Raul Paz - Havanization (Naïve)
When music critics mention Raul Paz, the description "pioneer of the new Cuban wave" (a group of young Cuban musicians who washed ashore in Paris in the 1990s) is often used.
Various Artists - Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots In Colombia, 1975 - '91 (Soundway Records)
For the 'Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots In Colombia, 1975 - '91' compilation the Soundway Records label left familiar African waters to head to the Caribbean coastline of Colombia.
Quique Neira - Jah Rock (GLM Music)
The name Quique Neira will perhaps not immediately ring a bell, but if we add that in the past Quique played with Gondwana, some reggae lovers will know what we're on about and in his home country Chile he has already made a name for himself.
Tanya Stephens - Infallible (Tarantula Records)
Tanya Stephens may have called her new album 'Infallible' (and because she no longer believes in album sales she's even offering it as a free download), but is la Stephens actually infallible herself? In all honesty we can find little bad to say about this album: lyrically Tanya is quite potent and inventive ('Still Alive' on the problems of AIDS and HIV) and musically things also sound as they should; but we do to wonder how long she will keep rehashing the same theme - Tanya is looking for a man, but the specimen she encounters are always too drunk, too ugly, too lazy or too promiscuous - before it will start getting boring.
Horace Andy - Serious Times (Minor7flat5)
It had been since the release of Cocoa Tea's 'Biological Warfare' in 2007 since we last heard anything from Andreas 'Brotherman' Christophersen's Minor7flat5 label and we already started fearing the worst.
The Moon Invaders - Live At The AB Club (Grover Records)
Yours truly got to know The Moon Invaders a few years ago as backing band for artists like Pat Kelly, Rico Rodriguez and Doreen Schaeffer; a Belgian version of The High Notes so to speak.
Fra Fra Sound - Black Dutch & More (Self-published)
Surinam-Caribbean Netherlands-based septet Fra Fra Sound this year celebrates its 30 year anniversary.
Haytham Safia - No Complication (Me & My Records)
Haytham Safia is essentially a classically trained Palestinian oud player.
Vinicius Cantuaria - Samba Carioca (Naïve)
Yours truly has never been fond of Brazilian party genres like samba or frevo, but we're always up for a dose of jazzy bossa nova, samba for intellectuals so to speak, and that is exactly guitarist/percussionist Vinicius Cantuaria's field of expertise.
Hedzoleh Soundz - Hedzoleh + Sweet Talks - The Kusum Beat (Soundway Records)
Yours truly knows the Soundway Records label mostly from their excellent compilations filled with vintage African highlife, afrobeat and funk, but with the reissue of 'Hedzoleh' and 'The Kusum Beat' this time they are focusing on two great Ghanaian albums.
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).