Amadou & Mariam: Dimanche a Bamako (2005)
Rapidshare | MP3 192 kbps | RAR 75MB
Having issued a handful of excellent Afro-rock albums on small independent labels in the last few years, which have attracted attention within the world music community, Amadou and Miriam are poised to break out with Dimanche A Bamako, arguably the best album of a career that goes back 30 years. Produced by mischievous French/Spanish pop star
Manu Chao (who even co-wrote and sings on a few tunes), the album fuses the couple's dynamic grooves with the producer's signature everything-and-the-kitchen sink backgrounds. This is truly a collaboration of like-minded individuals: Chao's own rabid multi-culti mix of styles enhances the blind couple's guitar-driven mix of blues-rock and African percussion, as well as Latin, dance and reggae grooves. Highlights include the impossibly catchy
Senegal Fast Food and the percolating
Coulibaly, while the couple's political bent comes out on
Politic Amagni. Truly an album with a global perspective, there is something for everyone here, and rather than diluting the stew, it makes it all the more tasty.