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Back to: Archive · 2002 World Is Not Enough 'Mali Music' reviewed from the NME, 13 April 2002. Text by John Robinson. Damon Albarn has a face for every occasion. Be it grinning cheeky Britpop monkey boy, tearful lover or two-dimensional cartoon character, his great virtue is to be able to change his musical persona as often as he changes his clothes. Now here's a face you've maybe not seen before - it's the face of earnest Damon, a bit less Chelsea Football Club, a lot more Buena Vista Social Club. Born of an Oxfam-sponsored visit to the African country of Mali a couple of years ago, 'Mali Music' is a pretty strange album. Partly comprised of field recordings, it's the story of a journey where Damon, accompanied only by a melodica, would witness Malian musicians like kora player Toumani Diabate at work, then have a bit of a jam with them. Which Duke of Edinburgh-like faux-pas landmine skillfully avoided, the tapes journeyed between his studio and Mali for two years, being tweaked all the while. As such, the album feels ever-so-slightly like a compromise. Obviously determined not to have the whole thing come across as a tawdry bit of cultural tourism, Damon is painstakingly faithful to much of the material he recorded. Which is fine, of course, but his largely hands-off approach deprives us of what might have been a more engaging fusion of the parties involved. The tracks which work best here do, after all, feature Damon jumping right in there with his contribution: 'Sunset Coming On' uses the kora as a backing track, but ultimately sounds like something from Blur's '13', while on closer 'Les Ecrocs' he adds some mournful "Sha-la-las", which make the mood his own. 'Le Relax', on the other hand, sounds a bit like the Sabres Of Paradise. Elsewhere, as on the likes of 'Kela Village', this is by and large a polished rendering of some musicians from another country going about their work, and as enjoyable a document as that is (the kora's a pretty hypnotic thing and there's some lovely singing), these other tracks offer a glimpse of what might have been. No-one ever said Damon Albarn was afraid of being a bit patronising, but it seems that on this occasion Damon was maybe afraid of being a bit patronising. It's surely for the best. Some musicians get some proper recognition. Damon breaks another market, while in the world of 'world music' - you don't have to be WOMAD to work there. But it can sometimes help. Rating: 6 out of 10. |