With the Texan trio Khruangbin, Vieux Farka Touré makes the music of his legendary father soar and dance.
Posted yesterday at 4:00 p.m.
Ali, the album, starts from the music of Ali Farka Touré, pioneer of what has been called “desert blues”, inspired by both American blues and Malian traditions. We recognize the hypnotic riffs and the unique resonance. Except that his son Vieux and the Texan trio Khruangbin do not limit themselves to reinterpreting the pieces of the mythical Malian guitarist: they infuse them with a new groove, imbued with mystery, and frankly amazing.
You don’t have to know Ali Farka Touré’s repertoire to take pleasure in this music rooted in Mali (Vieux Farka Touré is a virtuoso close to his roots), but propelled by Khruangbin’s frosty soul, funk and dub impulses.
We just have to let ourselves be carried away by the ultra cool bass and these atmospheres sprinkled with psychedelia while tasting the guitar which raises the dust in a sizzling full of echo that many musicians of the Sahara prize.
The fusion of universes is exceptional: it floats, it hovers, it squeaks a little in the more bluesy passages, but it flows naturally. We let ourselves be taken easily by these swaying grooves and a delicate mix that plays stereophony (we have the blues guitar in the left ear and another more ambient in the right), giving a voice to each style, while knowing the bond through the singing of Vieux Farka Touré, female choirs, nocturnal drums and dreamy keyboards.
We’ve heard a lot of this kind of fusion over the past 20 years, especially at Six Degrees Records, which has attempted many more or less flashy marriages between electronic music and many musical traditions – from Africa to Pakistan via the Middle East. Ali is however on another level: neither Vieux Farka Touré nor Khruangbin dominates the exchange, neither of the musical universes is put in the position of being the one that modernizes or gives credibility to the other. This dialogue is simply captivating.
World music
Ali
Old Farka Touré & Khruangbin
Dead Oceans