Blur/Gorillaz's Albarn Goes 'Mali' On July 30

05/14/2002 10:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Billy Altman

(5/14/02, 10 a.m. ET) -- Damon Albarn, the man behind Gorillaz and Blur, has authorized release of Mali Music, an album that was culled from his time spent in Mali in West Africa. The collection hits stores July 30.

Albarn visited the country and taped local musicians as part of the Oxfam charity's On The Line Project, which focuses on people living on the zero meridian line. The goal of the On The Line Project is to make people aware of countries and cultures that reside on the line using media, music, arts, and formal education.

Mali Music will be released through Honest Jon's Records and distributed through Astralwerks. All royalties from the album go to Oxfam, and a matching contribution is being made from the sales of the album as well.

Albarn recorded more than 40 hours worth of music, which he brought home to London, and worked on with bassist Junior Dan. The tapes were then returned to Mali, so those musicians could make further contributions.

"My idea is to set up loads of dialogues between this music and other music that I love," said Albarn in a statement. "I'm sick of the cultural self-assurance you get in the West. I want to get everyone into Malian music."

-- Darren Davis, New York

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