Mali is home to an exhilarating and vital music tradition, one with tangible social and political significance. There are few places, if any, where it is more important; from its use as a method of communication in a society with high illiteracy rates, to the historic Western African tradition of griots: musicians and storytellers who bind people together and keep oral traditions alive.

“The music continues to be some of the most exhilarating to be found anywhere in the world”

In 2012, an Islamist extremist takeover of the north of the country resulted in the banning of music – venues were closed, equipment was set alight, and those found listening to or playing music were punished with jail time or whipping. But the ban was eventually halted and the music continues to be some of the most enlivening to be found anywhere in the world: rhythmic, intricate and vibrant, perfectly capturing the ethnic and cultural diversity of the country. You almost certainly don’t need to be multilingual to ‘get’ it.

I’m sure I’m only just starting to uncover the fantastic tradition of music that the region has to offer. Here are three selections I’ve found to be particularly compelling.

Ali Farka Touré – Savane

Farka Toure is one of the greats of Malian music and Savane is his Time Out Of Mind – a late-career classic, all slow-burning blues and live instrumentation, swathed in echoing reverb. He recorded this 2007 release on the banks of the Niger river in Bamako with a collective of Western and Malian musicians, struggling against the cancer that would eventually take his life.

Each of the eleven songs is content to move at its own pace, gently unfurling the slowly repeated melodies against the solo work of performers like the inimitable kora player Tiamouni Diabaté. The wealth of instrumentation is a joy, from the njarka (a variety of small fiddle) and ngoni to the saxophone and harmonica. Try not to be swept away in the call and response of ‘Ledi Coumbe’ or the off-beat kilter of the title track. This is timeless music, dreamlike and captivating, effortlessly delineating the interconnection of the Western and Malian traditions.

Tinariwen – Amam Iman

What is there to say about Tinariwen? One of the most famous musical exports of the region, they formed in the Tuareg rebel community in 1979 and have since gained renown for driving an impassioned blues music that evokes the shifting landscape of the Sahara.

Amam Iman, their breakthrough album released in 2007, shows them at the height of their powers, from the slow clatter of ‘Ahimana’ to the rousing and communal ‘Mano Dayak’. The collision of distorted modal guitar scales, the expressive voice of Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, call-and-response vocal parts, and the dynamic percussion are something to behold. You might have heard rock music before, but you won’t have heard it done like this.

Besides: Donuts and the mastery of J Dilla

Oumou Sangaré – Seya

Oumou Sangaré is possibly the most famous woman in Mali and Seya, her fifth album released in 2009, is a collection of bold and energetic songs with a strong message of female empowerment.

The opening salvo of balafon and electric guitar notes on ‘Sounsoumba’ soon explodes into a full band and an entire album of joyous music in the Wassoulou style: complex and yet danceable, traditional but imbued with modern musical sensibilities. Her voice is tender but commanding, standing out against the mass of instruments beneath and carrying each element with passion and force — try the melancholic and bluesy ’Donso′ or the percussive ’Mogo Kele′. This is simply a must-listen