Vieux Farka Toure comes back strong with the follow-up to his self-titled debut of three years ago. Son of the late great Ali Farka Toure, his music bears more than a passing resemblance to his old man's, but with more youthful vigour. Having achieved even more recognition for his remix album UFOs Over Bamako than his debut, he's amped up his guitar sound and also the funk factor for his next album on Six Degrees. "Fafa" is produced by Yossi Fine, main man of Ex-Centric Sound System and one of the remixers from UFOs, and the collaboration is intense.
Toure's blazing yet serene guitar dances all over a rhythm that can't help but inspire comparisons with hip-hop, due to its head nodding accents and very deliberate pace. As is typical of Fine's work, the track sounds hot and urgent even though it's a fundamentally laid back tune. The new album is called Fondo, and it's shaping up to be one of the standout African releases of the year, and a return to relevance for Six Degrees.
Vieux Farka Toure - Fafa
Toure's blazing yet serene guitar dances all over a rhythm that can't help but inspire comparisons with hip-hop, due to its head nodding accents and very deliberate pace. As is typical of Fine's work, the track sounds hot and urgent even though it's a fundamentally laid back tune. The new album is called Fondo, and it's shaping up to be one of the standout African releases of the year, and a return to relevance for Six Degrees.
Vieux Farka Toure - Fafa