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Voice of Fire | Tassoumakan is Issa Bagayogo's third release from south-western Mali, that Wassoulou region which already gave us the celebrated Oumou Sangare. Tassoumakan follows hot on the heels of 2002's chart-topping Timbuktu, a much-copied but rarely matched mix of Mandingo/Wassoulou roots and dance house styles that proved a masterful counterpoint to dismal crossover efforts by Youssou N'Dour and Mory Kante and put Issa on equal footing with older lions like Ali Farka Touré and Habib Koité. Exclusively recorded in Mali's capital of Bamako rather than the AfroPop centers of London and Paris and mastered by French producer/keyboardist Yves Wernert who already worked with Ramata Diakité, Tassoumakan is far heavier on the acoustics roots and lighter on the synthetic Pop than much of what currently goes for Global Beat. It thus defies easy assumptions based on Bagayogo's nickname Techno Issa. While correctly capturing his tastes for electronica fusion, it doesn't begin to hint at their very respectful rather than overpowering use. This is perhaps partially explained by Issa's main instrument, the kamele n'goni, a traditional six-string lute common to Mali, Niger, Senegal and Burkina Faso and a sacred instruments in three-string form. For Tassoumakan, Issa surrounds himself with Karamokou Diabate and Mama Sissoko, two of Mali's top guitarists, and once again relies on a blend of dusty griot 'pre-rap' talk-song that's far less charged and athletic than the fiery pipes of Salif Keita or Cheikh Lô. There's a traditional call-and-response chorus, feisty multi-layered Malinese rhythms, flute and balafon accents and the typically minimalist guitar riffs. The end result is a surprisingly earthy yet hip-sounding album. Its inherent leanness deliberately stays clear of the usual Pop production gloss. Synthetic influences and drum samples don't turn cold empty gestures to avoid that dreaded mechanical filler of CGC - computer-generated grooves. Rather, they tend to evoke muted earth tones of ocres and mauves, sounding far more acoustic than they really are. That's quite a mean trick to pull off and thus far rarer than the countless efforts of traditional musicians who hope for the rapid express to stardom via the usual hit factory stations. In effect, Tassoumakan brings the modern world to Mali rather than exporting Mali to Europe. Modernism becomes a guest but it's clear as daylight who remains master of the unprepossessing house that Issa built. That's why he generates the kind of excitement and respect he does. That's why reporters from Folk Roots claim that he "may radically reshape West Africa's groove" while Billboard calls this album "the effortless sway of trance-electronica and Afro-Pop" and Acoustic Guitar "one of the best-realized marriages of sub-Saharan roots music and 21st century electronica yet to come out of West Africa". No matter how you describe it, Issa Bagayogo seems a force to be reckoned with. He clearly achieves this status on his own terms rather than "selling out". While there would be faster ways to at least short-term success, Issa seems bound for the long haul and Tassoumakan is his latest example of how to go about that. |
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