‘Djoukourou’ is a breath of fresh air, invigorating the music of now with tastes of warmer tones and bright vocals. Auntie Flo’s has successfully transformed Oumou Sangare’s upbeat sing along sounding original, adorned with Wassoulou (both a cultural region and a musical genre) instruments and full of call and response type vocals, into the percussion rich, dance-floor ready re-imagination we hear below.
Fluttering xylophone sounds sway back and forth between two tones, rising and falling, immediately giving the track texture. Sparse, live-sounding percussion injects itself underneath providing direction and stability, while a few voices can be heard, which compliments the laidback, impromptu feel. After a few minutes of this introduction, which serves to loosen our preconceptions and whitewash our canvas, the vocals begin. Ringing loud and clear without effect or perceivable alteration, we are transported beside her, or she is transported beside us. The reverberated background chorus adds depth, increasing our feeling of community. In a brief interlude between choruses an undulating synth sound serves to clean the palette, if you will, until we once again hear Sangare’s voice. The track ends as it begun, returning us to the familiar drawn out trill between two xylophone tones.
Oumou Sangaré ‘Djoukourou (Auntie Flo Remix)’ was released on January 26th, 2018 on No Format (Tess Herd).
Torture the Artist 