Abstract Index Playlist - March 19/08

Here's the review of Toumani Diabate's latest disc I wrote for Eye Weekly. There should be another star attached, making it a solid 4.

Two things I didn't get to in the review:

Nick Gold's production is wonderful. He still takes a fair amount of post-Buena Vista Social Club blowback from certain quarters, but fuck those haters. The kora sounds positively four-dimensional on this recording, as if he and engineer Jerry Boys had found new ways to manipulate the audio constraints of the 16-bit quality of the compact disc. This is not overpolished music, but it still has a touch of the surreal to it, like a particularly good demo video in HD quality. For those listeners who get bogged down on whether the reverb is set at low or medium strength during the mixdown sessions and to what degree that bears on the supposed authenticity of the sound, I suggest you sit back and focus on the challenges presented by the music. Toumani Diabate would be more than capable of finding another producer if he thought Gold was diluting or otherwise messing with his what he wanted to do.

Also, the retro-Nonesuch cover art is super stylin'.

Hour 1 podcast
Hour 2 podcast

kaouding cissoko - toumani diabate (nonesuch)
pitch black - prism quartet (innova)
untitled 11 - box (rune gramofon)
what's the deal - ex pro ovo (bbe)
springtime for chillun - burnt sugar (nugroid)
fakarouni - radio i ching (resonant)
roots and culture - mikey dread (music club)
we've had enough - arnie love and the lovettes (numero)
wedged under the front of 0.99 - evan shaw/jean martin (barnyard)
tragic magic - nathan davis (acid jazz)
i heard it through the grapevine - bar kays (stax)
live it up - james k-nine (vampisoul)
reggae riff - jackie mittoo (heartbeat)
less problem - sound dimension (soul jazz)
soul call - jackie mittoo (heartbeat)
park view - sound dimension (soul jazz)
one heavy duba - santic & king tubby (pressure sounds)
dub voyage - twilight circus (m)
my jamaican guy - grace jones (strut)
willow dub - black uhuru/prince jammy (csa)