Name: Ali
Brand: Vieux Farka Toure and Khruangbin

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

DOC274LP-C1

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Colour

green

Colour details

Jade

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Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-09-23

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

656605157436

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1 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / green

DOC274CD

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "DOC274CD"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

Extended format: No

656605157429

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "656605157429"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

DOC274LP

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black

656605157412

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1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Vieux Farka Toure and Khruangbin

Genre GB

African

Label GB

Dead Oceans

Alex G - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/alex-g/god-save-the-animals/lp-plus?_kx=">God Save the Animals</a> The Philadelphia songwriter moves further away from lo-fi on his sonically rich and expansive new record.

Iceage - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/iceage/shake-the-feeling-outtakes-rarities-2015-2021/lp-plus?_kx=">Shake the Feeling: Outtakes &amp; Rarities 2015-2021</a> The acclaimed post-punk outfit digs through the archives for a compilation of deep cuts and b-sides that are as good as any album releases.

Beth Orton - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/beth-orton/weather-alive/lp-plus?_kx=">Weather Alive</a> Using an admittedly cheap upright piano installed in the shed of her garden, Beth Orton conjures an ethereal, meditative atmosphere.

The Soft Moon - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/the-soft-moon/exister/lp-plus?_kx=">Exister</a> The industrial-inflected new wave of Luis Vasquez continues to thrive on his most polished effort to date.

Jackie Cohen - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/jackie-cohen/pratfall/lp-plus?_kx=">Pratfall</a> Teaming up with her husband Jonathan Rado, the Los Angeles artist engulfs her indie pop in a warm embrace.

Rough Trade Edit

Ali Farka Touré trekked the world, bringing his beloved Malian music to the masses. Dubbed “the African John Lee Hooker,” one could hear strong connections between the two; both employed a bluesy style of play with gritty textures that elicit calm and fury in equal measure. While the influence of Black blues music prevailed, Touré created a West African blend of 'desert blues' that garnered Grammy awards and widespread reverence.

Though he transcended in 2006, Ali’s musical legacy lives on through his son, Vieux aka “the Hendrix of the Sahara,” an accomplished guitarist and champion of Malian music in his own right. On Ali, his collaborative album with Khruangbin, Vieux pays homage to his father by recreating some of his most resonant work, putting new twists on it while maintaining the original’s integrity. The result is a rightful ode to a legend.

Ali isn’t just a greatest hits compilation. It’s a lullaby, a remembrance of Ali's life through known highlights and B-sides from his catalog. It is a testament to what happens when creativity is approached through open arms and open hearts. “To me, music is magic, it is spontaneous, it is the energy between people,” Vieux says. “I think Khruangbin understands this very well.”

The genesis of the album dates back to 2019, when Khruangbin, coming off their breakthrough album Con Todo el Mundo, was beginning to play to bigger crowds. The record was finished in 2021, as a global pandemic shuttered businesses and forced us to take stock of what Earth was becoming. Indirectly, Ali captures this as a moment of peace within a raging storm, a conversation between past and present without allegiance to suffering. Now, given Khruangbin’s reach as a unit with legions of fans (including the likes of Jay-Z and Paul McCartney), they’re poised to bring Malian music to broader groups of listeners.

Ali is a masterful work in which the love surrounding it is just as vital as the music itself, driving it to unforeseen places; Vieux and Khruangbin are spreading the good word to a completely new generation. “I hope it takes them somewhere new, or puts them in a place they haven't felt or heard,” Lee says. “It is about the love of new friendship and making something beautiful together,” Vieux continues. “It is about pouring your love into something old to make it new again. In the end and in a word it is love, that's all.”