Mali Foli Coura

This appears to be a studio session, cut live without overdubs or technical tampering. It's a fierce modern take on traditional Malian music by a quintet from Bamako (BKO is the code for Bamako Airport). They are led by two vocalists, backed by donsongoni and djelingoni – different sized traditional lutes – while djembé and dunun drums are augmented by a hybrid drum kit comprising traditional and modern percussion instruments.

This is BKO's second album and their music is a mixture of Bamana hunter and Mande griot traditions. However, their modern twist plays one conventional acoustic ngoni against a second, which is amplified to extreme proportions. The vocals are equally contrasting – at times strong and reedy, alternating with spookily melancholic and devotional. There's no denying the appeal of BKO's particularly ‘tradimoderne' interpretation of Malian music. But on this particular recording the amplification and distortion is perhaps a little overstated; it's certainly more extreme and heavy-handed than on the excellent first album. It's almost heavy metal in tone, and occasionally risks overpowering the subtlety that befits Malian tradition. Furthermore, it is a desperately short album clocking in at a rather miserly 33 minutes.