"Light a Candle," which he and his band performed at their magnificent show in December at the Palace, is a reflective and hopeful wish for the future: "Instead of cursing the darkness / Light a candle for where we're going / There's something ahead worth looking for." Polar opposite in tone is the bristling title track, a scathing snapshot of corporate greed and stupidity: "There's a bailout coming but it's not for me / It's for all those creeps watching tickers on TV."
Guitarist-vocalist Amadou Bagayoko and singer Mariam Doumbia met three decades ago in Bamako, the capital of Mali, while both were attending an institute for the blind. Well-known for years in West Africa and their adopted country of France, they gained a wider audience with the 2005 release of their stateside debut, "Dimanche a Bamako," and have since performed at the Coachella, Glastonbury and Lollapalooza festivals.
Call-and-response vocals, rhythmic guitars and hypnotic beats are hallmarks of Amadou & Mariam's sound, and all are delivered with a steady, percolating groove. From the funky "Magossa" to the horn- and keyboard-driven "Compagnon de la vie," this is an album designed for the dance floor. Guests include Damon Albarn, the former leader of Brit poppers Blur, along with Toumani Diabate, a master of the African stringed instrument the kora. This is a feel-good album. Don't miss it.
Right around now, Neil Young was expected to release the first volume of his career-spanning Archives project in lavishly packaged 10-DVD and 10-Blu-ray disc sets. Well, guess what? It's off the front burner yet again. The ever-mercurial Young instead decided to record an all-new studio album primarily inspired by his Linc-Volt project -- a '59 Lincoln Continental that he's converted to hybrid technology.
But a noble cause doesn't always make for a masterpiece. "Fork in the Road" (**, Reprise, in stores April 7) is filled with too many half-baked, repetitive road songs that have little lasting effect. But the two pieces that close this album are excellent reminders of how good Young can be, even on a rushed, of-the-moment project.
The husband-and-wife duo of Amadou & Mariam give us another blast of soulful world music on their second U.S. release, "Welcome To Mali" (****, Nonesuch, in stores Tuesday), a spirited invitation to dance away those recession-induced blues and welcome spring.
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