Talking Timbuktu at it's most basic is a smooth easy-listening jazz guitar album. Ali Farka Touré is a famous Malian guitarist. His style, particularly on the slow blues number "Amandrai" makes me think of Eric Clapton. It might just be the sound he utilizes that reminds me of Clapton's work, but listening to him solo gives me visions of "slow hand"- like I can see his fingers gently kissing the strings rather than violently hammering them as I imagine a Jimmy Page would have. The extended haunting guitar instrumentals bring to mind Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler.
There's a lot of layering between jangly acoustic guitars and deep electrics. What gives Talking Timbuktu it's real soul are the beats supplied by African drums and Touré's strong vocals, sung in 11 different languages (or so I've been told. Not that I doubt that claim, I just have no way of personally verifying that). The albums suffers from a lack of variation within each song. Most songs set up 4-bar or 2-bar patterns that repeat endlessly. One song in particular "Kello" has a 1-bar pattern. Between songs there is more variation with changing beats and instrumentation. The album is a bit on the long side but is an easy relaxing listen. 3 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment