From The Desk Of Mac McCaughan: Amadou And Mariam

Outdated reference point or not, the anti-apathy sentiment on Superchunk‘s sophomore single “Slack Motherfucker” still seems characteristic of Mac McCaughan 20 years after he wrote it. The recently dormant Superchunk is moving again, and McCaughan also fills his time with Portastatic and co-ownership of Merge Records. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, McCaughan is guest editing magnetmagazine.com this week.

McCaughan: There aren’t many acts that I would still try to figure out a way to travel long distances to see, but I’m sitting here with Amadou & Mariam‘s tour dates (supporting their new album, Welcome To Mali) trying to figure out a way to see these wonderful Mali magicians do their thing in person. Their music is a kind of music that makes it hard for me to imagine how people play it and sing it. Not that it’s not human; it’s superhuman in some way, just warm and driving and important.