In recent years I’ve probably listened to more music from Mali and Bali than anywhere else outside the English-speaking world. So much so that I convinced myself that the richness of their musical heritage must somehow be linked to the similarity of the sound of their names. There had to be something in that, just had to be. Anyway, I can’t tell you how disappointed I was on a recent trip to Calais. My musicological yearnings were not to be satisfied by a 24 pack of Kronenbourg 1664. Looking through my diary now, the sounds of Mali appear to be pushing themselves to the fore of my gig-going preferences, with this the first of several Barbican events I’m going to over the coming months showcasing the music of that nation.

The members of Tuareg group Tartit met in a Burkino Faso refugee camp. Initially I found the quietness and simplicity of their music shocking, almost an affront to my expectations of rhythmic and instrumental complexity. They all had instruments (imzad, ngoni, tinde drum, electric guitar), but they played them sporadically, rarely as an ensemble. They spent most of their time clapping their hands, and singing extremely repetitive call-and-response, stretching this out way way beyond sensible limits to a place where it ultimately began to make perfect sense again as an economical, elemental desert blues. Occasionally, a member of the group was driven by the rhythm to rearrange their robes and shuffle about on stage; by the closing “Camel Dance” a comparatively raucous funk (accompanied by some hilarious camel grunting) induced some more vigorous booty-shaking in the crowd.

Bassekou Kouyate probably needs little in the way of introduction given the BBC-led acclaim that greeted his last album Segu Blue. A master of the ngoni (it even said so on his attire), he was joined by his ngoni-playing band (featuring his wife on vocals) Ngoni Ba, which means appropriately enough “big ngoni”. Kouyate had the smallest of the ngoni – about the size of a toy cricket bat – but made the biggest impression with it. Judging by the look on his face as his lithe fingers danced across the fine strings, at times he was as genuinely surprised at his own inventiveness as we were.

While much of the material came from Segu Blue, the performance allowed extensive space for Kouyate’s limitlessly creative soloing, and for the incorporation of other musical elements. While the lineage shared with other Malian griots like Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate is obvious, the links to the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti may have been less apparent. But as the percussionists at the back of the stage beat away on drums (and something which looked like a giant dinosaur egg), occasionally the band would scratch out an insistent rhythm on their ngoni, gleefully choreographing little dance steps as they did. When this (that clothing slogan aside) humble musician showered the audience with thankyous and merci beaucoups at the end, the acclaim for his efforts was once again enormous. And rightly so.

PS. Renseignements pris auprès des maisons de disques respectives de Toumani Diabaté et Basskou Kouyaté, ces deux CDs se sont vendus à près de 20'000 exemplaires dans nos contrées. Joli score (j'ai encore plus chaud au cœur).

Bassekou Kouyaté, Segu Blue, Out Here Records

Toumani Diabaté, The Mandé Variations, World Circuit

You can access it via

www.myspace.com/elisavet_radio

and read more about CSS, Jimmy Cliff, Bassekou Kouyate, The Massukos and Emmanuel Jal.

Elisavet

Very cool mini-doc on Malian ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate. Be sure to also take a look at Out Here's two part (one) (two) electronic press kit put together for the release of Bassekou's wonderful album, Segu Blue.

include a short story on Bassekou Kouyate, a musician from Mali who plays the ngoni, a West African desert lute that sounds amazing. Even though he's been playing music for many years and worked with Toumani Diabaté, Ali Farka Touré and Youssou N'dour, it is only sometime last year that we started hearing of his own solo debut album Segu Blue and his fantastic music. The blog also includes details of how to access the radio feature I have done about him, his music and the griot traditions of Mali online. The programme aired on radio yesterday, but is available for another 29 days on the internet. 

My second story on the same blog is about Rihanna's song Umbrella and its many different versions of that R'n'B hit from last summer. 

Enjoy the read and have a good week!

Elisavet Sotiriadou

MGMT

Appearing at: Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury, Roskilde, T in the Park

Portaloos and tent pegs are strangely absent from the checklist of rock star cliches - cars, models, drugs - that MGMT gleefully cite on their first UK single 'Time to Pretend'. But come the summer there won't be a better band to bliss out to in a field.

Usually expanding to a five-piece for live shows, the Brooklyn duo make festival music as it was originally conceived; rich, multilayered and mind-expanding - manna for anyone having 'a moment' amid the mud and discarded doughnut bags.

'The sound of our music live is good for the outdoor setting,' says Andrew VanWyngarden. 'We're looking forward to Glastonbury. It'll be nice to be near a pagan centre of energy.' But if mystical vibes aren't your thing, there's wit and sweet melody here too. The band's formula for festival success is simple: 'I like camping and music,' says VanWyngarden. 'Combining the two is cool.'

Killer festival tune 'Of Moons, Birds & Monsters': 'It's a little cosmic, with a good galloping verse and slowed-down instrumental part at the end. Good for people stoned in a field.' AC

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

Small Nations, Big Day Out, Womad, Cambridge Folk Festival, 7 Songs

Time was when you were unlikely to hear a plucked kora or rapped djembe outside of Womad. But this summer, emerging star Bassekou Kouyate will be one of a range of African musicians lighting up festivals around Britain.

Kouyate is celebrated in Mali for his performances on the ngoni - a traditional African lute - and features on albums by some of the country's best-known musicians. But it is his own music, lush, mesmeric and bluesy, which is gaining international acclaim and he has developed a reputation for exhilarating, heavily improvised live performances with his band Ngoni Ba. Kouyate says that festivals are the ideal setting for his sound. 'Everyone is dancing and shouting and if they move well it helps you play,' he said. So British audiences are forewarned that, to ensure a great performance, they'll need to work on their moves.

Killer festival tune 'Jonkoloni': 'It's similar to a song that my ancestors would perform between the 13th and 19th centuries, so when I play it, it's as if I'm playing with my grandparents.' AC

Hot Chip

T in the Park, Oxygen, Glastonbury, Gatecrasher, Wireless, Bestival, V

'It requires a particular skill to do a good festival set,' says Joe Goddard of south London electro-pop wizards Hot Chip, 'and we've been learning bit by bit. I think this is the first summer we're ready to do it right.' What's the most important thing they've learnt? 'You've got to enunciate your words in between songs. If you speak at normal volume, maybe the first two rows can hear you. You have to wave your arms and scream. This summer,' he adds, 'we're going to cut the boring bits and make our set like a rollercoaster.'

His festival highlight to date was last year's Glastonbury - 'The reaction to "Over and Over" was one of the most mental things we've ever seen' - and he can't wait to do it again this summer. After playing the Other Stage on Saturday evening, the band are putting on a party in a 1,000-person tent 'with DJs and live acts all night'.

Killer festival tune 'Ready for the Floor': 'We've developed a live version of it which gets everyone going nicely.' KF

Holy Fuck

Glastonbury, T in the Park, Reading and Leeds, and Loop

Voted one of the top three new acts at Glastonbury by NME last year, Toronto's Holy Fuck are back with their organic fizz of uplifting electronica, delightfully created using old-fashioned synths, bass, drum kit and assorted objects, but no laptops or programming. Holy Fuck's Graham Walsh says he can't promise 'balloons, showy lights or clowns coming out of a clown car', but can offer 'new jams and new songs' and the prospect of band mate Brian creating audio with his 35mm film synchroniser.

You can't get more live and energetic than a band who like to improvise tracks live and then take the material back to the studio where they record their albums live, so it's no surprise that Holy Fuck are festival fans. Says Walsh: 'The crowds are usually bigger, but it's definitely a different vibe to playing a club show. Once you get around the fact that you probably won't get a sound check and will be playing in front of thousands of people, you can have lots of fun.'

Killer festival tune 'Lovely Allen': 'It's the one we usually end with and a good festival rocker.' KT

Vampire Weekend

Reading and Leeds, All Tomorrow's Parties, Glastonbury

Vampire Weekend can't wait to join the summer festival circuit for the first time, in spite of the fact that none of them, apart from their drummer who once went to Bonnaroo, has ever actually been to a big outdoor music event before.

'They're all supposed to be muddy, right?' is bass player Chris Baio's understanding of British festivals. The New York band, who released their critically acclaimed debut at the start of the year, will soon find out.

However, Baio reckons Vampire Weekend's cheerful, African-inflected indie rock will go down very well, rain or shine.

'Our songs are pretty sunny. A lot of them have group vocals and bits that invite crowd participation. I think these are all good things for playing outside.'

Killer festival tune 'One (Blake's Got A New Face)': 'Because it has a great call-and-response part which always gets a good reception. I think a big crowd doing that in the open air will be a lot of fun.' KF

El Gunicho

Bestival, Field Day, Sonar

Pablo Diaz-Reixa is a one-man festival. As el Guincho, his cut-and-paste club tropicalia has succeeded where countless brain-fried hippies have crashed and burnt, in keeping the festival spirit going all year round. 'I've never been to a British festival,' he laughs. 'But people in the UK say I make "festival music", so I'm excited to test this theory out.'

Born on Gran Canaria, where African and Hispanic influences fuse through musical genealogy, like most petulant youths, he shunned the traditional music of his parents. After moving to party hotspot Barcelona, a teenage Pablo threw himself into the city's debauched club culture creating pounding dance music through whatever synthetic means possible.

A few years back, he began rediscovering and eventually remixing his parents' old Canarian records. These experiments created his signature bubbling, folksy chants, shuffling beats and dreamy, exotic soundscapes, all underpinned with a hip-as-hell dancefloor conscience. 'People's ears seem to be opening to new ideas,' he observes. 'Finally kids in the UK and US are waking up to other party styles.'

Killer festival tune 'Antillas': 'The samples in it are all from songs that make me smile.' JH

Santogold

Great Escape, Liverpool Sound City, Dot to Dot, Wireless, Glastonbury, Bestival

Philadelphian electro sensation Santi 'Santogold' White first dipped a toe into the British summer mud 'a long, long time ago. I went to Glastonbury, but I don't remember much about it except I had the best doughnuts I ever had'.

She came back last year as a singer on Mark Ronson's Versions tour. But with her thrilling debut album due out in May, this will be her first time around the festival circuit under her own steam. 'With Mark it was so easy, because my song was two minutes long and I barely had to sing! This time it will be different,' she expects. Her field test looks highly promising. In tow are a DJ and two dancers, breathing life into her wildly diverse set, which takes in über-hip electro, Blondie-biting reggae and unquantifiable poptronica. She has one shock confession, though. 'I'm not a party girl. I'm like a grandma. I cannot perform in the middle of the night, so I hope I'm not on too late.'

Killer festival tune 'Creator': 'It's always the most fun because it's got so much energy.' KE

My Bloody Valentine

Glastonbury, Electric Picnic, Bestival

With their washes of avant-garde noise and inchoate lyrics, My Bloody Valentine are far from your typical festival band. And yet these prodigal guitar heroes have announced a slew of European festival dates in the wake of their first live appearances since 1992. Exciting doesn't even begin to cover it. Will the infamously nocturnal Valentine-in-chief Kevin Shields crumble like a vampire in daylight?

Since the release of their only two albums, 1988's Isn't Anything and 1991's Loveless (which famously nearly bankrupted Creation Records and turned one Creative's hair grey), My Bloody Valentine have only added to their myth by going to ground. Until recently, the unbiddable Shields was reported to be sharing his seven-bedroom house with a number of chinchillas, only emerging to see Brian Wilson and Led Zeppelin. A recent internet interview suggests that the band will be releasing both the Valentines' lost Nineties material and a new album. They're bound to be road-testing it.

Killer festival tune 'You Made Me Realise': The band used to refer to the noisy bit in the middle as 'the holocaust'. KE

CSS

Guernsey Live, Gatecrasher Sound System, Evolution, Rock Ness, Glastonbury, All Points West, Electric Picnic, Bestival

If you ventured out of doors last summer, chances are you would have witnessed the festive phenomenon that is CSS. Fronted by Lovefoxxx, a nymph encased in an iridescent leotard, the Brazilian party band played what seemed like every festival going. 'And the year before we played a lot too,' says Lovefoxxx.

Now they are going to do it all again. Recently slimmed down to a five-piece - bassist Ira Trevisan has left, citing not musical differences but the size of her carbon footprint - CSS have a new album, pencilled in for July, bang in the middle of festival season. 'It's a natural evolution,' says Lovefoxxx.

'We're not talking about Lindsay Lohan this time. I'm sure people are expecting all that again, but we don't have themes, we don't have to sing "bitch" and "ass" all the time!'

How will it sound in a field? 'I can't wait to see people's reactions. This one is way more energetic. I don't know if you saw our Christmas tour, but we were singing "CSS Sucks" to the tune of "Jingle Bells" and we came on dressed as presents. We love to have an introduction. We've got some new stage stuff too. We are going to make it amazing. We won't let anybody down!'

And have you written an anthem to replace your old anthem, 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above'? 'I think we have. The new album's way more strong and tight. Right now, it's just like getting ready for a baby. You prepare the room, you buy the clothes, then when the baby is born, you can finally play with it!'

Killer festival tune 'When we play "Off the Hook" live, people go crazy.' KE

Laura Marling

The Great Escape, Glastonbury, Field Day, Green Man, Bestival, End of the Road, Cambridge Folk Festival

Every festival needs its blissful moment of acoustic loveliness and this year's comes courtesy of 18-year-old Laura Marling, whose album of mature folk songs has earned her comparisons with Joni Mitchell. Supported by Noah and the Whale's Charlie Fink, soaring fiddle and new additions of ukulele and accordion, Marling says her sound will be 'chilled out, laid back, summery and quite French'. She's looking forward to End of the Road and Green Man and prefers the low-key, laid-back festivals saying: 'It's nice to spend a summer day just lazing about watching music. It's a pretty idyllic thing to do.' Known for her shyness, Marling is not keen on big venues, but finds festivals a different affair. 'It's such a relaxed atmosphere and the audience is usually quite far away from you which is nice. Everyone is lounging about and you're likely to be a bit drunk which helps.'

Killer festival tune 'Five Years Time': 'I don't really have any summer anthems, so we'll do this Noah and the Whale cover because it's the summeriest pop tune ever.'KT

Text: Ally Carnwath, Kitty Empire, Killian Fox, Jaimie Hodgson and Katie Toms

Source: The Observer

Technorati Tags: MGMT, Bassekou Kouyate, Hot Chip, Holy Fuck, Vampire Weekend, El Gunicho, Santogold, My Bloody Valentine, CSS, Laura Marling

I've already started putting together a best albums of 2007 list and it's very possible that the best album of the year is Segu Blue by Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba. Over the past few years I've become a fervent fan of contemporary music from Mali. How many great artists have arisen from there: Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate, Oumou Sangare, Amadou and Mariam, Tinariwen, Lobi Traore, Zani Diabate... And now the ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate who has played with Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate steps forward with a stunningly beautiful album. Check Out Here's Segu Blue web page for sound samples.

1. Aman Iman by Tinariwen from Touareg tribe from Mali

2. Watina by Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective from Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras

3. Segu Blue by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba from Mali

4. Dijn Dijn by Angelique Kidjo from Benin
5. Guiding Star by Vusi Mahlasela from South Africa
6. Cafe Noir by Papa Noel with musicians from the Congo and Cuba
7. Red Soil In My Eyes by Somi (An American with Rwandese and Ugandan heritage and an absolutely stunning voice. Her website is a wonderful way to start exploring her music.)

8. Security by Antibalas Afropop / Jazz / Funk from the U.S. by way of Africa and beyond
9. So the Journey Goes by Autorickshaw (Indian-influenced jazz and electronica from Canada)
10. Momento by Bebel Gilberto from Brazil