It’s a way of relegating this ‘thing’ into the realm of something exotic and therefore cute, weird but safe, because exotica is beautiful but irrelevant.”
-David Byrne on the term “World Music”
Although I wouldn’t go as far as 100% agreeing to what Byrne says, I do think that the lumping of music anywhere outside North America/Europe and branding it “world” neglects to acknowledge the diversity of sound from different regions as well as being pretty damn condescending. Putting South American rhythms, Asian pentatonic scale-based tunes, and Caspian region instrumentation all under the same moniker is like saying drone metal, indie-pop, and electronica can be classified in a sub-genre — which no matter how hard you try, Sunn O))))’s music is nowhere near comparable to that of of Montreal.
So after hearing respectable critics claim the latest album from Bassekou Kouyate and his ngoni group is “a contender for African album of the year” or “there’s unlikely to be a better African album this year”, it just makes my blood boil. I Speak Fula is one of the best albums anywhere, period. No qualifications necessary.
Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you I’m an expert on the nuanced sound of the ngoni (for that, head on over to the good folks at NPR), but I know good music when I hear it. I Speak Fula is filled with so many intricate rhythms and delicate melodies produced by that tiny gourd string instrument that it’s tough to keep count. At times enlisting the help of famed musicians Toumani Diabaté and Vieux Farka Touré — both of which put on killer live shows that I can personally vouch for — the album features a who’s who of modern day musical Malians whose collaborations produce some of the best tracks on the record.
In an effort to not embarrass myself further due to my lack of West African music knowledge, I am just going to give you a listen to their track “Musow” to better show you how mind blowing Kouyate & Co. are:
