Salif Keita

The year 2006 brought an embarrassment of riches to Salif Keita fans. First came M'Bemba, a return to form that stripped away the electronics and gave us Keita unfiltered. Then he released the lost 1980 album he recorded with Kante Manfila after les Ambassadeurs broke up and before he found solo fame. Critics have called this album, with its low-fi recording techniques and ad-hoc sensibility, "punk rock" -- and they're not far off. But what enchants is not hard or fast: the drifting songs find their direction at a glacial pace, exploring and re-exploring the same spare territory with ever more attention. It makes for ravishing listening...and an instant classic.