Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure’s self-titled 2006 debut spawned a 2007 remix album that I can’t stop listening to. I play it at work, on BART to and from work, and at night doing Google searches for God-knows-what.
The remix album, UFOs Over Bamako, takes the effectiveness of the original’s West African rhythms, conga-heavy beats, sweet but somber vocal hooks and spacious, acoustic simplicity and works it into a mix that bounces with intensity; an earthy, full sound that more DJs should be spinning at dance clubs. The use of electronic beats and digital sound effects doesn’t kill Farka Toure’s vibe; it takes it to a level that is less contemplative and more stylized, more beat-heavy and less spacious. The resulting remix is a combination of folk and electronica that could easily have been awkward but instead is a great piece of musical blending—and bending.
Vieux Farka Toure is the son of Malian guitarist and singer Ali Farka Toure, who until his death last year was one of Africa’s most internationally-recognized musicians. There’s a story that during a visit to Bamako, Mali in the late 1960’s, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, and John Lee Hooker introduced Ali Farka Toure to the blues. He eventually toured Africa, Europe, and America, and in 1992 earned a Grammy for Talking Timbuktu, which he recorded with globe-trotting American guitarist Ry Cooder.
Just as his father was fascinated by the African roots in American blues music, Vieux Farka Toure’s remix CD embraces the global connection between African rhythms and reggae, certain elements of club music, and electronica.
