Toubalbero

"On Toubalbero, the fourth album of his Thrill Jockey tenure, Malian Songhai blues artist Sidi Touré moves away from the darkly introspective tone of 2013's Alafia with a joyous and lively electric set ... Named after a large traditional drum used to call people together in his native region of Gao, Toubalbero brings together a dynamic and decidedly younger group of musicians to back the veteran singer/guitarist, lending a crackle of energy and festivity to the sessions".

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"Sidi Touré famously defied his family to become a sort of griot without bona fides. Now he's something even worse: a griot rocker. And distortion is the new authenticity ... Guitars and ngoni trade solos and Touré shouts ecstatically during "Tchirey," a seven-minute, fast-tempo blast of urgency having to do with a thunder god. Voodoo is part of the Songhai spiritual tradition, and Touré's band often sound somewhere on the outskirts of possession".

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"Dreams of an ideal nation apparently also underpin the songs on the new Sidi Touré album, Toubalbero, but because he does his singing in a Malian tongue, it's hard for an Anglophone listener to assess the relative eloquence of his sentiments. Still, if his lyrics are even half as graceful and evocative as the playing is, they're bound to be geniu".