I think it was 2005 when I first saw Amadou & Mariam play live. At the local summer festival in Brussels, the tent was pretty much empty when they walked on stage. An hour later, toward the end of their set, it was packed with people having to squeeze hard to find themselves a decent […]
Last month, Mali’s trio SMOD (consisting of DJ Sam, Ousco and Donski) released a second single, Les Dirigeants Africains, taken from their new self-titled album. Sure, producer Manu Chao’s stamp is all over it, but SMOD’s lyrics and director Chris Macari* make up for that. And if you think DJ Sam looks a bit like […]
