I installed amaroK the other day and it’s changed my home music listening life. I’d used previous versions before, but this one integrates a musical “mood” scanner, last.fm, lyrics from multiple sources, band information from Wikipedia and much more.

I know I sound like an ad here, but I really love that I can pick a genre, say West African funk music, sort the playlist by mood and then have it auto-populate the list with new tracks it’d think I’d like. And it usually gets it right. If you use Linux and have a large music collection then give amaroK a try.

…so I was listening to Nuru Kane this morning and an album was “suggested” to me from some forgotten corner of my collection.

Lobi Traore is a Malian who plays that style of Malian blues that I’ve always liked. There’s something about the Bambara language and rhythms that mixes so well with electric guitar and that driving blues sound. The repetitive nature of Bambara music with slight changes in melody over time, scattered snare/calabash hits and occasional talking sections mid-song are all musical elements familiar to the ears of the blues listener.

Both of today’s tracks come of Traoré’s 2004 release, Mali Blue, on World Village.

Lobi Traoré - Sadiourou
Lobi Traoré - Anun ka ben