TS: Graceland vs. Duck Rock Vs Mali Music

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Despite the concerns of some who labeled these as culturally imperialistic at one time or another, I (at least) like all three, but I haven't listened to Graceland in years. Not being interested in Blur at all, I appreciate Albarn's outside efforts much more (for example, the Gorillaz remix/dub album). I don't think I'd call Mali Music one of my all-time favourite albums, but it very often finds its way onto my cd player. I picked up the cd version of Duck Rock on ebay for a buck last month and was surprised about how legit it sounded today. "Double Dutch" (and "Punk It Up" to a lesser extent) is the right mix of playfulness and homage, and despite what your views of Mclaren (or Trevor Horn, for that matter) may be, I may like it the best out of the three.

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Oddly enough, I kinda think that "Buffalo Gals" is a weaker track on the album.

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:38 (twenty-one years ago)

So I take it this isn't about the Paul Simon album?

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:40 (twenty-one years ago)

That'd be Duck Rock, which, yeah, sounds pretty interesting to 2004 ears. "Double Dutch" is great in that it's VERY straight afropop, by and large (McLaren's warbling aside). Some great 12"s of that stuff...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Er...yes, its 1/3 about the Paul Simon album.

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Mere words cannot express my lingering affection for Duck Rock - an album which always makes me think of hot sticky nights with the windows open.

Graceland instantly charmed, and equally quickly faded.

I have made a conscious - and thus far successful - effort to pass Mali Music by on the other side.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Why the avoidance of Mali Music, M t-d?

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Duck Rock is fun.

Graceland has a couple of good tracks and a bunch more irritating ones.

I don't listen to records with Damon Albarn.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

"I don't listen to records with Damon Albarn."

That's quite a schtick, Alex. Does he owe you money or something?

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I deserve to be compensated for having to listen to BLUR!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

"I want my two dollars!"

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Shouldn't some of us have to be compensated for "having to" listen to Simonandgarfunkel?

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

NO.

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:34 (twenty-one years ago)

hello darkness
my old friend

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

And here's to you, Mrs Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Mrs. Robinson = darkness?

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

so....no one likes Mali Music????
Albarn must have pissed off a lot of you.
I only just don't care for his band's music.

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 6 August 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

It's the theme song to the Graduate, it is therefore EVIL. or at the very least evil.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 6 August 2004 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

so....no one likes Mali Music????
it's ok i think. anybody who's a fan of albums like peter gabriel's "passion" or laswell's "bahia black" should get it right away, because it's a genre with a lot of possibilities and very little credibly done in it. westerners mixing world music into ambient scapes = usually quite dull [cf much of laswell's other cds in the world crossover area], but westerners hiring world musicians and trying to influence what the end result will be = often quite good. i suppose the grandaddy of this is george harrisson's wonderwall..? i mean, basically, i find mali music more interesting than any of my toumani diabate albums. i guess i do think there's too much of his mediocre melodica on it - so i suppose in a few years i'll get sick of it.

i don't think mali music really compares with graceland and duck rock, which are genius pop albums. you could actually much more easily compare mali music and rhythm of the saints, which is not so much a pop album as it is a passable world music album with simon singing mostly forgettable melodies a bit lower in the mix. when you listen to this album, unlike graceland, you're mainly listening for the world music.

― mig (mig), Friday, 6 August 2004 17:15 (twenty-one years ago)

would Van Dyke Parks' "Discover America" be a precursor to these three?

― beta bandy, Friday, 6 August 2004 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Sure, if you consider steel drums on avant-pop songs to be "World Music Fusion"...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 6 August 2004 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

or rather, weird Hollywood Bowl takes on calypso classics like "Bing Crosby" and "Four Mills Brothers"?

― beta bandy, Friday, 6 August 2004 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)

its amusing that Mclaren who was most blatently ripped-off ppl on Duck Rock has the album that hold sup the best.

Mali Music is terrible, neither here nor there and just astounding in showing how bad meidiocrity can be.

Graceland is pleasant overall and still has some songs I really enjoy. I also wil lgive it credit for introducing lots of Amerians to the joys of mbangaqa.

Gabriel's Passion and Passion sources are crap imo, particularly the Sources album for ostensibly presenting original materials while actually remixing it to fit whatever Gabriel thot it should be.

― H (Heruy), Friday, 6 August 2004 22:43 (twenty-one years ago)

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