Reviewing music regularly completely changed my viewing habits, and broadened my horizons in ways I had never imagined. Like many people, I would claim to have ‘eclectic’ tastes, but the truth was that my eclecticism spanned a range of predominantly white guitar-based genres. It took me a while to appreciate that being into punk and post-punk, goth and industrial is about as eclectic and being into both country AND western (and having a few eighties pop albums and bit of Leonard Cohen and Led Zep in the mix wasn’t enough to change the narrative).
12 years ago, I came to Amadou and Mariam via the ‘Wily Katso’ single in 2012. It hit like a slap in the face, the realisation that what I – ignorantly, and largely on account of western culture, colonialism, the music industry and associated media – lumped into the bracket of ‘world’ music, as represented by Paul Simon’s ‘Gracelands’ and the Bhundu Boys, was grossly unrepresentative and based on an immense lack of knowledge and understanding of many things. That single stands in my memory as a pivotal moment in a most personal progression.
‘Wily Katso’ happens to feature on this ‘La Vie Est Belle’, which happens to be ‘their first compilation since 2005’s ‘L’Intégrale Des Années Maliennes’,’ and which, ‘features their greatest hits, new exclusive tracks and is the perfect way to celebrate a career spanning almost 50 years.’
There aren’t many acts who can put a badge on a career of (almost) 50 years, that’s for sure. And ‘La Vie Est Belle’ is every bit as upbeat, joyous, and life-affirming as the title suggests. It spans buoyant synthpop in the shape of the likes of ‘Sabali’ via a host of altogether more folky works and quote dancy tunes, like ‘La Vie Est Belle’., from which this collection takes its titles.
What really shines through is that whatever shape or form the songs take, they’re pretty easy on the ear, and the fact that Amadou & Mariam have range: over the course of their career, they’ve explored so many different avenues – no-one could accuse them of being samey.
‘La Vie Est Belle’ is a fantastic and epic career summary, and it’s also immensely enjoyable.
