Comments on: DIABATE’S MANDE VARIATIONS

By: jace

jace — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:59:48 +0000

Thanks Pete! Where in my piece did you see that binary swap though, or are you referring to a more general attitude here on the blog? particularly in the case of Diabete, this record - a solo acoustic one - is a huge rarity for him, he’s usually much more in the band/hybrid/fusion world, generally speaking. i wonder how ’smaltz’ and ‘cheese’ work, as adjectives or types of classification — in part b/c i’m getting pretty enamored of unequivocally CHEESY & SMALTZY mexican cumbia.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:48:45 +0000

Jace,
Thanks for the perspective. It has all the nuance of a lengthier essay with all the accessibility of a magazine article, and the subject matter is perfect to illustrate your point. One thing: I wonder if both you and James trading could be trading in one binary (traditional vs. modern) for another (electronica/smaltz fusion vs. “dustier eclecticisms”) in your understanding of cosmopolitanism?

pete

By: james gyre

james gyre — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:31:37 +0000

nice article… the britney spears reference made me jump a bit…hilarious. also, word on diabete “sampling” others music. on the oddly modern album “mali music” by toumani diabete & friends, i swear he quotes sting’s “fields of gold” in like, three tracks.

i always have to put a disclaimer to people after i explain my dj style… it goes something like- not “world music smaltz fusion”, but a dustier undercurrent of eclecticism…

your article (and blog) documents this phenomena quite deftly.

By: alan

alan — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:06:18 +0000

Que onda JACEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!- Pues he leido ese articulo sobre Toumani Diabete y practicamente cuando lo lei crei q estabas exagerando un poco– jaja!!. asi q me lo acabo de bajar del emule y que puedo decir - es una JOYA!!!- me he sentado en mi mueble y he sentido cosas raras al escuchar este disco—- Saludos y ojala nos podemas ver pronto!!–