Youssou N'Dour
1984
Tracks
1. Immigrés/Bitim Rew
2. Pitche Mi
3. Taaw
4. Badou
In a list that it is notoriously skewed for Western tastes (you should see the 1001 book list; it's like white guy palooza), it was refreshing to hear an album from Senegal.
I think we can all admit at this point in 1984, synths are getting annoying. But they actually didn't bother me very much with this one. Maybe it's because Youssou N'Dour has such an interesting voice that I was properly distracted.
Despite all that, my frequent readers know I connect to music best through lyrics (which has ultimately been to my detriment on this List), which is significantly harder to do when I don't speak the language. I am not faulting the album for this in the slightest, but since this blog measures my individual enjoyment of each entry on the List, this is a three-star album.
RATING: 3/5
Interesting comments and enjoyable review!
ReplyDeleteI was impressed by the density of the music; that could have been a mess, but it really works. They use conventional Western instruments with a bit of synth, combined with African and Cuban percussion to produce something new and unique, at least for me. Very cool stuff I want to hear again, with the first side being especially strong.
ReplyDelete