It appears that your cart is currently empty
Order online or call us 01672 5111 06
Vieux Farka Touré & Khruangbin - Ali
Released 23rd September 2022.
bout the album 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.”
Our shipping costs are calculated by weight at the checkout in line with Royal Mail guidelines and include the cost of both postage and packing.
UK
CD Standard - £2.00 (typically arrives in 2-4 business days)
CD Signed For - £3.00 (typically arrives in 2-4 business days)
Vinyl Standard - £3.99 (typically arrives in 2-4 business days)
Vinyl Signed For - £4.99 (typically arrives in 2-4 business days)
Medium Parcel - £9.00 (typically arrives in 2-4 business days)
Click and Collect - FREE (collection from the shop, please wait for us to confirm your order is available to collect)
We are currently only accepting orders from the UK, if you'd like to place an order from another territory please email us at sales@sound-knowledge.co.uk and we can come back to you with a shipping quote.
You Might Also Like
Expected Release 18th September 2026 Grammy-winning guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela returns to the ...
Expected Release 18th September 2026 Grammy-winning guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela returns to the textural fluidity of acoustic instrumentation on their new album ‘OurHome’. Self-produced in a Tokyo studio, the odyssey-like album unfolds with an otherworldly beauty achieved with guests from former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman to Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi. OurHome echoes all the transcendence and serenity that Rodrigo y Gabriela have routinely experienced in their journeys to Japan.
£11.99 – £25.00
Expected Release 11th September 2026 Strut presents Nigeria 80, the next essential chapter in the...
Expected Release 11th September 2026 Strut presents Nigeria 80, the next essential chapter in the legendary Nigeria 70 series, diving deep into the explosive sound world of 1980s Nigeria. Following the global impact of 2001's Nigeria 70, which helped introduce rare Nigerian recordings to international audiences, Nigeria 80 continues the journey, unearthing a rich, restless, and wildly creative decade of music from Lagos to Enugu. Despite economic instability and restrictive political conditio...
£11.99 – £34.99
Ibibio Sound Machine - Chopping Mountain
Expected Release 11th September 2026 Chopping Mountain, the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine is...
Expected Release 11th September 2026 Chopping Mountain, the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine is the clearest rendering yet of the London collective’s longstanding mission to promote love, unity, and resistance through music. It is the band’s sixth full-length record, and the first to feature the band’s Max Grunhard as producer since 2019’s Doko Mien. Following their Hot Chip-produced breakthrough Electricity (2022) and the darker, clubbier inflection of the Ross Orton-produced Pull the Rope...
£11.99 – £23.00
Haruomi Hosono - Yours Sincerely
Expected Release 11th September 2026 Haruomi Hosono, the pioneering Japanese musician, producer, ...
Expected Release 11th September 2026 Haruomi Hosono, the pioneering Japanese musician, producer, composer, and founding member of Yellow Magic Orchestra and Happy End, has “found his voice in a late career renaissance," writes The Wire. His five-decade legacy continues to grow and attract new fans, and has been cited by an acclaimed list of artists, including Mac DeMarco, Cameron Winter, Ginger Root, Vampire Weekend, and Harry Styles. Shaped by mid-century American music, Hosono's work now re...
£11.99 – £26.00