Music in Exile

Really nice to listen to. Great vocals and guitar work in particular. Loved Soubour when it came out and it still slaps.

African rock? Hell yeah. Their wiki summary is so hard rock.
Bluesy with african vibes. This is the kind of album I would have never heard of that I'm here for. 5*

This was much more interesting than many of the English speaking albums on this list.

should come with a warning label BANGER ALERT

great instrumentals but the vocals were a little lacking, might be the fault of the audio quality though

I enjoyed listening to this but there it was just missing those moments that make it really stand out.

Ahhh. Music is so just situation dependent.

I got this on a rainy miserable Sunday when I felt rubbish.

On a different day I’m sure this could be something I love but right now I have a headache and want to go back to bed. This was far too chipper and annoyed me. When it ended I listened to The Microphones and Songs:Ohia.

I wasn’t familiar with the term “Desert Blues,” but it’s quite clear that the blues must play an important role in parts of Africa. On *Music In Exile*, Songhoy Blues seamlessly blend American and African influences, thereby demonstrating where the blues tradition originates. In comparison, I would describe the “African school” as more relaxed and rhythmic than the traditions from the Mississippi Delta or Chicago.
I find it fascinating, and it’s definitely worth a listen. This project is perfect for discoveries like this!

Seriously, much more like it 👌

This is what I signed up for!

Up next on 600 punk albums from the 70s that could put you to sleep…

Good album fantastic spacious guitar sound. This African Desert Blues has been a welcome addition to the rock landscape in the 21st century.

They’re better live than on this album though and other Malian guitar groups have exceeded it. But a solid addition to their cannon.

Some good, groovy, rockin' tunes on here. It got a bit same-y by the end of the album, but there's no denying the talent on display here.

Such a cool listen. I was more acquainted with other Malian artists such as Ali Farka Touré but this is a record that encapsulates well that sound as appears to be an easy entry point to that sort of music.

8/10 [KEEP]

‘Songhoy Blues’ – the band name made me fear the worst. Because anyone who knows me knows how little I can be bothered with 95% of the blues and blues-rock noodling out there. But fortunately, the album has very little to do with classic blues or blues-rock; instead, it is an excellent example of African ‘Desert Blues’ (according to Wikipedia), which is musically much more complex. Although, of course, you can’t understand a single word – the lyrics are apparently in Songhay, the language of northern Mali – the music is rhythmically structured and universally accessible. A good example of an album I probably would never have heard if it weren’t for the “1001 albums you must hear before you die” website.

Never heard of this band or this project, but this shit ruled.

For en energibunt av en plate. Fett!

Pretty good. Would I ever listen again? Probably not. Did I enjoy it? Also probably not. I would absolutely recommend this to someone who wants to listen to music made by people from Tumbuktu, though.

Eh. It mostly feels like African-tinged commercial music. Which like sure. Some of the songs are pretty good. It just doesn’t really reach me. None of the songs really stick out, even the pretty great second song is just a little too bland to love. Like, believe me, I don’t speak this language, but that is NOT the problem. If this was good the language barrier wouldn’t matter. Eve when they kinda lock in toward the end, it’s just too bland and unimpressive to give a passing score.
5.3/10

Oh damn, this is immediately entering the rotation

This was honestly pretty impressive. I'm not usually that into blues or afrobeat as I find them a bit repetitious in many instances (I prefer jazz which has more versatility), but this was the a good marriage of both. Really talented musicianship and catch tracks which even had my kids singing in the car ("Maliiiii, mali"). My only gripe is that some songs are a bit too repetitive, but good all around. 4/5