Welcome To Mali | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 17, 2008 (Europe) March 24, 2009 (US) | |||
Genre | Pop music African blues Electronic Worldbeat | |||
Length | 57:33 | |||
Label | Because Music (Europe) Nonesuch Records (US) | |||
Producer | Marc Antoine Moreau Laurent Jais Damon Albarn | |||
Amadou & Mariam chronology | ||||
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Welcome to Mali is the fifth studio album by Malian musicians Amadou & Mariam. It was released on Because Music on November 17, 2008, in Europe and was released on Nonesuch Records on March 24, 2009, in the United States.
In 2012 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 75,000 copies throughout Europe. [1]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Sabali" | Albarn, Doumbia, Moreau | 3:15 |
2. | "Ce N'est Pas Bon" | Bagayoko, Moreau | 3:49 |
3. | "Magosa [2] " | Doumbia | 3:43 |
4. | "Djama" | Bagayoko, Dembele | 3:15 |
5. | "Djuru" | Doumbia | 3:35 |
6. | "Je Te Kiffe (feat. Juan Rozoff)" | Bagayoko, Rosoff | 4:18 |
7. | "Masiteladi (feat. -M-)" | Bagayoko | 3:56 |
8. | "Africa (feat. K'Naan)" | Bagayoko, Keinan | 3:48 |
9. | "Compagnon de la Vie" | Bagayoko | 3:46 |
10. | "Unissons-nous (feat. Keziah Jones)" | Doumbia | 4:16 |
11. | "Bozos" | Bagayoko | 3:46 |
12. | "I Follow You (Nia Na Fin)" | Bagayoko | 4:02 |
13. | "Welcome to Mali" | Bagayoko | 3:20 |
14. | "Batoma" | Doumbia | 4:13 |
15. | "Sebeke" | Bagayoko, Doumbia | 4:31 |
16. | "Boula (hidden track)" | ||
Total length: | 57:33 |
"Sabali," released on 27 October 2008, was the first single from the album. The second single was "Masiteladi."
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
The Guardian | link |
Mojo | |
musicOMH | link |
Observer Music Monthly | link |
Paste | (5.5/10) link |
Pitchfork Media | (8.4/10) link |
Popmatters | (7/10) link |
Uncut | link |
Robert Christgau | A |
Welcome to Mali has received mostly positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 86 out of 100, indicating "Universal acclaim." [3]
Keith Phillips of The A.V. Club gave the album a grade of A−, writing "Welcome To Mali sounds heavily produced but not overproduced, and even with the pings and whizzing, Amadou’s playing and the pair’s singing insure it never sounds less than organic." [4] In another positive review, Pitchfork Media's Joe Tangari wrote: "This album is an affirmation of global connectivity and an emerging global culture that transcends and repurposes tradition as it sees fit-- the sound of Mali merging with the world at large." [5]
Paste's Nick Marino, on the other hand, called the album "frustratingly uneven," writing: "[D]espite moments of exuberance, it can also feel like a mundane grind [...]" [6]
In August 2009, the webzine Pitchfork Media named Sabali the 249th track in their staff list "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" [7] and earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album nomination in 2010.
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