Ibibio Sound Machine - Ibibio Sound Machine (Soundway Records)
The world music genre continues to generate new hybrids and from London comes us this time into the Soviet Union Ibibio Sound Machine, a project around British-Nigerian singer Eno Williams.
She'Koyokh - Wild Goats & Unmarried Women (Riverboat Records/World Music Network)
Inspired by traveling nineteenth century klezmorim, She'Koyokh (Yiddish for "nice one"), a band with an international lineup from London's East End, serves a contemporary take on the klezmergenre.
Rey Cabrera Y Sus Amigos - Controversia (Self-published)
With 'Controversia' Belgo-Cuban tres player Rey Cabrera is celebrating his five decades as a performer.
Habib Koite - Soô (Contre Jour)
The first thing we noticed about this new album by Habib Koite is that his longtime backing band Bamada seems to have disappeared into thin air.
Dawjah & Wicked Band - Light Of Hope EP (Keep The Fayah Burning)
Wicked Band is a band from the French Auvergne region, who for this 'Light Of Hope' EP joined forces with vocalist Dawjah.
Thiecko - Stand Tall (Wiseman Prod)
The list of musicians with whom Senegal-born Thiecko, himself a former member of the Senegalese formation Amandla, collaborated for 'Stand Tall' is nothing short of impressive: Robbie Shakespeare, Dean Fraser, Glen DaCosta, Bongo Herman, Danny 'Axeman' Thompson, Franklyn 'Bubbler' Waul.
Various Artists - Evolution Of Dub Volume 8: The Search For New Life (Greensleeves)
Greensleeves has arrived at the eighth' and last volume of their 'Evolution Of Dub' series, a box which, still in line with the tribute to Charles Darwin's 'On The Origin Of Species', this time got 'The Search For New Life' as a subtitle.
Aziza Brahim - Soutak (Glitterbeat Records)
Yours truly got to know Aziza Brahim, residing in Spain but born in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, thanks to her 2012 album 'Mabruk'.
The Souljazz Orchestra - Inner Fire (Strut Records)
Release after release Canadian band The Souljazz Orchestra seems to continue to mature and their new album 'Inner Fire' undoubtedly belongs to their best work so far.
Mitch - Letters From Kingston EP (Undisputed Records)
After earning a name for himself alongside Da'Ville as a member of dancehall formation ARP (A Raw Perspective), Mitch (Roger Mitchell) is these days trying it solo and with the six track 'Letters From Kingston' EP (recorded in collaboration with Parisian Undisputed Records) above all else he seems to like to show off his skills: for catchy opener 'Return Of The Mack', Mitch gave Mark Morrison's world hit of the same name a reggae treatment, 'I've Got To Go' clearly has all the trades of a Rihanna tune, 'Mr Collie' is a nice combination with Michael Rose and Cali P, for 'Nice And Slow' he takes the lovers approach and closing track 'Promised Land' even has a Latin vibe going.
DaMeek - Mi Energy (MJH Musik)
MJH Musik, the Jamaican label that got us to discover Jah Lewis a while ago, this time presents us with DaMeek’s debut album 'Mi Energy'.
Adrian Raso & Fanfare Ciocarlia - Devil's Tale (Asphalt Tango Records)
For the instrumental album 'Devil's Tale' Canadian guitarist Adrian Raso combined his gypsy jazz guitar style (think Django Reinhardt, who gets a tribute with the song 'Django') with the impressive horns of Romanian Fanfare Ciocarlia.
Boris Kovač & La Campanella - Eastern Moon Rising (Riverboat Records/World Music Network)
Although the cover of 'Eastern Moon Rising' might suggest differently, you shouldn't expect gypsy vibes from Serbian Boris Kovač & La Campanella, but rather jazz and tango influenced almost cinematic music.
Various Artists - Haïti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960 - 1978 (Strut Records)
With this double compilation album compiled for Strut Records by Hugo Mendez (Sofrito), we dive into the history of Haitian compas direct, a genre that is based on traditional Haitian meringue (although musically related, not to be confused with Dominican merengue) and was developed in the 1950s by saxophonist/guitarist Nemours Jean-Baptiste.
Capital Letters - Reality (Reggae Archive Records)
Capital Letters have released three albums over the years, but only one of those managed to conquer a place in our collective reggae memory.
Black Symbol - Journey (Sugar Shack Records)
Onesty abides us to admit we frankly had never heard of this band from Birmingham.
Various Artists - Rise Up: The Riz Records Story (Reggae Archive Records)
Reggae Archive Records already focused on the Fashion Records label with two earlier releases and this time it is the turn of Nick Manasseh and Gil Cang's smaller and perhaps lesser known Riz Records, active in the 1990s.
Deliman - Still Blazing EP (Union World Music)
Viennese singjay Deliman's (born as Christian Lahodynsky) 2011 debut album 'Unconquerable' unfortunately didn't reach us, but we want to draw your attention on to his new release, the five track 'Still Blazing' EP, for which he again joined forces with Austrian Union World Music.
Imam Baildi - III (Kukin Music/Minos EMI/Universal)
Imam Baildi (also spelled "imam bayildi"), is the name of a Turkish-Greek dish Wikipedia describes as: eggplant stuffed with onion, garlic and tomato, braised in olive oil and served at room temperature, but it's also the name of a Greek band centered around brothers Lysandros and Orestis Falireas.