thanks this looks awesome just ordered it, (my brother asked for some field recordings for xmas)
I'd site these are some fairly sympathetic recordings, its seems in the world music genre (if there is such a thing) its the case that over production is rife.
I think when music hasn't developed alongside recording technology and modern production practices in symbiosis, you have to tread carefully, why shouldn't we hear this music in its raw state as its heard by its consumers as raw bootlegged recordings or recorded in the field, I love the way this article suggests that all the musicians should flown over to paris, why so there material can be edited to fuck in pro tools, multiple performances comped and recorded separately to a click track in an acoustically treated space to make it more palitable to the ears, no thanks. hooray for grit.
No worries.
I think there's cases on both sides regarding this kind of stuff. On the one hand, people who would never have otherwise heard this music will have now heard it, and hopefully profits in some way will filter back to the musicians involved (if not, then OK, this is bad). On the other, it seems that the Western guy, and not the Malians themselves, is choosing the destiny for the music.
As regards production, from a personal level I find a lot of the Parisian production of Alpha Blondy, later Youssou N'Dour etc to be quite bland and boring.... but to deny that African musicians would want to use these facilities (perhaps with better, less generic producers, as well - it really depends on the individual producers, doesn't it?) seems slightly patronising...int he same way as those who praise the lifestyles of African and Asian people for being 'more real, closer to the earth, man', when, in fact, they might be quite interested in having a car, TV, house in the suburbs etc,
if only they had the choice to do so.