Like his last two releases for Nonesuch, 2002's Nothing's in Vain and 2004's stunning Egypt, Youssou N'Dour's Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take) is a glistening, polished work that perpetuates the singer's recurring role as one of Africa's greatest gifts to music. Where Egypt was something of a side trip for N'Dour, a tribute to his Sufi faith, Rokku Mi Rokka takes on more of a mainstream melodic pop sheen, with an eye toward the northern desert country for inspiration. N'Dour, in addition to using his regular musicians, reunites here with members of his early-career Super Etoile de Dakar band as well as other players with whom he's been comfortable for years (gotta love Ali Farka Touré sideman Bassekou Kouyate on the four-stringed n'goni), so the results are familiar and the groove locked in tight. Neneh Cherry, who performed a duet with N'Dour on 1994's hit "7 Seconds," returns for a rap on the album-closing mbalax-funk anthem "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)," which implores the Western world to stop taking Africa for granted and look to the continent for positive vibrations. The opening track, "4-4-44," is a celebration of 44 years of Senegal's independence, bathed in driving, repetitive keyboard riffs, a persistent rhythmic punch, and a midsong horn blast that provides a sudden Memphis-esque R&B kick. As always, much of N'Dour's songwriting addresses tradition and its role in an Africa struggling toward modernization. There are songs of love and songs of politics and spirit. "Tukki" is little more than a simple paean to the joys of traveling, and "Xel" exhorts humans to do the obvious: use their brains and think. But then there's "Sportif," with its drum lick right out of a New Orleans second-line march, whose sole purpose is to remind countrymen that there's no need to take it personally if a favorite wrestler loses a match -- it's only a sport. Go figure. Nonetheless, Youssou N'Dour is never less than thoughtful and intriguing, and his voice is never less than gripping. Rokku Mi Rokka is another gem from an artist who has come to define the African music renaissance.~Jeff Tamarkin
EAC extraction logfile from 20. November 2007, 11:43 for CD Youssou N'Dour / Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take)
Used drive : SONY CD-RW CRX220E1 Adapter: 1 ID: 0 Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache Read offset correction : 6 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Used output format : C:\Codecs\flac-1.1.4.exe (User Defined Encoder) 320 kBit/s Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" -T comment="EAC Flac 1.1.4 -8" %s
Other options : Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Installed external ASPI interface
Track 1 Filename J:\01 - 4-4-44.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC E7598608 Copy CRC E7598608 Copy OK
Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 093DFC74 Copy CRC 093DFC74 Copy OK
Track 3 Filename J:\03 - Sama Gammu (Mon rival).wav
Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 99.9 % Test CRC 44AE9D0C Copy CRC 44AE9D0C Copy OK
Track 4 Filename J:\04 - Bajjan.wav
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Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC B70C9E7C Copy CRC B70C9E7C Copy OK
Track 5 Filename J:\05 - Baay Faal.wav
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Peak level 98.9 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 6037D3A4 Copy CRC 6037D3A4 Copy OK
Track 6 Filename J:\06 - Sportif.wav
Peak level 98.7 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 96C4534B Copy CRC 96C4534B Copy OK
Track 7 Filename J:\07 - Tukki (Voyage).wav
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Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 78F02755 Copy CRC 78F02755 Copy OK
Track 8 Filename J:\08 - Lett Ma (Irresolution).wav
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Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 905C49B6 Copy CRC 905C49B6 Copy OK
Track 9 Filename J:\09 - Dabbaxx.wav
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Track 10 Filename J:\10 - Xel (Intelligence).wav
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Track 11 Filename J:\11 - Wake Up (It's Africa Calling).wav
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Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 9C1F6FF3 Copy CRC 9C1F6FF3 Copy OK
No errors occured
End of status report -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EAC extraction logfile from 20. November 2007, 12:14 for CD Youssou N'Dour / Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take) (Bonus Disk)
Used drive : SONY CD-RW CRX220E1 Adapter: 1 ID: 0 Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache Read offset correction : 6 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Used output format : C:\Codecs\flac-1.1.4.exe (User Defined Encoder) 320 kBit/s Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" -T comment="EAC Flac 1.1.4 -8" %s
Other options : Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Installed external ASPI interface
Track 1 Filename J:\01 - Boul Bayekou.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 34118CEC Copy CRC 34118CEC Copy OK
Track 2 Filename J:\02 - Beugue Dou Bagne.wav
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Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC B470790B Copy CRC B470790B Copy OK
Track 3 Filename J:\03 - Borom Gaal.wav
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Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC D9903307 Copy CRC D9903307 Copy OK
Track 4 Filename J:\04 - Telephone.wav
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Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 36A2CC23 Copy CRC 36A2CC23 Copy OK
Track 5 Filename J:\05 - Yonou Deuge.wav
Peak level 99.8 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC FC21094D Copy CRC FC21094D Copy OK
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