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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
This six-foot-tall goddess is indisputably one of modern Africa's greatest singers. Her magnificent, throaty alto and exotic yet accessible style have already won her an impressive international following. Oumou's lyrics are nearly as compelling as her voice and person; her open affirmation of female sensuality and diatribes against polygamy have irritated conservative elders but delighted her contemporaries. She is an exponent of the blues-like Wassoulou tradition, which takes its name from a province in Southern Mali. The region's music is based upon Asian-sounding five-tone scales and is usually accompanied by the resonant kamelengoni (a six-stringed hunters' harp) and searing, earthy fiddles, while jaunty polyrhythms are marked by wood drums, metal scrapers and/or shakers. This double album constitutes an ideal introduction. It contains a 12-track "greatest hits" package (picked from her first three albums, Moussoulou, Ko Sira and Worotan) plus eight new tunes that have never before been available on CD. --Christina Roden, Amazon.com
Review
For anyone following developments in West African music during the 1990s, Oumou Sangare was impossible to overlook. Her wonderful debut album Moussolou kicked off the decade in style and was a huge hit at home and abroad.
Sangare's vibrant electro-acoustics take on the infectiously funky pentatonic Wassoulou sounds of Southern Maliand this wonderful mix soon resulted in a deal with the infamous World Circuit label. This deal effectively introduced her to a spellbound international audience who soon saw her as a new world music diva. Her live performances emanated style and grace. She had the vocal power and tone of a griotte, but instead of singing obsequious praise songs to wealthy patrons, her lyrics often challenged long held traditions, in particular championing women's rights.
Ko Sira (1993) and Worotan (1996) amply sustained her reputation, although they also made it clear that she wasn't in any hurry to jettison her beloved Wassoulou roots in order to 'cross over'.
However, the promise of these years wasn't really fulfilled. Extensive touring within Africa, (where her biggest audience has always been) and a decision to devote more time to her family meant that the impetus of her career dissipated somewhat. She did record a follow-up album called Laban, which was released in Mali in 2001, though not on World Circuit. This compilation is their attempt to put her back in the spotlight.
Oumou combines 8 tracks released on CD for the first time, with twelve taken from those first three albums, and remastered. Of the 'new' tracks, the hypnotic chant of "Mogo Te Diya Bee Ye" is the only out-take; apparently, when la Sangare goes into the studio she generally only brings what songs she needs. There's also a radical remix of the ballad "Djorolen", successfully reinvented as eerie loping Wassoulou trip-hop. The remaining six are songs from Laban which have been given the World Circuit treatment by label founder and producer Nick Gold.
He has reshaped Boncana Maiga's production by removing some synth and string parts, replacing some programmed percussion with live musicians and adding the flute of 'Magic Malik' in a couple of places. Comparing these with the originals, I have to say Gold's changes are improvements.
Lucy Durán's sleevenotes shed new light on the stories behind each song, and the sequencing of the material has obviously been very carefully thought through, with the desired effect of making a mix of new and older work seem fresh, contemporary and vital. Not that this kind of music loses its power with age.
What remains to be seen is whether people who've already got all of Sangare's early albums will want to buy large bits of them all over again in order to hear her latest material. --Jon Lusk
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional bargain,
By Tor A. (Trondheim, Norway) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Oumou (Audio CD)
I have been listening to some of Mali's modern music lately. I find the music from this African country exceptionally good in general, and this 2CD is at the summit. It is a collection mainly taken from Sangare's earlier albums "Moussolou", "Ko Sira", "Worotan", and "Laban" (the latter only released on cassette in Mali). Seldom have I encountered a CD which is so consistenly enjoyable. Every song has features that arrests you and which makes repeated listening both a must and a joy. In fact, this CD has a classical quality to it in that it doesn't wear thin after many hearings. This quality is not displayed for all to see at first, but probably you will find yourself playing these songs again and again, trying to penetrate some unassuming mystery. I cannot praise Sangare's voice too much. Maybe it will strike you as quite ordinary at first, but again repeated listening reveals an exceptional richness... Last, the themes of the songs are not the usual irrelevant stuff you find in popular music. Here are songs about women's conditions in Mali, about the vulnerability of some of Mali's traditions (like hospitality), and about how you will die, to mention some. To me, Oumou Sangare is a really great musician.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing stuff from an exceptional artist,
By A Customer
This review is from: Oumou (Audio CD)
This is no doubt an amazing work of art: Blend of african rythms, the quality of Oumou's voice, and the philosophical depth of the lyrical composition is amazing to say the least. Oumou's succeeded in bridging the gap between african music, the neo-soul groove effect, afrobeat, and funk.This is a 'must-own' work of art.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing stuff from an exceptional artist,
By A Customer
This review is from: Oumou (Audio CD)
This is no doubt an amazing work of art: Blend of african rythms, the quality of Oumou's voice, and the philosophical depth of the lyrical composition combined to produce a beautiful work of art.Oumou succeeded in bridging the gap between african music, the neo-soul groove effect, afrobeat, and funk.This is a 'must-own' work of art; Oumou is definitely one of the most gifted singers in the world.
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