Day 0710 - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of...

Arrested Development "3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of..." (1992) - got it

I picked up a copy of this album a few years back on the strength of the single "Mr. Wendal".  The rest of the album didn't overly thrill me.  Another of those ones where it's perfectly listenable, but not one that I tend to revisit much.

The book points out that this group of socially conscious rappers were one of the first big hip hop exports from Atlanta, infusing their music with a southern flavour and acting as inspiration, or opening the door for acts like Goodie Mob, Cee-Lo Green and Outkast (all of which I do enjoy quite a bit).

Day 0649 - Djam Leelii

Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck "Djam Leelii" (1989)

An album that is somehow sparse, yets feels cinematic.  The album largely consists of an acoustic guitar and the voices of Maal and Sek, with just a few touches of electric guitar, and the odd bit of percussion to change the sound, yet it all sounds so much bigger than that.

The two musicians were born in Senegal but left their restrictive home country after Maal, via a scholarship, moved to study in France.  He invited his lifelong friend, the blind guitarist Mansour Seck to join him, and the two recorded this album.

The duo were championed by legendary and eclectic DJ John Peel, and as is often the case, the man's taste is spot on.  This is a brilliant and eminently listenable album.