Mali

I wanted to get out of the Euro-American music environment, so here's my first post from Africa. Mali is probably one of the easiest countries to cover, because they have a rich music culture with recognisable sound and many famous musicians. Malian music is mostly about artists. There are not as many bands there. The musical styles range from funky afrobeat to hypnotic traditional songs played with kora and masterful blues guitar sounds. Malian musicians use a lot of guitar in their music and there are some absolutely brilliant guitar players. Rhythm has a large role to play in most of these songs, but still they have great melodies as well. The melodies follow, for most parts, similar patterns as western pop music, but sometimes difference is audible. I haven't really familiarised myself properly with African music before this blog, so this is a chance for me as well to learn more. I don't really know that much about Mali as a country, but its music has reached my ears on many occasions, so this seems natural choice to begin my journey into African music. Here's the playlist: Mali

Amadou & Mariam
This duo is one of the most well-known performers from Mali. Both performers are blind and they use many different instruments, both traditional and modern, in their music. The best songs in my opinion are Senegal Fast-Food made in collaboration with Manu Chao and beautiful synth-driven song Sabali.

Habib Koité
Habib Koite has a beautiful baritone voice which accompanies beautifully the acoustic guitars and soft percussion in his songs. The melodies are quite melancholic and the atmosphere is calm, comparable in some parts to English folk music.

Fatoumata Diawara
This musician was born in Ivory Coast and currently lives in France, but still she is considered a Malian musician, so I include her here. Her rhythmic folk music has a strong emphasis on guitars, while at the same time the groove is quite amazing. She also has a beautiful singing voice.

Oumou Sangare
Oumou Sangare is probably a bit more traditional in her sound than the previous artists on this list. Rhythm takes the main stage from elaborate melodies, but the groove is quite amazing. There are hypnotic qualities to her songs. Her records have sold substantial amounts throughout Africa.

Salif Keita
Salif Keita is an afro-pop singer, whose music has amazing groove. The instrumentation includes various percussions and guitars. His vocals ranges from raspy to high pitched clean sounds. His music forces you to move with its beats and groove.

Ali Farka Touré
This man was the most famous Malian musician, who has had an influence on all the other musicians in the area. He recorded music since the 70's up until his death in 2006. He plays various instruments, but as with most Malian music, the greatest emphasis is given to guitar and percussion.

Moussa Doumbia
Moussa Doumbia's groovy funk is quite typical for 70's afro-beat sound. In Nigeria, there are many similar sounding artists. This is particularly interesting music for those of you who like 70's funk and jazz music. The backgrounds are hypnotic repetitive, but groovy loops, over which Doumbia sings wild melodies with a raspy baritone.

Baba Salah
Baba Salah's music could be described as a mix of funk and traditional African rhythm music.The bass gives a nice foundation for these rhythmic jams. Some songs also have reggae influences. Brass instruments and other similar band instruments have been tried to imitate with synths, which sometimes sounds a bit cheap, but mostly it's not that noticeable.

Boubacar Traoré
This artist's music could be described as blues. He plays acoustic guitars quite well and there are brilliant harmonica melodies played over it. His voice is soft, but his singing doesn't rise to the main stage. Guitar and harmonica have far more important role in his music.

Djelimady Tounkara
Tounkara is a master of guitar. Mostly instrumental songs have some excellent guitars used both as the melodic solo instrument but also nice picked backgrounds. There are some vocals in some of the songs, but It's not usually Tounkara himself singing and the emphasis is always on his guitar.

Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté plays West African traditional instrument kora. It sounds a lot like Japanese koto, or Finnish kantele. Diabaté's music is calm and very hypnotic. This kind of music is great for relaxing and dozing on the sofa. I bet it's good for meditation as well.

Ballaké Sissoko
Like, Diabaté, Sissoko also plays kora masterfully. I saw him live a few years ago at a Finnish Flow festival. This hypnotic and relaxing experience was a great getaway from noises of modern Western music. There's something extremely calming in these sounds.

Bassekou Koyate & Ngoni Ba
Basseko Koyate and his band play various guitar-style traditional instruments to make great picking sounds. These songs have great rhythmic fell, even though no type of percussion is sometimes being used. There are also some wind instruments in some of the songs.

Sidi Touré
Sidi Touré plays great blues sounds with some kind of guitar-resembling instrument, which I don't think is a guitar. His singing melodies differ somewhat from the melodic structures we are used to in European or American music. the most interesting feature of his music is his masterful playing.

Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré's music has some blues, some soul and some more traditional African styles. Her singing voice is beautifully soft and deep. the instrumentation is more modern than with many others on this list. These songs have great groove that can change in a heartbeat to melancholic slow singing.

Tinariwen
This band's sound is very American in a way. The clean electric guitars and the deep baritone voice is very similar to some sounds from American south. I guess the environment these guys are from is quite similar, since these guys are truly from Saharan desert areas of Mali. There are some psychedelic sounds to add spice to the songs.