Various Artists - Reggae Loves Soul (Undisputed Records)
For 'Reggae Loves Soul' the French Undisputed Records label invited a series of reggae artists (Skarra Mucci, Chezidek, Turbulence, Ranking Joe, Glen Washington.
TelDem Com’unity - Absorption (Youz Prod/Musicast Distribution)
The music of TelDem Com'unity, a project from Burgundy in France exactly equals the sum of the different influences the individual band members added to the mix: for bassist Zeuspi and guitarist Mr Green that are influences from rock, Olliejam, responsible for effects and samples draws more from rap and hip-hop, drummer Aireas is a metalhead and vocalist/keyboardist Mayd Hubb turns to the world of reggae and dub for inspiration.
Tarrus Riley - Love Situation (Cannon/Jukeboxx/BSMG Productions/Zojak World Wide)
After 2012's semi-acoustic 'Mecoustic', Tarrus Riley now searched Treasure Isle's rich archives to go rocksteady for 'Love Situation'.
Various Artists - Penthouse Records 25 Years: The Story Continues (VP Records)
Donovan Germain's Penthouse label celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, among other things with the release of 'Penthouse Records 25 Years: The Story Continues', a double compilation album containing just short of fifty tracks from the label's rich catalogue, handpicked by the master himself.
Ed Robinson - On Covers (Push Broom Gang Productions Inc.)
Ed Robinson offers us a belated Valentine's gift in the form of his new 'On Covers' EP, for which the reggae crooner fully indulged himself in nostalgia and gave a number of massive hits from pop and rock history (Prince's 'Purple Rain', Foreigner's 'I Want To Know What Love Is', Paul Young's 'Everytime You Go Away', Guns 'N Roses' 'Sweet Child Of Mine', Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven', and so on and so on) the reggae treatment.
Tapper Zukie - The Man From Bozrah (Kingston Sounds)
Reissue of a classic album by the somewhat lesser known foundation deejay Tapper Zukie from 1978.
Lake Worth Long Shots - Wood Rich (One Love Music)
Lake Worth Longshots are Michael Castro and Bradley Christopher (these days joined by Justin Lund), who, after failing to find a drummer for years, developed their own acoustic and bass-less version of reggae-with-a-punk-edge with songs talking about their relationships ('Poon Tune', 'Decisions', 'Savior'), and, what did you expect, the green herb ('Ganja Tree', 'Sensi').
Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita - Clychau Dibon (Astar/V2)
This album is all about the sound of the harp: on the one hand that of Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, who made a name for herself in the folk scene, and, on the other, the African harp or kora of Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita.
Various Artists - Music From The Source (Riverboat Records/World Music Network)
We've been keeping an eye on the releases of the Riverboat Records label (voted Best Independent World Music Label at the latest edition of WOMEX) for a while now, but because the label is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this year, they are now releasing this double compilation album featuring a selection of thirty-five songs from their great catalog.
Balcony Players - Balcony Adventures Around The World (Self-published)
In 2011 Balcony Players released their debut effort 'Balcony Go Crazy' and soon after the Dutch gypsy and klezmer ensemble embarked on a musical journey through Europe, topping things off with a flyover to Brazil and the United States.
Dobet Gnahoré - Na Drê (Contre Jour)
You have but to look at the cover of this new Dobet Gnahoré album to realize that this gorgeous African singer is not to be trifled with.
Hijaz - Nahadin (Zephyrus Records)
The term "hijaz" refers to a scale from Arabic music, but as a band name it's also a nod to jazz.
The Heptones - Good Life (Greensleeves/VP Records)
When Leroy Sibbles moved to Canada in 1978, in The Heptones he was replaced by Naggo Morris, a roots singer who'd already made a name for himself with the hit song 'Su Su Pon Rasta'.
Various Artists - AudioArt presents Op’Ra Dub Style (Irie Ites Music/One-Drop Music)
The fact one can really do almost anything with dub is once again proven by Uly E.
Sisyphos - Travel Wide (Self-published)
Describing the sound of Sisyphos isn't really all that hard, as the members of this eight-piece Italian band from South Tyrol have clearly been inspired by German band Seeed and the fact that they alternate smoothly between German, Italian and English only reinforces the similarity between both bands.
Various Artists - Songs For Reggae Lovers 5 (Greensleeves)
Valentine's Day, it is and remains a largely commercial event, and yet every year yours truly looks forward to that date mid-February.
Tinariwen - Emmaar (Wedge/Pias)
We're still unconditional fans of their desert sound, but allowed to play devil's advocate for a second we do wonder how many Tinariwen albums a person really needs.
Various Artists - Jackpot Dub: Rare Dubs From Jackpot Records 1974 - 1976 (Jamaican Recordings)
From now on we’ll also be featuring the releases of Jamaican Recordings and Kingston Sounds on these pages.
Danakil - Entre Les Lignes (Baco Records/Pias)
Yours truly will probably never become a big fan of French band Danakil, but we have to admit 'Entre Les Lignes', already the Parisians' fourth album (not including live and dub albums), is far from a bad effort.
Kanka - Watch Your Step (Dubalistik)
Amateurs of heavy dub sounds will definitely like 'Watch Your Step', a production by French dub producer Kanka (born Alexis Langlois).