-
10.0
8295
10.0 |
Observer Music Monthly
Print edition only
-
10.0
9163
10.0 |
The List
...the chiming of the kora over Ali’s potent guitar with Cuban veteran Orlando Cachaíto López on bass creates a final statement of some perfection
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-
10.0
9190
10.0 |
Daily Telegraph
There is a sense of both immense space and telepathic closeness on this beautiful album, with the superb recording putting the listener right in the middle of the action
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-
10.0
9229
10.0 |
The Guardian
This is a magnificent and poignant farewell
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-
9.0
8262
9.0 |
musicOMH
...this album and its predecessor are worthy and awe-inspiring tributes to the man and the Malian musical traditions for which he and Diabaté were - and continue to be - the strongest and most compelling of standard-bearers
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-
9.0
9217
9.0 |
The Irish Times
...this music stands outside genre. It is music of a higher order
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-
9.0
9442
9.0 |
PopMatters
This is a deep, darkly beautiful work. The interplay between these two men is exceedingly rare in any type of music. Ali and Toumani is profound and powerful, with a soft accumulating force, like the individual drips of ice that form a river
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-
8.3
8859
8.3 |
Pitchfork
You get the feel of two of the world's greatest musicians in a room together, having a conversation and creating a document that will carry their legacy into the future
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-
8.0
9062
8.0 |
The Observer
Ali and Toumani doesn't pick up quite where In the Heart of the Moon left off...a more polished affair, with retakes and overdubs
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-
8.0
9323
8.0 |
Independent on Sunday
A lovely monument
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-
8.0
9293
8.0 |
Evening Standard
Whereas that first disc seemed improvised and spontaneous, this is carefully worked out to show the range of Ali's style
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-
8.0
9298
8.0 |
The Times
Some reviews have argued that Diabaté, the younger partner, has here stepped out of the shadow of (and reduced his deference to) the guitarist, but to these ears this is the older man’s album
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-
8.0
8348
8.0 |
Mojo
What's truly remarkable about the interplay is the way the two seamlessly bridge the gulf between their cultures. Print edition only
-
8.0
8359
8.0 |
Q
The 11 tracks weave a blinding spell that feels just as familiar to Western ears as African. Print edition only
-
8.0
8418
8.0 |
Uncut
Aside from being an album of spellbinding beauty ... is also a posthumous valediction to Touré and an affirmation that from Mali there is surely much more to come
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-
8.0
19798
8.0 |
BBC
A mix of Touré’s northern traditions and the southern Mandé music of Diabaté
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-
8.0
19799
8.0 |
All Music
A fitting tribute to Touré’s and Diabaté’s genius and friendship, and is a beautiful farewel
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-
6.0
9224
6.0 |
The Independent
Although most tunes follow traditional lines, "Sabu Yerkoy" has a subtle Cuban flavour, while "Be Mankan" is a gorgeous waltz
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-
6.0
9314
6.0 |
The Sunday Times
...a sequence of ruminative and, to be frank, sometimes repetitive instrumentals, recorded in 2005 and leavened with a vocal or two
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