actually made something so golden.  It’s always hard to judge international acts on the same scale as domestic ones–you have to wonder if music is really that unique. And you have to wonder if positive results are due to honesty or for an appearance of multi-culturalism. I’m not accusing anybody, but you know who you are.

Nevertheless, I digress.  It’s the mess of this political season–I have no reason but to listen to these two in a musical bungaloo of my own creation. They met in a school for the blind, two musical minds in search of drafting and crafting the perfect piece to the plexing puzzle.  Damon Albarn-the ‘near’ to their ‘far’-does no harm here, infusing urgent rock into the lush instrumentation and smooth undulation of “Ce N’est Pa Bon”.

The high-octane “Compagnon De La Vie”, the satiating ballad “Bozos”, and the arching anthemic “I WIll Follow” area all complete delights.  These songs are the comfort in your musical nights of uncertainty, your sonic rites of passage into the world of the world music genre.

So go and enjoy. Go on. Go. Buy a copy of Welcome to Mali.

Listen to “Compagnon De La Vie”

Listen to “Ce N’est Pa Bon”

**Props to my brother for showing me A & M a while back!