Malian singer Rokia Traore was one of the big highlights from Womadelaide last month. Whilst just solo and acoustic, playing to a media contingent on the first day, her music was pure and innocent, gentle acoustic folk, deeply heartfelt, intensely personal. A few days later we saw her with her band, a huge bombast with everything from slap bass to afrobeat and her strutting around stage absolutely magnetic in front of the powerhouse. And now we get to see another side to her. The question has to be asked though, how many sides does this intensely talented lady have? Tchamantche exists somewhere in between the two aforementioned worlds, where not just acoustic and electric meet, but also some great production and mixing. This is very much a contemporary album, multi-tracked vocals whispering out of each speaker, yet also strange low key experimental sounds adding atmosphere to her at times sparse tunes. The album is dedicated to the great Mali bluesman Ali Farka Toure, and you can hear his influence in her acoustic guitar playing, but she’s moved well beyond her influences, incorporating beat-boxing, harp and perhaps strangest of all she covers Gershwin’s The Man I Love. She also rarely takes the easy option, on the opening cut the majestic Dounia the beat comes in midway, sparse and jazzy with bass but really it’s her voice, changing the pitch and enveloping the stereo field that takes it to the next level. In fact the way these tunes develop, the way she kicks it up a notch occasionally really defies conventional wisdom, resisting the urge to use the kit, instead altering the pitch of her voice, or dropping things away. It’s fascinating music, with lush highly articulated textures, fascinating arrangements, yet also a rare emotional honesty.
Bob Baker Fish
