Amadou & Mariam kicked off their North American tour last night at Chicago's Park West, creating music that the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot describes as "a steaming cauldron of Mali funk ‘n’ roll that the couple stirred, adding ingredients from countless cultures as needed. They knew when to bring it to a boil and when to let it simmer." The crowd was moving from the start, and its fervor only increased, with Amadou & Mariam's "elastic songs stretching further into a zone where the line between dance and trance blurred." The duo's music, Kot concludes, bridges "cultures, sounds and language with a grace rarely seen on a North American stage."

Amadou & Mariam are set to take Chicago's Park West by storm tonight as they begin the first leg of their summer tour. The Chicago Sun-Times says the couple "front a fiery band that provides a kaleidoscope of music filtering rock, blues, reggae and hip-hop through a Malian sensibility. Her vocals are innocent and welcoming; his blues/rock guitar style is commanding and nimble." The Chicago Tribune declares, "If the duo's vocals are a life-affirming sound that transcends language barriers, [Amadou's] guitar is an instrument of mind-altering eloquence." Time Out Chicago says their new album, Welcome to Mali, "sounds as if it was made, variously, in 1970s flare-wearing New York, in a timeless stretch of desert, and at the kind of party you’d most like to be asked to." Catch the duo on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this Monday.

Amadou & Mariam are the subject of a feature profile in this week's Village Voice, as the focal point of the paper's picks for this summer's live music highlights. In a look at the couple's career and their latest Nonesuch release, Welcome to Mali, the Voice dismisses the normally narrow notion of "world music" but says the Malian duo's eclectic style is well suited to a truer understanding of the phrase: "[I]f anyone truly makes world music, it's Amadou & Mariam ... Through their constant curiosity and a romantic ear, the married couple invokes more than the sounds of their West African roots; they seem to be the epicenter of many cultures."

Rokia Traoré and Amadou & Mariam have been announced the winners of the inaugural Songlines Music Awards, created by Songlines magazine to recognize outstanding talent in world music. Rokia has won the Best Artist award, and Amadou & Mariam have been named Best Group. "This Songlines Award means a lot to me," says Rokia, "not just because it comes from a magazine I respect and one that has always been supportive of my music, but also because at this stage in my career it is an honor to still be recognized for my continued efforts to make my music better."

Amadou & Mariam, who recently released their second Nonesuch album, Welcome to Mali, are scheduled to appear on today's episode of NPR's World Café at 2 PM ET. The new album was featured on PRI's The World Friday as its "Global Hit." Planet magazine says, "Since we first wrote about Amadou and Miriam in 2005, we've remained enchanted by both their music and their affecting story," and cites Welcome to Mali's Damon Albarn–produced opening track, "Sabali," as "a mesmerizing blend of Gorillaz-style electronica and traditional Malian music."

Amadou & Mariam's latest album, Welcome to Mali, was recently described by Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis as "a constant source of sunshine" in a difficult time for much of the world. In a series of video interviews for Nonesuch.com, with concert footage and archival photos featured throughout, the couple shares some of the inspiration behind their new album, with input from album contributor Damon Albarn, and their lifelong commitment to spreading joy through music. To watch all of these videos, along with a live performance of the album track "Sebeke," visit nonesuch.com/media.

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali gets "an enthusiastic double-'Buy It' rating" from the hosts of Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions, Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times) and Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune). "During a rather dark, dismal, and dire week, this album was a constant source of sunshine," says DeRogatis. "This is joyous, celebratory music, absolutely, positively uplifting in its mix of Africa and the West. I love these guys to pieces." Kot concurs: "This is a great record ... I don't think I've heard a better album, beginning to end, than Welcome to Mali, in 2009." On NPR's All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen says, "They have a deep history of making music together, but nothing quite like their new record  ... Welcome to Mali will surely be one of the best world music records of 2009."

The Amadou & Mariam song "Sabali" has grabbed a lot of attention as the opening track to their recent Nonesuch release, Welcome to Mali. Produced by Blur/Gorrillaz front man Damon Albarn, the song is listed among "the most intriguing tracks" this week, according to USA Today. RCRD LBL has chosen a Paul Epworth remix of this "electro-pop miracle" as its MP3 of the Day. Amadou & Mariam are also featured in yesterday's episode of WNYC's Soundcheck, in which New York Times writer Will Hermes follows up on his recent Times article on the changing sounds and perceptions of African music in a more diverse world.

With their new album, Welcome to Mali, Amadou & Mariam have "made another, more dazzling ascent to an even loftier peak," says the Huffington Post, with "music from a very big world, made for everyone in the world." Reviewer Jesse Kornbluth insists, "This is the one because it's the right idea at the right time: a bundle of joy for a hurting planet ... This is harmonious, joyous music, totally accessible pop that just happens to be symphonic in its power. Its real genius is its accessibility—it sounds so simple, so organic, that it's like a song you've always hummed (and danced to) in your private happy moments." And with the new album, "Amadou and Mariam qualify as global superstars."

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali, just out in the US on Nonesuch, is a Pick of the Week on WNYC's Soundcheck, which calls the album "another strong showing of their cosmopolitan sound." New Jersey's Star-Ledger says that, with the new album, the couple "show they have opened up to a new era of musical possibilities," featuring "a sophisticated but rough-edged sound that can evoke African village griot storytellers as well as psychedelic garage bands ... By album's end, they have held master classes in rock, funk, reggae and rap, not to mention African styles," concludes the Star-Ledger, and "crowned a long career with an album that effortlessly blends Africa and the West."

Amadou & Mariam are good at what they do, says NPR music critic Robert Christgau in an All Things Considered album review, and "never better than on their brand-new Welcome to Mali." He says the Damon Albarn–produced opening track, "Sabali," is "terrific" and shows that "Amadou and Mariam absorb ideas from anywhere and sound like they're having a ball." Entertainment Weekly says Albarn's "splendidly atmospheric keyboards and production" move the couple "beyond their comfort zone—much as globalist rocker Manu Chao did for the duo's 2005 breakthrough, Dimanche à Bamako." The Chicago Tribune says the new album "is bolder still" than their last, calling Welcome to Mali "an album that throws its arms around the world, and invites everyone to dance. It succeeds joyously." Flaunt says Amadou & Mariam "capture a feeling absent from many releases in the early 2000s: genuineness."

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali was released in the States yesterday, and the complete album is streaming today on spinner.com. On the new record, says Vanity Fair , "traditional African beats and melodies underly everything from electronic synth-pop to hip-hop tracks featuring Somali rapper K’Naan." The Root calls the couple "global pop’s band to watch—M.I.A. be damned—as heirs to the storied West African musical throne and as embodiments of the worldly, cosmopolitan flair that defines 21st century hipness ... Before it’s done, the album moves through hip-hop, R&B, rock, traditional Malian and more—often simultaneously." It's all mixed "with an accessible poppy feel," says The Root, "and the result is just plain cool."