Rainy Season Blues by Lobi Traore, released 10 July 2014, includes the following tracks: "Hine", "Melodie Blues", "Sorotemimbo", "A Lamen" and more.
This version of Rainy Season Blues comes as a 1xCD in a(n) Digipak packaging. -
"Rainy Season Blues" is a CD release by Malian guitarist and singer Lobi Traoré, issued by the independent label Glitterbeat/ Indigo. This album captures the raw, hypnotic tension between traditional Bambara roots and gritty electric blues, a sound that made Traoré one of Mali's most distinctive voices. Expect swirling, modal guitar lines, earth-bound grooves and a vocal delivery that feels both intimate and urgent, as if recorded in a smoky Bamako bar while the rainy season rumbles outside. The tracks unfold slowly and insistently, building a trance-like atmosphere where desert blues, pent-up city energy and timeless Sahel melodies collide. It's music that feels rugged rather than polished, with a live-in-the-room presence that puts the listener right at the heart of Traoré's band, letting every bend of the strings and every grain of his voice shine through.
Lobi Traoré was a pioneering figure in Malian electric blues, known for fusing regional traditions with a driving, urban guitar sound. Over the years he gained international recognition on the world-music and desert-blues circuits for his intense performances and his ability to channel both melancholy and defiance in his songs. Although his career remained rooted in Mali's local club scene, his recordings have been cherished by critics and adventurous listeners around the globe, and posthumous reissues have only strengthened his reputation as a cult icon of West African blues.
Glitterbeat/ Indigo is a label and distribution partnership dedicated to forward-thinking global sounds, with a strong focus on African, Middle Eastern and other non-Western artists. Known for careful curation, high-quality remastering and beautiful packaging, Glitterbeat has become a reference point for listeners who want contemporary, vital music from across the world rather than generic "world music" compilations. With releases that often bring archival gems and overlooked artists back into circulation, Glitterbeat/ Indigo provides the ideal home for an album like "Rainy Season Blues", presenting Lobi Traoré's artistry with respect for its roots and attention to sound and detail.
Starting out aged 16 to follow in the footsteps of the great Malian folkloric ensembles, Lobi Traoré’s solo career only began in the 1990s when he add...
Louis Pattison - 12/Oct/2010
Rainy Season Blues is what will amount to the final will and testament of Lobi Traoré, a guitarist and songwriter from the Ségou region of Mali who pa...
Richie Troughton - 29/Sep/2010
There was no fuss. As a jobbing musician he simply fulfilled his engagements for survival as much as anything else. As he said: "This is the only thin...
Daniel Paton - 15/Sep/2010
The premature and unexpected death of Malian guitarist Lobi Traoré in June tragically robbed world music of one of its most exciting talents. Having b...
Mark Hudson - 13/Sep/2010
Rainy Season Blues...
Andy Snipper - 02/Sep/2010
The back-story to this album is tragic and deeply moving but that should not, on its own, lead you to this album. What should lead to this album is th...
World Music
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