Timbuktu
The mission ofSix  Degrees Recordsis to prove that different cultures and musical styles do  have some common ground. Malian singer Issa Bagayogo reaffirms this commonality  onTimbuktu, finding the middle ground between traditional West African  music--created with his six-stringed lute, acoustic guitars, and the  djembé--and modern down-tempo electronic programming that wouldn't be out  of place at theBuddha-Baror  any other hip club in Paris or New York. Amidst this gentle and hypnotic fusion,  Bagayogo maintains thegriottradition of teaching and politics, singing  about such issues as racial tolerance, regional pride amidst the globalization  of culture, and drug abuse among Mali's youth. Bagayogo presents his ideas in an  evenly modulated midrange voice with ethereal-sounding female backup singers who  answer and reaffirm many of his lyrics with haunting effectiveness. All in all,  this seductively laid-back album is another chapter in the ongoing tradition of  great Malian music.--Tad Hendrickson