Jah Pearl & Bouddha Sticks - Motherland (Gibraltar Music Label/Full Assoc)
The cover of 'Motherland' is somewhat misleading, because it should read Jah Pearl & Bouddha Sticks instead of the other way around.
Markscheider Kunst - Utopia (Eastblok Music)
The music of Markscheider Kunst, a nine man strong ensemble from Saint Petersburg, could be described as Russian musica mestiza: a lot of Latin American influences (salsa for 'Utopia', merengue for 'DJ' and cumbia for 'Sudak'), a dash of ska ('Erunda', 'Ku'), a pinch of jazz ('Manush V Gorah') and even a Russian waltz to complete things ('Waltz From Kisiorod').
Rootz Underground - Gravity (Soulbeats Records/Riverstone Records)
Time for some mea culpa! 'Movement', Rootz Underground's debut album had escaped yours truly's attention.
Gentleman - Diversity (Bushhouse Music/Island/Universal)
Variety is the spice of life! This Flemish proverb should also have a German counterpart, because variation is what the new album by Gentleman is all about and this not only on a musical level (Gentleman jumps back and forth between r&b, hip-hop, pop, reggae and dancehall) but also in the packaging of 'Diversity' (the album is available in a single or double version and for real fans there's even a Limited Collectors Box).
Ba Cissoko - Seno (Self-published)
For 'Seno' ("agriculture") Ba Cissoko returned to his roots and that both on a musical (the album mainly contains classic sounding kora-tracks) and personal level (Ba dedicated the title track of the album to his grandmother who took him with her into the fields as a child).
Bako Dagnon - Sidiba (Discograph)
Even though the name Bako Dagnon won't ring many bells in Europe yet, in her homeland Mali she belongs to the most respected griots (the late Ali Farka Touré was a big fan).
Razia - Zebu Nation (Cumbancha)
After years of musical (jazz, r&b, French chanson and rock) as well as geographical wanderings (successively resideding in the Comoros, France, the United States, Gabon and Indonesia) Razia Said returned to her roots in Madagascar.
Mariem Hassan - Shouka (Nubenegra)
It had been quite a while since we heard anything from Nubenegra (yours truly had already written off the small Spanish label) but they return with 'Shouka', the new album by Mariem Hassan.
Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal - Chamber Music (No Format!/Naïve)
For 'Chamber Music' kora master Ballaké Sissoko joined forces with cellist Vincent Segal (half of duo Bumcello).
Konono N°1 - Assume Crash Position (Crammed Discs)
L'Orchestre Folklorique Tout Puissant de Mingiedi commonly referred to as Konono N°1 is back with a new tour and a new album: 'Assume Crash Position!', a title that refers to the original meaning of the word "konono" (the stiffening of the body after death).
Zema - Jubilee (Melchizedek Music)
In Europe Zema might still be relatively unknown, this singer and multi-instrumentalist from Detroit has already an extensive musical resume.
Victor Démé - Deli (Chapa Blues/Naïve)
Victor Démé, the sympathetic Burkinabe troubadour, is back with a new album.
Baco Hiriz Band - Kinky Station (Hiriz Reggae/RFI)
Baco Hiriz Band is a Parisian band around Baco, a singer/guitarist from Mayotte (an overseas territory of France in the Indian Ocean, somewhere between Madagascar and Mozambique).
Natty King - Born To Be Free (DHF Records/Grooveattack)
Natty King is back! Several years ago "the man from east" scored a monster hit with 'No Guns To Town' and the subsequent album, released in cooperation with Insight Records and distributed by Jet Star, was also a success.
Sanchez - Now & Forever (VP Records)
Combining the sweetness of Sanchez with a producer like Donovan Germain (Penthouse Records) should create magic, no? 'Now & Forever' is Sanchez' first album since 2003's 'No More Heartaches' and with a number of serious hits like 'My Everything' (a cover of a song by Inner Circle) or 'I'm For Real' the singer once again confirms his status as the number one lovers rock artist of his generation.
Pablo Moses - The Rebirth (House Of Moses)
The success of a number of European tours and his collaboration with Groundation ('Upon The Bridge') inspired Pablo Moses enough to hit the studio again.
Chezidek - Judgement Time (Heartbeat Europe/Rounder)
Barely six months after the release of the Sly & Robbie produced 'I Grade', Chezidek already returns with 'Judgement Time' recorded in collaboration with the Dutch JahSolidRock.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - Rise & Shine (Cumbancha)
Yours truly had heard many a positive thing about Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, a group of musicians who accidentally got to know each other in the refugee camps in Guinea where they ended up after being on the run from the violence of the civil war in their homeland Sierra Leone, and it has to be said, their mix of Congolese soukous, rumba, reggae and a slew of other genres is contagious.
Prince Jammy - Strictly Dub (Pressure Sounds)
After Greensleeves ('Jammy's From The Roots 1977-1985'), the Pressure Sounds label in turn focusses on the early period of Prince Jammy with the reissue of 'Strictly Dub', a dubalbum that appeared on the fairly obscure New York based Jammy's Records label at the beginning of the 1980s.
Tamikrest - Adagh + Dirtmusic - BKO (Glitterhouse Records)
The members of Tamikrest consider themselves to be spiritual sons of Tinariwen and like Tinariwen this new generation of Tuareg musicians sings of the blues of their people and the beauty of the desert.