World music of all sorts basically reminds me of two things.  Smooth tossers in minimalist flats with just a little bit of faux-ethnic tat who sported ponytails and appreciated poetry in the 1980s are the first.  The second is this, one of the greatest songs of all time:

The Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/DeadKennedys-HolidayinCambodia.mp3]

So, you remember I told you about my friend Morgan, who has declared a mission to take me to gigs I don’t want to go to – the man responsible for getting me to the Battles gig?  Well you can see what he was up against when he suggested we go along to see the son of Malian legend Ali Farka Touré at the weekend.  I am getting pretty fed up with just how narrow my musical taste is becoming these days though, so I thought I’d give it a go, especially after how much I loved Think Tank, Albarn’s post-Mali Blur album with such strong African influences.

Ultimately, this kind of thing is often far better live than recorded, where the energy and charisma of the performers can bring home some of the local atmosphere of music not well suited to the Glasgow drizzle.  It was a good performance, Touré’s annoyance with the sound guy notwithstanding, although as the latter improved so did the former.  Being outshone by his own guitarist was clearly not part of the plan, and Touré looked pretty bloody miffed early on.  He cheered up though as things improved, and the bonhomie extended to repeated invitations to members of Zeep, their support, to come and join in at various points.

Ultimately though, this wasn’t my bag.  Old fashioned Malian blues I may well enjoy but this stuff was a bit ho-hum.  I salute Morgs for having a go of course, but perhaps this is what you get for going to see Son Of rather than the big man himself.

Blur, on the other hand, never seem to get anything like enough credit for Think Tank.  Honestly, I think it’s one of my favourite albums of the last ten years.  I know Damon Albarn puts a lot of people off but come on, people, this is just a wonderful album.

Blur -  Good Song
Blur – Caravan