Customer Reviews

Ali Farka Toure

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've owned the CD for nine years, and it has always stayed close to me. This is to my mind the best album available of Toure's music. As stated in the editorial review, it is bare bones acoustic. Ali's voice and guitar cut straight to the soul. He is accompanied by sparse but tasteful percussion.

I recommend this above the Talking Timbuktu album. It is a classic that belongs in every collection.

I have all of AFT's CD's that I have been able to find, this is probably my favorite. Great stripped down, bluesy feel. Somewhat reminiscint of country blues, with a twist.

I've 0wned this album for years and I never tire of it. Subtle and beautifull - my favorite of Ali's international releases.

This is an excellent collection of mellow African blues,nothing is too complicated in this music - really simple, organic sounds with beautiful rythems and wonderful guitar playing.I would recommend Toure to any serious music fan, and this is my personal favourite out of all his albums.

After listening to the Amazon snippets, I couldn't decide whether to buy this CD or the one with Ry Cooder, so I got both and I'm glad I did; they are very different and both worth having. The Ry Cooder album is like a world-class act performed onstage. This one is like a bar in west Africa with a few musicians making good music for a small crowd of appreciative listeners. Toure is great on the guitar and the drums are really good. If you like world music, you will find interesting rhythms on slightly unfamiliar-sounding instruments, and a singing style I find often in African music--more highly pitched than western singers mostly, similar to a chant sometime but not so drawn out and more interesting to listen to. Too bad I don't understand the words! Comparisons to John Lee Hooker are over-emphasized. Toure sometimes uses a similar type of dragging rhythm, but Toure has many rhythms in his lexicon. Try it, you'll like it.

ali is god. what can i say. he's mali's answer to john lee hooker. once you hear the opening of timbara youll know what i mean. i can listen to this 4 times in a row and love it. very good stuff.

The track Bakoye from this album is one of my all time favourites not only of Ali Farka Toure but by any artist. His combination of vocals and guitar playing produces a track of soaring passions I never tire of listening to. Overall a wonderful collection of acoustic songs.

Potential buyers might like to know that this record is also available as the "Green" half of the 2-disc recording "Red and Green," also available as a download. The purchasing dilemma is that I don't know if the "Red" album is also available separately. No matter how much one becomes enamored of Toure's music, only the truly obsessed will want to own every single recorded iteration of it.

The curious-but-adventurous might consider listening to the samples here and then, if you like what you hear, go ahead and spring for "Red and Green"--you'll get more of the same on the "Red" disc, too.

But don't read this as discouraging you from this one. For those of you for whom money is a concern, this one all by itself is indeed as advertised/reviewed here. This is Toure before he became well-known in the West; not a lot spent on production values, so the sound is a bit brittle, but you get beautiful, hypnotic grooves that are "bluesy" not in the 12-bar sense but certainly in the Chris Thomas King "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" sense. Great for long roadtrips through land where the sky is big.

Potential buyers might like to know that this record is also available as the "Green" half of the 2-disc recording "Red and Green." The purchasing dilemma is that I don't know if the "Red" album is also available separately. No matter how much one becomes enamored of Toure's music, only the truly obsessed will want to own every single recorded iteration of it.

The curious-but-adventurous might consider listening to the samples here and then, if you like what you hear, go ahead and spring for "Red and Green"--you'll get more of the same on the "Red" disc, too.

But don't read this as discouraging you from this one. For those of you for whom money is a concern, this one all by itself is indeed as advertised/reviewed here. This is Toure before he became well-known in the West; not a lot spent on production values, so the sound is a bit brittle, but you get beautiful, hypnotic grooves that are "bluesy" not in the 12-bar sense but certainly in the Chris Thomas King "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" sense. Great for long roadtrips through land where the sky is big.

This bad boy rocks the party, not in a violent, infantile way, but in a gentle, solicitous, cradle swaying manner. Not that the party would then fall asleep or anything, such kind of lie restfully, enraptured, dreaming lucid dreams staring at the ceiling. Guitarisms are sublime throughout, sounding incredibly full for such sparse arrangements. His best in my opinion, and who would contradict me?