Amadou & Mariam haave been on top form on the African Soul Rebel’s tour plus their latest top-selling Manu Chao produced album and the single, ‘Coulibaly’.

Had to get back to this single which contains the album version and a couple of remixes.

The Fred Chichin (Les Rita Mitsouko) version starts off with a riff that sounds a little bit Madchester but the action we like is ‘Afrikans On Marz’ sounds of Afro Art’s Ashley Beedle.

Those with long memories will recall back in 1999 there was an Ashley Beedle ‘Afrikans On Marz’ remix of Femi Kuti’s classic ‘Beng, Beng, Beng’ out on Gilles Peterson’s Talkin’ Loud label. No idea why it was billed as ‘Afrikans On Marz’ as it wasn’t spaced out or red, just classic Afrobeat.

Using the same moniker here on ‘Coulibaly’, there are ‘Afrikans On Marz’ vocal and instrumental versions. Again, pure Afrobeat and even better than that, a touch of the Spiritual South about it on the dance floor.

For Amadou & Mariam completists there’s MO DJ’s three remixes of ‘Beaux Dimanches’, ‘La Réalité’ and ‘Coulibaly’ (see links below to his site for samples).

Mariam Doumbia: Vocals
Amadou Bagayoko: Vocals, Guitars
Manu Chao: Vocals, Guitars
Phillipe Teboul: Drums
Boubacar Dembele: Djembe
François-Régis Matuszenski: Keyboards

Amadou & Mariam - Coulibaly’ (Because Music) Cat. No: BEC5772002 CD Release date: 2005
Tracklisting:
1 Coulibaly (Album Version) (3:21)
2 Coulibaly (Fred Chichin Remix) (4:23)
3 Coulibaly (Ashley Beedle’s Afrikans On Marz Vocal) (7:31)
4 Coulibaly (Ashley Beedle’s Afrikans On Marz Instrumental) (7:30)

Links:
www.amadou-mariam.co.uk
www.mo-dj.com
www.manuchao.net
Dimanche à Bamako by Amadou & Mariam at Barnes & Noble