Bogolan means ‘made from mud’ in Bambara, the main language of Mali. Bogolan textiles are ubiquitous across West Africa – but it's Studio Bogolan, a recording house in bustling Bamako and Mali's own Abbey Road, that concerns us here. In a vast, diverse country where music is everything a wealth of artists have made their names with albums produced at Studio Bogolan; aided by producers including the late great Ibrahim Sylla artists such Oumou Sangare, Bassekou Kouyate, Amadou & Mariam and the late great (Mali is full of late greats) blues guitarist Ali Farke Toure, have had their tunes enhanced by the crisp, clear Bogolan sound. Accompanied by a sumptuous booklet and a DVD featuring archive footage of recording sessions, this 2CD set is both a collector's item and a historical document of a nation recently torn apart by coups, counter-coups and terrorism in its north. There are western names here too – Björk, Dee Dee Bridgewater and the ubiquitous Damon Albarn – but it's the Malians who stand out. As Baudelaire said, and as Bogolan might well have up on a wall, “You gave me your mud and I have turned it into gold.”