about contributors submissions book series advertising contests tour dates Mixed Media PopMatters Picks
|
|
Deanne SoleFeatures
WOMADelaide 2009From the fanaticism that surrounded Seun Kuti’s Saturday night performance to the seated crowd that succumbed to Dona Rosa’s smile, WOMADelaide was a mix of sights, styles, and instruments. [31 March 2009] The Best World Music of 2008Albums from India, Central America, Australia, Quebec, and Ethiopia are but a globetrotting fraction of the year's best music from around the world. [11 December 2008] Saint VinnieDeanne Sole journeys Melbourne's charity outlets, exploring the fundamentals of the down under St. Vincent de Paul outlet: Bargains, surprises, drunks. [9 July 2008] Kids Don’t Go and Buy Anything Out of This Section: World Music 2007As a category world music is both useful and frustrating. It puts CDs on the shelves and prevents people picking them up. It is the other-than category: other-than rock, other-than indie, other-than everything. It is the whole world and nothing definite. [18 December 2007] East and West: World Music in 2006From Thailand to Tanzania, from France to Cuba and Romania: Deanne Sole's wrap-up of the year's best world music trips the globe fantastic. [12 December 2006] Reviews
Toto La Momposina: La BodegaToto la Momposina is one of those musicians who would have to work at being anything less than good. [6 November 2009] 
Vandana Vishwas: Meera - The LoverThrough most of the album, the mood is one of devout serenity and subtle modulation. [29 October 2009] 
Ariana Delawari: Lion of PanjshirThe album sweeps along on extravagant rowls of fuzz and trippy, slurring string arrangements. [26 October 2009] 
Watcha Clan: Diaspora RemixedAs usual with remixes, it's interesting to find out what the different remixers keep and remove. [20 October 2009] 
Monika Jalili: ÉlanHer voice moves with a dolorous slowness without actually seeming sad. [19 October 2009] 
Brownout: Aguilas and CobrasThe funk side of things swells, and a new sound, psych, makes an entrance, bringing with it fresh guitars and a river of violins to cushion the alertness of the Latin trumpets and percussion. [13 October 2009] 
Various Artists: EspañaThe compilers have aimed for Putumayo's usual easygoing, catchy aesthetic -- their in-house style -- and hit it without faltering. [12 October 2009] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Tango RevivalWhile the word "revival" might suggest musicians trying to breathe fresh life into a corpse, the players here perform like people who are continuing a tradition, not Frankensteining one. [11 October 2009] 
Huun Huur Tu & Carmen Rizzo: EternalIf you had to sum this album up in one note it would be a long vibration -- something like the extended chime of a bell. [5 October 2009] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Irish FolkGeoff Willis, the compiler, must have been aiming to put together a concise round-up of living musicians who show their own fidelity to established styles. This comes off pretty well. [2 October 2009] 
Various Artists: Comfusões 1: From Angola to BrasilThe album's personality sits somewhere between Angolan lament and the more extroverted intervention of the Brazilians. 
Väsen: Väsen StreetThe gravity of their playing gives each song a feeling of being presented or framed, as if on a stage, illuminated. [30 September 2009] 
Syran Mbenza & Ensemble Rumba Kongo: Immortal Franco: Africa’s Unrivalled Guitar LegendA Franco tribute led by Syan Mbenza was always likely to be played with fidelity. [29 September 2009] 
Kiila: Tuota TuotaThere are moments of real exhilaration, which, thanks to the roaming structure of the music, seem to come along serendipitously. [24 September 2009] 
TriBeCaStan: Strange CousinTriBeCastan makes a "cross-cultural crossroads" sound natural, flexible, and easy. [16 September 2009] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Merengue DanceSmart music with a one-track mind. [7 September 2009] 
Kimi Djabate: KaramKimi Djabate sings like a neighborhood storyteller who just happens to have a good voice. [3 September 2009] 
Doug Cox & Salil Bhatt: Slide to Freedom 2: Make a Better WorldThe ethereal diffusions of the sitar get a fine grounding from the North American blues-groove. [1 September 2009] 
Cecilia Noël: A Gozar!The audience asks for dancing, and Noël gives them something to dance to. [31 August 2009] 
Deolinda: Canção Ao LadoCanção ao Lado is fado music that grins at moody aesthetes and applauds practicality and humour. [27 August 2009] 
Navegante: MicrocosmosA surge of electro bop 'n' strut, Microcosmos incorporates bits of hip hop, Latin America, rock and dance. [26 August 2009] 
Baaba Maal: TelevisionSinging has never been Baaba Maal's problem. Finding something interesting for the voice to do is more of a challenge. [25 August 2009] 
Elizete Cardoso: Canção do Amor DemaisShe sounds like a woman who has grown experienced without also having grown bitter, rueful but far from broken. [19 August 2009] 
Lura: EclipseDescribing Lura as a younger, nonsmoking Cesária Évora is partly right yet partly wrong. [17 August 2009] 
Michael Olatuja: SpeakThe guitar licks a smooth path through 50 minutes of gospel and soul, with Yoruba touches dropped in along the way. [11 August 2009] 
Tony Allen: Secret AgentIf drums were pens he'd be writing political mystery thrillers. [6 August 2009] 
Various Artists: The World Is Shaking: Cubanismo from the Congo, 1954-55Honest Jon's is doing something unusual here, taking us back to the early days of the style, opening a window into the years before the Greats came along. [5 August 2009] 
Various Artists: Funk Aid for AfricaKeyboard chills here and there. Bits of lush guitar set off against teasing brass. [29 July 2009] 
Various Artists: Panama! 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk On The Isthmus 1967-77Musica tipica, supplemented handsomely by styles from the outside. 
Omar Souleyman: Dabke 2020: Folk & Pop Sounds of SyriaEven the keyboard seems scraped and bleeding. [23 July 2009] 
Mariachi Real De San Diego: Mariachi ClassicsTraditional mariachi being upheld with absolute fidelity. [19 July 2009] 
Aritomo: Kowai KomorebiThe songs on Kowai Komorebi are pastorals that thicken into horror movies. [15 July 2009] 
Various Artists: Legends of BeninAt the heart of Legends of Benin lies the spiral, the curve, the unfinished circle that leads to its replica. [14 July 2009] 
Ojos de Brujo: AocanáAocaná seems to me softer than their past work, more laid-back, with less scratching and fewer u-turns. [7 July 2009] 
LSD March: Uretakumo NakunarutorikaIt has been put together to disorient the listener. [5 July 2009] 
Mamer: EagleMamer demystifies the experience of Chinese Central Asian music and keeps the beauty of the sound. 
Ben Reynolds: How Day Earnt Its NightA thoughtful conversation between him and the guitar. [23 June 2009] 
Lily Storm: If I Had a Key to the DawnThe songs she has chosen sound like laments, or the love songs of women whose lovers are absent. [22 June 2009] 
Various Artists: Boogaloo Pow Wow: Dancefloor Rendez-vous in Young NuyoricaThis collection of raucous 1960s New York boogaloo has a strong soul component. [20 May 2009] 
Mamane Barka: Introducing Mamane BarkaIf you want a biram album then this is obviously the one to buy. It's not as if you've got much choice. [19 May 2009] 
Hermas Zopoula: EspoirThis mild-mannered guitarist from Burkina Faso with his acoustic soukousish meandering sounds nothing like Seu Jorge. [18 May 2009] 
Tenniscoats: TemporachaThey spend half their time wondering about the next note they're going to play and the other half feeling surprised because they've found it. [14 May 2009] 
A.R. Rahman: The Best of A.R. RahmanHis ability to grab quotations from unexpected places gives him plenty of chances to throw in a musical joke if he wanted to, but it doesn't seem to be in his temperament. 
Márcio Local: Don Dree Don Day Don DonThere's such delight and energy in everything he does that if he has a success with this album, it will be hard to grudge him his good luck. [13 May 2009] 
Ximo Tebar & Ivam Jazz Ensemble: StepsThere's heat in here, yet the listener is never allowed to forget that steady hands are in control. [5 May 2009] 
Balkan Beat Box: Nu Made (Remixes)While not a great album in its own right, it's a nice addition to the Box's small canon. [3 May 2009] 
Various Artists: The Definitive Japanese Scene Vol.1A well-ordered, well-selected assortment. [29 April 2009] 
Various Artists: Marvellous Boy: Calypso From West AfricaThe tracks are stubbornly various, each song unexpected. [24 April 2009] 
Liz Carroll & John Doyle: Double PlayThe beauty of this album lies in the way the instruments manage to keep a buttery, human impressionism even while they're playing swiftly. [20 April 2009] 
Toubab Krewe: Live at the Orange PeelThe West African touch Justin Perkins brings in with his kora and kamel ngoni gives the American rock sound something to work with. [16 April 2009] 
Yonlu: YonluA thoughtful, intelligent musician with an absurdist sense of humour, smart without being boastful. [14 April 2009] 
Kate Mann: Things Look Different When the Sun Goes DownA swaying, strong-jawed album. [6 April 2009] 
Amadou and Mariam: Welcome to MaliIf Amadou and Mariam's last album felt like a shift in the couple's career, then Welcome to Mali feels like an even greater one. 
The Isles: TroikaThe guitars make a yearning, ringing sound, a 1980s-Manchester echo. [25 March 2009] 
Jerks of Grass: Come on HomeWhen these musicians push their instruments as far as they'll go they don't hide it. [23 March 2009] 
The Idan Raichel Project: Within my WallsListening to Within my Walls is like watching waves run up and down a beach. [12 March 2009] 
Various Artists: Arriba la Cumbia!Arriba la Cumbia has its heart in the right place. [5 March 2009] 
The Hermit Crabs: Correspondence Course EPBeneficiaries of a Glaswegian fey-pop habit, the members of the Hermit Crabs sound plaintive even when they're addressing subjects that are not plaintive at all. [26 February 2009] 
Luaka Bop: Three Inches of Music SeriesIt's not a surprise to see that two of the musicians on these three discs come from Brazil. [9 February 2009] 
Mumiy Troll: Comrade AmbassadorProof that ex-punks from Vladivostok are as capable of creating mainstream-indie "rockapops" as anyone else anywhere on the planet. [5 February 2009] 
Kočani Orkestar: The Ravished BrideIt's easy to forget the influence that military brass once had, but every now and then a group like the Kočani Orkestar comes along to remind us. 
Various Artists: Putumayo Presents: African ReggaeA good-natured introductory disc. [25 January 2009] 
Luminescent Orchestrii: Neptune’s DaughterTunes from Romania and Moldavia have been smartened up, the jagged parts polished off to make them move more neatly, and with more of a sensual, jazzy roll. [22 January 2009] 
Madera Limpia: La CoronaWhat looks like it would be a rap album with some Cuban touches turns out to be much more Cuban than expected. [19 January 2009] 
Juaneco y su Combo: Masters of Chicha Vol. 1To a listener raised on English-language rock music, listening to this is something like listening to filmi versions of mambo tunes or cowboy songs. [16 January 2009] 
Ablaye Cissoko & Volker Goetze:SiraSira is lovely in lots of small and unobtrusive ways -- it sort of wanders up to you, does its thing gently for a while, then melts away into the foliage, mission accomplished. [15 January 2009] 
Marianne Dissard: L’EntredeuxMarianne Dissard lives in Arizona but doesn't sound like it. She sounds French. [8 January 2009] 
Soy Un Caballo: Les Hueres de RaisonThe male/female duo of Soy un Caballo concentrates on being enigmatic and adorable the way Axl Rose concentrates on being loud. [6 January 2009] 
Group Inerane: Guitars From Agadez (Music of Niger)This might be the first time that Sublime Frequencies could be mischievously accused of jumping on a bandwagon. [19 December 2008] 
Various Artists: Sound of the WorldSound of the World: Beyond the Horizon is the most eccentric collection of foreign-language songs widely available, and the best one to pick up because of it. [3 December 2008] 
LA JR: 17 Animales17 Animales is an orchestrated series of false starts, feints, ruses that sound as if they might resolve themselves into melodies at any minute, but never do. [1 December 2008] 
Dozan: Introducing DozanThe neatness of the arrangements, and the way the voices come together, suggest madrigals. [26 November 2008] 
Loreena McKennitt: A Midwinter Night’s DreamOn this Christmas album, the courtliness seems unnecessarily flowery. [25 November 2008] 
Hector Zazou & Swara: In the House of MirrorsZazou was an eager cross-cultural collaborator. It seems right that his final album should be a cross-cultural collaboration. [18 November 2008] 
Sol y Canto: Cada Día un RegaloIs Sol y Canto looking for a gig at the local suburban shopping centre food court? [17 November 2008] 
Genticorum: La BibournoiseLa Bibournoise probably won't dazzle you straight away, but the album has real warmth. [14 November 2008] 
Los Cenzontles with David Hidalgo: Songs of Wood & SteelThis album is a worthy experiment that needs more work. 
Bio Ritmo: BionicoEvery piece of pop culture wishes it had an audience this charismatic. [11 November 2008] 
Abiyou Solomon: In Search of My RootsSunny mild-funk brass, breezy keyboard pop, and pan-African guitar, combined with Ethiopian music's usual weird and delicious stagger. [10 November 2008] 
Rabih Abou-Khalil: Em PortuguesThere's a feeling of power in this album, of adult strength being channeled and directed towards a common goal. [6 November 2008] 
Various: The Rough Guide to Colombian Street PartyThis is exactly how a party album from a respected world music label should be handled. 
Julie Fowlis: CuilidhFowlis has a sure voice, and her light, decisive handling of the songs is pleasant to hear. [29 October 2008] 
Frigg: Economy ClassThe musicians in Frigg shoot along in tandem, rather than slide eelishly around one another in interlacing patterns, as the members of some other Nordic groups do. [27 October 2008] 
The Zydepunks: FinisterreFinisterre hits a good balance between keeping the music boisterous and genuine-sounding, and leaving it clear enough to be intelligible. [21 October 2008] 
Buika: Niña de FuegoBuika has the right way of sounding drunk yet alert enough to mourn and scorn absent lovers. [15 October 2008] 
Davila 666: Davila 666Davila 666 is a big, fat, gleeful, slappy, smacky, hip-jerking, howling, dumb-as-a-rock-and-proud-of-it garage rock album from Puerto Rico. 
Ólafur Arnalds: Eulogy for EvolutionThe pathos that runs through both albums is powerful, flexible, something more complex than simple melancholy. [10 October 2008] 
Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko: Africa to AppalachiaThe kora, with its lacelike and intricate patterns of notes, is the more attention-catching instrument, and you could easily forget that this album is a partnership and start to think of it as a Mansa Sissoko project. [2 October 2008] 
Seprewa Kasa: Seprewa KasaThis album is all soothe and salve, looking back to the heyday of highlife. [1 October 2008] 
Sir Victor Uwaifo: Guitar Boy Superstar 1970-1976This ekassa sits on a borderline between the tightness of West Africa’s acoustic dance bands, and loose-limbed rock. [24 September 2008] 
Tagaq: Auk/BloodAuk/Blood has the feel of a poetry reading, something in a closed theatre, hermetic and impressionistic. [17 September 2008] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of MaliAn album that is paradoxically almost redundant and almost perfect. [9 September 2008] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of the Romanian GypsiesRomanian Gypsies moves restlessly from one idea to the next, as if it has a dozen itches and wants to scratch each one in turn. [5 September 2008] 
Spam Allstars: Introducing Spam AllstarsThe songs on this album have a feeling of freedom about them, of unspamlike variety and decompression, as if each one on its own could easily roll on for hours without running out of steam. [28 August 2008] 
Funkadesi: Yo BabaYo Baba is a reggae-bhangra party album, at least that's how it starts. [26 August 2008] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of JapanThink of a Rough Guide to the Music of the United States that included blues, Gershwin, a contemporary country singer, one Cajun track, and nothing from any pop star, no rock music of any kind. [22 August 2008] 
Hanggai: Introducing HanggaiIntroducing Hanggai is more than an introduction to Hanggai: it could also serve as an introduction to indigenous Mongolian music on the whole, a gateway Mongolian folk album for non-Mongolians. [12 August 2008] 
The Garifuna Women’s Project: UmalaliSofia Blanco comes into Umalali with a salty alertness, strong as iron, pointed as nails, a fierce and mournful sound. [11 August 2008] 
Various: The Rough Guide to Australian Aboriginal MusicThe Rough Guide to Australian Aboriginal Music is the best all-around single-disc introduction to Aboriginal music available at the moment. [5 August 2008] 
Kakande: DununyaDununya is the sound of a man taking the tradition he's got and making it larger. [29 July 2008] 
Sa Dingding: AliveAlive is exploratory yet ultimately gentle. It's more daring than most of China's mainstream croon-pop, but similarly unwilling to strike out at its audience. [28 July 2008] 
Samantha Crain: The ConfiscationThe Confiscation is short but strong, a debut album that seems to promise a solid future career. [25 July 2008] 
Various: The Rough Guide to Arabic CaféListening to the Rough Guide to Arabic Café, I realised that this is not the same as the music you would expect to hear if you were sitting in a Western coffee shop. [23 July 2008] 
The Curse of Company: Leo Magnets Joins a GangThere are pop songs in here but most of them try not to stand out. A vehicle for wistful indie chic. [22 July 2008] 
Koenjihyakkei: Hundred Sights of KoenjiFor all its musical experiments, the album has the simple appeal of a potboiler novel: it picks up a flag of roaring melodrama and flourishes it rampantly, in triumph. [18 July 2008] 
Various Artists: Radio Myanmar (Burma)It would have been disturbing if Radio Myanmar had taken the same route as Radio Thailand, and made the SPDC junta's propaganda instruments sound deliberately exotic and surprising and fun. [17 July 2008] 
Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara: Soul ScienceCross-cultural fusion albums are sometimes criticised for their falseness, but there’s no sense of falseness here, no condescension, simply a set of songs that couldn’t be made in any other way. [11 July 2008] 
Various Artists: Living is HardLiving is Hard is a compilation that deserved to be made, not only because the music is beautiful and worth hearing, but because it offers us a glance into the idea of continuity, of the flow of time. [10 July 2008] 
Various: Black StarsBlack Stars is an adeptly compiled hiplife snapshot, giving us a sampling of recent arrivals like Tic Tac, as well as godfather figures such as Reggie Rockstone. [8 July 2008] 
Group Doueh: Group DouehThe songs on Group Doueh were recorded by the group itself, “at home", say the liner notes, “on modest cassette recording equipment". But you don’t need to read the packaging to know that. [2 July 2008] 
Isol / Zypce: SimaSima argues the existence of an Argentinean pop scene that creates smart and pleasantly eccentric music. [30 June 2008] 
Sonantes: SonantesA good-humoured album, mild-mannered, laid-back, and enjoyable -- an album without fury or evil thoughts. [23 June 2008] 
Asha Bhosle: 75 Years of AshaThere are characteristic Asha touches, those nimble trills and teases, but nothing as ruthlessly energetic as some of the other Asha songs you might have heard. [4 June 2008] 
Debashish Bhattacharya: Calcutta ChroniclesThis is an excellent disc, one that rewards multiple visits. [3 June 2008] 
Various: The Rough Guide to Cuban Street PartyThe party atmosphere of Cuban Street Party doesn't rely on remixes, as it did in parts of African Street Party. It doesn't need them. [30 May 2008] 
Various: Think Global: Fiesta LatinaEnlightenment has taken a back seat: this is a party album. [27 May 2008] 
Various: Think Global: Native AmericaNo group of people should be made to sound this relentlessly nice. [23 May 2008] 
Babylon Circus: Dances of ResistanceFootage of the group's live performances shows seas of people shaking their arms, and after listening to Dances of Resistance nothing in that picture feels exaggerated. [14 May 2008] 
In Township Tonight! by David B. CoplanCoplan's work here sometimes sags under the soggy weight of too much praise, but the whole thing is so good that the distraction is forgivable [2 May 2008] 
Gaudi + Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Dub Qawwali RemixesYou remix qawwali to make it easier for people who don't want to sit through ten minutes or more of a single song. [25 April 2008] 
Le Vent du Nord: Dans Les AirsDans Les Airs has the air of a good democracy, a core stability that doesn't stifle the inhabitants. [21 April 2008] 
Perunika Trio: Introducing Perunika TrioNot all of the songs work around the drone and the whip, but it's these yips and yelps that have lingered; the intense sound of high-pitched and precise female explosions. [17 April 2008] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of Hungarian GypsiesHungarian Roma music, according to this Rough Guide, has a dancing energy, like a ball always bouncing forward. [28 March 2008] 
Étienne Daho: L’invitationPolished music with streams of semi-formal strings and songs in which the intimacy sounds autobiographical rather than sexy. [27 March 2008] 
Fredda: Toutes mes AventuresThese are songs that are made to be enjoyed almost without conscious effort, clever tracks with sticky little choruses that saunter into your head and refuse to go away. [21 March 2008] 
Pouya Mahmoodi: MehrMahmoodi has a mild-mannered, steady voice with an elongated lilt and a gentleness that makes him sound as if he’s singing to himself and you happen to be accidentally overhearing him. [18 March 2008] 
Bokar Rimpoche: Sacred Chants and Tibetan Rituals from the Monastery of MirikThe purring groan of the enormous horns and the glittering chimes of the bells are intensely eerie, and then there is the gradual, heaving chant of the massed monks... [12 March 2008] 
The Habibiyya: If Man But KnewThere are stylistic touches that suggest Morocco, but if you hadn’t heard the story about their holiday then you’d think they had been inspired by Japan. [6 March 2008] 
Toumast: IshumarIt’s as if ag Keyna has looked back at the work Tinariwen has done, felt that the sound he wanted to build on had already been established, and, with that support behind him, felt free to experiment. [3 March 2008] 
Pascal: GalgbergetGalgberget is nothing revolutionary, but it's full of heart and commitment. [27 February 2008] 
Arabesque Music Ensemble: The Music of the Three MusketeersFrom a marketing point of view, it would have been sensible to call this CD For the Love of Umm Kalthoum, or Umm Kalthoum's Composers or something else with Kalthoum's name in it. But no ... [22 February 2008] 
L’Arc~en~Ciel: KissThis is pop-rock pushed to a point of such lush and serious melodrama that it almost tips over into camp. [18 February 2008] 
Orchestra Ethiopia: Éthiopiques 23Éthiopiques 23 sits partway between the countryside folk music atmosphere of Éthiopiques 12 and the modern professionalism of an Alèmayèhu Eshèté, between trained singing and artless strum. [14 February 2008] 
Brian Grosz: Bedlam NightsOn this album Brian Grosz cultivates an atmosphere of scuzz. [4 February 2008] 
Various: The Matinée Hit ParadeThe Californian label Matinée loves songs that are jangly, modest in scale, neat in enunciation, tidily formed, and often wistfully expressed. [25 January 2008] 
CéU: Remixed EPDo Brazilian women ever get excited? So many of the ones we hear tend to sigh over us at a wombling Girl-From-Ipanema pace. [11 January 2008] 
Various Artists: Ethnic Minority Music of North VietnamThe music of people who know that they will never be asked to face huge audiences and rarely required to sing to anyone other than themselves and their friends. [10 January 2008] 
Various: Melodii TuviMelodii Tuvi is a lesson in contrasts, a remedial class for anyone who thought that all throat singing sounds the same. [3 January 2008] 
Various Artists: Black MirrorIan Nagoski's selection is culturally broad, taking in Buddhist prayers from Laos, a Portuguese fado recorded in 1927, Irish-American piper folk and a prepubescent Swedish boy warbling over a zither. 
Martin Atkins China Dub Soundsystem: Made in ChinaIn effect, Pigface has changed continents and absorbed a few dozen new members. [21 December 2007] 
Shark Move: Ghede ChokrasThere's something ineffably charming about this unabashed flower-child music with its whales and butterflies, and not even aged source vinyl can ruin it. 
Various: The Rough Guide to the Music of ParisIt's as if World Music Network wanted to release a follow-up to their Rough Guide to Paris Café Music but for some reason decided that it wasn't complete without a bit of Putumayo tucked in front of it. [17 December 2007] 
Chica and the Folder: Under the BalconyChica and the Folder is a kind of new wave electronic boniness warmed over and fleshed out with the kidneys and blood of South America. 
Woelv: Tout Seul dans la Forêt en Plein JourTout Seul is an album that had the potential to be pretentious. That it avoids pretension and seems instead intelligent, exploratory, and heartfelt, is a tribute to the musician. [12 December 2007] 
Ben Baruch: Ben BaruchAnyone who has been looking for a loving reissue of some serious Jewish singing need seek no further. [7 December 2007] 
Shuta Hasunuma: OK BambooOK Bamboo is a good album to have on while you're doing something else. You can dip in and out of it. 
Various: Think Global: World ChristmasMore like an adventurous sampler of interesting, sometimes surprising, songs rather than just a Christmas album. [5 December 2007] 
Už Jsme Doma: Cod Liver OilThe simplest way to sum up this album would be to call it art metal. [4 December 2007] 
Alèmayèhu Eshèté: Éthiopiques 22The way he uses his voice sometimes suggests that Elvis would have sounded better in Amharic. [29 November 2007] 
Kitka: The Rusalka CycleMention mermaids and your audience might picture magic, Disneyland, and smiling little girls. Kitka is looking for listeners who want a harder version of mythology. [27 November 2007] 
Various: Music of Nat PweDespite the piercing oboes and the clashing of gongs, the music on Music of Nat Pwe is sweet and catchy at heart. [20 November 2007] 
Various: Porque Este Océano es el Tuyo, es el MíoThis album, its mouthful of a title borrowed from Pablo Neruda, is a compilation of indie pop tracks from South and Central America. [19 November 2007] 
The Real Tuesday Weld: The London Book of the DeadThe landscape of Coates's songs is the size of a shoebox diorama. [15 November 2007] 
Taraf de Haïdouks: MaškaradăWith the fan base they've built up over the past two decades, the members of Taraf de Haïdouks could have gone on reworking past successes forever like a Roma Rolling Stones. [13 November 2007] 
Alejandro Franov: KhaliAlejandro Franov helps Juana Molina with her albums. On Khali he uses instruments that imitate the flowing sound of water, rain, or rivers. 
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Segu BlueIf Kouyaté is trying to turn himself into the Diabaté of the ngoni, an innovator who takes ancient instruments and tunes and moves them forward, then he's going about it in the right way. [12 November 2007] 
Bi Kidude: Zanzibara 4 / Various: Zanzibara 3Zanzibara 3 is Afro-retro comfort food, hot soup for chilly evenings. Zanzibara 4 asks more from you. [8 November 2007] 
Various: The Rough Guide to the Music of BrazilThe genius of Brazil, according to Armstrong's collection, is intricate and involved, often backed by hard percussion but profoundly light. [5 November 2007] 
Puerto Plata: Mujer de Cabaret.Not like the Cuban music familiar to Buena Vista fans but brisker, tangier, rougher, more earthy. [31 October 2007] 
Toni Iordache: Sounds from a Bygone Age Vol. 4It's not easy for a cimbalom to draw the spotlight in an ensemble but Iordache had the skill to take centre stage and pull it off. [26 October 2007] 
Various: Think Global: Women of AfricaAnyone who has had more than a passing acquaintance with the African part of their music store's World section is going to find most of this familiar territory. 
Columbiafrica - The Mystic Orchestra: Voodoo Love Inna Champeta LandComplex without being confusing, a brilliant Frankenmixture that sounds completely natural. [25 October 2007] 
Aroah: El Día DespuésThe music seems to look inward, as if the singer is addressing herself before considering us, but it doesn't have the fierce self-absorption or the lack of humour that the word 'intensity' can suggest. 
Various: Caravan of LightMystic woodwind, sitars, Buddhist chants, Tibetans, yearning voices -- if it sounds like New Age territory, well, it is. 
Various: The Rough Guide to Salsa ClandestinaLesser-known, less commercial, more diverse Latin music that still holds to some traditions like the clave beat, but also bears the mark of more underground or alternative strains. [23 October 2007] 
Various: The Rough Guide to Latin FunkThe music on The Rough Guide to Latin Funk is, exactly as it says on the box, Latin Funk. [19 October 2007] 
Various: The Rough Guide to Latino NuevoMusic that is "exciting, innovative" and identifiably Latino. [18 October 2007] 
Wayne Gorbeas Salsa Picante: Introducing Wayne Gorbeas Salsa PicanteIn this compilation dedicated to the work of salsa pianist Wayne Gorbea, Salsa is the focus but there are also excursions into rumba and mambo. [17 October 2007] 
Saba: JidkaSaba Anglana's debut album is both a likeable set of songs and canny piece of Euro-Afro feelgoodery. [16 October 2007] 
Various: Think Global: SalsaThink Global: Salsa is a solid, reliable compilation for anyone who wants an album that will cheer them up and not ever sound like anything they don't already imagine salsa to be. [15 October 2007] 
Extra Golden: Hera Ma NonoWhen I heard about the struggle Extra Golden went through to get their first album done, I didn't seriously think they would make a second one. [8 October 2007] 
Circo: CursiCursi, the band's third album and their Sony debut, is one of those CDs that wants to be your best friend for a season and then give way to something else equally uplifting and ginseng-infused. [4 October 2007] 
Various: The Rough Guide to FlamencoPassion in a tidier form... that's flamenco for you. [1 October 2007] 
Various: The Roots of ChichaThe Roots of Chicha jogs along on a wave of good humour, jaunty male singing, and an overall vibe of pride and pleasure. [25 September 2007] 
Various: Thai Pop SpectacularYou might be able to file Thai Pop Spectacular away on the Wacky shelf, but the thrilling stab of Thai Country Groove is less easily dismissed. [20 September 2007] 
Oliver Mtukudzi: Tsimba ItsokaHe’d be the man who sets a hand on your arm, telling you, “People should be decent to one another,” and you’d know that he wasn’t saying it just to make small talk. [19 September 2007] 
Zap Mama: SupermoonDespite her obvious admiration for US hip-hop, Daulne's music-making spirit has always been more French than North American. [13 September 2007] 
Bob Brozman Orchestra: LumièreThere is no Orchestra. Lumière is what happens when a virtuoso decides to enjoy himself. [7 September 2007] 
Nawal: AmanIn a world that celebrates pop music youth, this woman sings with the dignity of an adult. [30 August 2007] 
Various: World HitsIt's the album you'd buy if you were around in the '80s and found yourself yearning to hear "Lambada" again. [29 August 2007] 
Aly Bain and Ale Möller: Beyond the StacksLike many sequels, it gives you more of the same but you don't mind at all because you enjoyed everything so much the first time around that you didn't really want it to change. [28 August 2007] 
Väsen: Linnaeus VäsenThe three string musicians are all as good as they were on Live in Japan, yet I like this album less. [21 August 2007] 
Nedelle: The Locksmith ComethNedelle's simple singer-songwriter style invites us to put her in the company of other singer-songwriters who have sung simply. [2 August 2007] 
Kenge Kenge: Introducing… Kenge KengeIn their explosiveness they're closer to David Fanshawe's field recordings of East African rural music, the hooting bung'o horn and so forth, than the tidier benga from Shirati Jazz. [1 August 2007] 
Oreskaband: OreskabandAs if half of Morning Musume had decided to pick up trombones and start covering Toots and the Maytals. [27 July 2007] 
Sarolta Zalatnay: Sarolta ZalatnayUltimate, absolute, utter gusto would need more waaaaaow! but the gusto she's got is great. [25 July 2007] 
Lunabee: Prenez Garde Aux Flots BleusA small, unexplained, perhaps inexplicable object. [19 July 2007] 
Papa Noel: Café NoirPapa Noel's songs sound even more Cuban than you would expect from the doyen of a music scene inspired by Cubans. [18 July 2007] 
Erol Josué: RéglémanThere's a gravity to Régeléman that becomes immediately deepened and explicable when you realise that the Haitian singer is being religious. [9 July 2007] 
Dobet Gnahoré: Na AfrikiIt's disappointing to discover that Cumbancha's latest release is an album that asks to be tossed in the "Africans With Nice Voices Singing Nice Songs" drawer. [26 June 2007] 
Islaja: Ulual YYYIt no longer feels like a jungle that I have to wander through, admiring but mute, eyes wide, dumbfounded by crackles and squeaks. [22 June 2007] 
Various: MerdekaMerdeka is a superior example of a charity comp; it doesn't leave you thinking that the compilers have tossed it carelessly together just to raise money. [19 June 2007] 
Various Artists: Le Pop 4A Gigi of an album: a voluptuous and innocent charmer from France. [18 June 2007] 
Forro in the Dark: Asa BrancaNone of the mixes are bad, none are exceptionally good, they're just sort of there. [14 June 2007] 
My Sister Klaus: Chateau RougeChateau Rouge has the kind of underground attitude that leaves an album vibrating with its own buzzy kick, but here the buzz never consolidates itself in a climax. [11 June 2007] 
Hauschka: Versions of the Prepared PianoTo really love it I'd have to enjoy Tarwater's "World of Things to Touch" as much as I like "Para Bien" and I don't, I can't. 
Somi: Red Soil in My EyesRed Soil is worth checking out, even if soft jazz is not usually your thing. [6 June 2007] 
Benni Hemm Hemm: KajakThat professional-amateur sound Hermannson is aiming for can be a tricky thing to perfect. [4 June 2007] 
American Bhangra: American BhangraThe title is an overstatement and the cover design is ordinary but underneath the clumsy packaging thumps the heart of a very good debut bhangra album. [14 May 2007] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Bollywood GoldThe Rough Guide to Bollywood Gold manages to be a solid contribution to a swelling genre without ever feeling like an essential disc. [11 May 2007] 
Burbuja: BurbujaA distant aural cousin to the scenes in the garden at the start of Blue Velvet. [10 May 2007] 
Benjamin Escoriza: Alevanta!After listening to Alevanta! it's easy to think of this as the fifth Radio Tarifa album that never was. [8 May 2007] 
Various Artists: Desert Roses 4It's a compilation from the World Music Middle East rather than the wholly Middle Eastern Middle East. [30 April 2007] 
Oojami: Boom Shinga LingEven his firmest piece of dance has silk ribbons of Turkish folk music wriggling through it. [17 April 2007] 
Turbo Tabla: The Belly and the BeatNagi reworks his own raw material and the result is tight and natural. [16 April 2007] 
Tujiko Noriko: SoloThis is an album for people who like pop's chirpiness but distrust its obviousness. [12 April 2007] 
Slavic Soul Party: Teknochek CollisionAccordions and brass instruments came out and everyone bounced robustly around. [2 April 2007] 
Num9: The Glow-worms ResistanceI read the press kit and then listen to the CD and feel as if I'm missing something. [26 March 2007] 
Christina Rosenvinge: Continental 62Like many singer-songwriters, she has misgivings about love and partnerships. [22 March 2007] 
Breadfoot feat. Anne Phoebe: Tea with LeoNew York-based Breadfoot picks at his banjo and six-strong Dobro like a country boy. [21 March 2007] 
Tinariwen: Aman ImanTinariwen plays rock guitar with a rangy American sound, broad and lazy and slow. [16 March 2007] 
The Crayon Fields: Animal BellsThe Crayon Fields makes pop that hangs around like a dense mist, opaque but ultimately diffuse. [15 March 2007] 
Nanny Assis: Double RainbowDouble Rainbow is an album of easygoing covers leavened with a few original compositions by Brazillian Nanny Assis and his friends. [14 March 2007] 
The Hermit Crabs: Feel Good Factor EPThe Hermit Crabs is a Glasgow band that plays whispery, loving twee-pop. [28 February 2007] 
Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective: WátinaAfter years spent turning himself into Belize's most successful punta rock star), Palacio has simplified his music down to an almost completely acoustic style 
Z: MikabeIt's the music of fits and starts: a grunt, a strum, a scream, a honk, a hoot, an eruption into noise, a retreat into guitar-whine. [27 February 2007] 
Good Shoes: The Photos on My Wall EPGood Shoes' Britpop has the smacky, slapping rhythm of 1970s punk. [26 February 2007] 
Ballaké Sissoko: TomoraMali's kora is an aristocratic instrument and Djelimoussa Ballaké Sissoko is one of the expert players. 
Omar Souleyman: Highway to HassakeIt's music for clapping your hands and whirling to, music for mass, messy, male bounce-fests. [15 February 2007] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of South AfricaThe township dip-and-heave rhythm that runs through most of these tracks, sometimes blatantly, sometimes subtly, unites them, making this one of the more coherent Rough Guides. [9 February 2007] 
Idan Raichel: The Idan Raichel ProjectWhen The Idan Raichel Project first arrived in my mailbox last year I was trying to think of ten albums that I could put in a list to mark the end of 2006 and I liked this one so much that I almost included it. [5 February 2007] 
Marina Rossell: Vistas al MarIt's as if the singer's emotions have been locked inside a box, and she has to speak pleasantly, otherwise the guards will never give them back to her. [1 February 2007] 
La Cumbiamba eNeYé: MarionetaThis is no straight Latin American party album... it's more various and less hit-fixated than that. [25 January 2007] 
Bole2Harlem Volume 1The press kit describes Bole2Harlem's sound as the work of a group of friends from different countries who like to get together in the same club and jam, and that collective neighbourliness has rubbed off on the songs. [11 January 2007] 
Selda Bağcan: SeldaIf you're a fan of Turkish 1970s psychedelic music, then 2006 was a good year. [8 January 2007] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to YodelBy the end we're left in no doubt that Plantega sees American yodelling as the most significant yodelling on the planet, and while this is going to leave people from other parts of the world feeling ignored, at least it means that we get to hear a good selection of cowboy songs. [4 January 2007] 
Saborit: Que Linda Es Mi CubaThis tres guitar has the sharpest metallic jangle you can imagine, and the claves knock like knuckles on a hollow door. [2 January 2007] 
Ariesta Birawa Group: Vol. 1, IndonesiaAriesta Birawa Group sounds moderately-paced, good-humoured, and more conservative than the Beatles. [22 December 2006] 
Hoven Droven: Jumping at the CedarTune after tune rises and rears and smashes down, coming to rest here and there in the calm pools of "Kom Hem" and "Årepolska". [18 December 2006] 
Sally Nyolo and the Original Bands of Yaoundé: Studio CameroonSome of these musicians seem to be the equivalent of those local groups that play at the pub down the road. [15 December 2006] 
Boom Pam: Boom PamBoom Pam has a way of taking old music and juicing it with new ingredients, finding a twist, an angle, that brings it to life and makes the audience forget that it's old. [12 December 2006] 
Darko Rundek and Cargo Orkestar: Mhm A-Ha Oh Yeah Da-DaIt can be blaring, cynical, adult -- sometimes harsh, but also rueful-sweet with a controlled undercurrent of idealistic humanity. [7 December 2006] 
Mustafa Ozkent: Gençlik Ile EleleOzkent was a nationalist, but he blends his Turkish folk influences so perfectly into the modernity of the psyche-jazz-funk that you might not even notice them. [1 December 2006] 
Various Artists: Electric Gypsyland 2Electric Gypsyland 2 is a good sequel: a playful, explorative sequel that takes the basic idea from its predecessor and uses it as a foundation, not a restriction. [29 November 2006] 
Les Primitifs du Futur: World MusetteWorld Musette could use less world and more musette. [28 November 2006] 
The Master Musicians of Joujouka: BoujeloudThe thumping of the drums is so relentless that it seems to be trying to beat you down and drown you in a state of pre-consciousness. [19 November 2006] 
Eglantine Gouzy: BoamasterBoamaster feels like an enticing pre-sexual tease, centred on cocoons, secrecy, and a dark, faintly threatening, aura of childishness. [16 November 2006] 
Dona Dumitru Siminică: Sounds From a Bygone Age Vol. 3He sounds like a mature 30- or 40-something alto woman armed with the mournful fatalism of a second Coleridge contemplating the albatross. 
Malena Pérez: StarsStars is a celebratory album, and also a happy one. Singing, "What if I told you that you're beautiful? / Would you believe?" Pérez sounds sincerely interested in the answer. [13 November 2006] 
Fiamma Fumana: OndaOnda is listener-friendly, but it could do with some yelling louts to bring the niceness into sharper relief. 
Tartit: AbacabokComparisons between Tartit and the better-known Tinariwen seem inevitable, but, really, there's no reason why one should be confused with the other, or why you shouldn't like both in different ways. [9 November 2006] 
Chamellows: Rat HeartsIt's the sound of decay, and of deliberate destruction; it's the musical equivalent of those artworks for which the artist draws a picture and then scribbles over it, or piles up an assemblage of rubbish and branches. [7 November 2006] 
Various Artists: Live at the CedarAll of the tracks were recorded at Cedar concerts and none of them sound as if they've been thrown in just to get a famous name on the cover. [6 November 2006] 
Shugo Tokumaru: L.S.T.Tokumaru is a musical Philosopher's Stone; he transmutes even chickens into gold. [1 November 2006] 
Dýrðin: DýrðinAre they a band to fall in love with? Only if you also love the toys that come out of vending machines -- no, not the cheap rubber balls and wobbly snakes, but the ones that have had some thought put into them. [31 October 2006] 
Golem: Fresh off BoatPunk is too strong a word for this band. The singers shout and wail, and the instruments sometimes leap into high gear, but their thrashing isn't angry punk thrashing. They're not rebels. [27 October 2006] 
Various Artists: From BakabushYou could almost forgive Stonetree if From Bakabush sounded amateurish and the songs were shaky and ragged. Instead, the label has put together an album that serves as both an introduction to the label and a superbly enjoyable invitation to the region's music as a whole. Hisato Higuchi: DialogueThere's a delicacy here that you suspect would be violated by anything so vulgar as a lyric. [26 October 2006] Benni Hemm Hemm: Benni Hemm HemmAs a reminder of the intrepid, home-made spirit of much Icelandic music and the varied uses to which folk can be put, it's an interesting CD to have around. Band Ane: Anish MusicAne Oestergaard is restless and inquisitive and can't leave things alone -- she's compelled to fiddle. [25 October 2006] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to West African GoldFor someone who wants to hear a good sampler that includes enough of the essentials to keep a newcomer informed, but doesn't retread tunes that will bore old-timers, The Rough Guide to West African Gold hits the nail on the head. [23 October 2006] 
Rodrigo y Gabriela: Rodrigo y GabrielaThe album is a slap in the face for every rock star who has ever decided to arrange acoustic versions of their songs and forgotten that "acoustic" doesn't necessarily mean "slow and boring". [20 October 2006] 
Rumen and Angel Shopov: Soul of the MahalaSoul of the Mahala sits between the conservatory and the ghetto. It's music from the wrong side of the tracks played with technical proficiency and respect. [10 October 2006] 
Hazmat Modine: BahamutBahamut is old New York huckster showmanship, hopping with exaggeration and bravura; it's also a cross-cultural collaboration, a celebration of pre-1950s American musical pop culture, and a polished piece of work. [9 October 2006] Various Artists: The Rough Guide to BachataIt's nice to see bachata being given space to show off its strengths away from the shadow of its attention-grabbing neighbour, merengue. [4 October 2006] 
Nina Nastasia: On LeavingOn Leaving might as well be called On Ageing and Disillusionment. [2 October 2006] 
Zukanican: Horse RepublicHorse Republic is not the album to play if you're feeling hungover. [27 September 2006] 
Leichtmetall: Wir Sind BlumenIt's too fey and reticent for pop, and too hooky to be simply atmospheric. [25 September 2006] 
El Aviador Dro: Eléctrico!: The Best of Aviador Dro 1978 - 2006Storied Spanish synth-pop techno band remains a mystery, despite this first US release. [21 September 2006] 
Lataye: Tou ManbreMellow, reggae-influenced, Haitian Afro-rock with touches of old-school electric guitar and keyboard. [20 September 2006] 
Kad: SociétéYou can thake the French ex-pat out of his home, but you can't take the home out of his music. [19 September 2006] 
Maneja Beto: Accidentes de Longitud y LatitudManejo Beto proves that too many ideas can wind up being too much of a potentially good thing. [18 September 2006] 
Various Artists: Panama!Panama! doesn't have the feeling of infinite riches that compilations from larger countries such as Brazil sometimes achieve, but it's still a solid effort. 
Lady & Bird: Lady & BirdTwee angst from a French-Icelandic duo manages to be just interesting enough to avoid saccharine over-indulgence. [15 September 2006] 
Salif Keita: M’BembaOn its own terms, M'Bemba has some good moments, but if it didn't have The Voice sending out its goosepimple power then I'd be more dismissive of it. 
The Little Ones: Sing Song EPThe Little Ones prove to be impressive without being overly distinctive, trading challenges for talented execution. [11 September 2006] 
Various Artists: Free the PConsciousness rap goes international in a effort to spotlight the plight of Palestine. [8 September 2006] 
Los Abandoned: Mix TapeLos Abandoned come up with chorus hooks that teach themselves to you like a natural instinct. I was singing along before the album had reached the end of the first song. 
Nicki Jaine: LiveCabaret vocalist mixes up sultry, surreal modernity with traditional numbers for great effect. [7 September 2006] 
JPP: ArtologyArtology is not radically different from JPP's earlier releases, but the group is, as always, reliably excellent. [6 September 2006] 
Bombadil: BombadilBombadil is nothing earth-shattering, but it's a very happy way to spend 20 minutes of your time. [5 September 2006] 
Various Artists: Voyces United For UNHCRBenefit album to aid the UN Refugee Agency goes slightly awry... [30 August 2006] 
Lovejoy: England Made Me EPA faded fin de siècle sunniness sustained by a wall of spangled keyboard hum and series of ascending chords and notes that wash over you in waves. [29 August 2006] 
Sila And The Afrofunk Experience: Funkiest Man In AfricaFunkiest Man In Africa is so glad to be alive, someone should start a cult around it. [16 August 2006] 
Various Artists: Confuzed DiscoA generous spread of music, some of it still with its hints-of-the-'70s flavour intact, but much of it remixed recently by contemporary DJs who have streamlined the old sounds and made them pump and thump. 
Electric Lights Flashing Very Fast: Let There Be Lights EPElectric Lights Flashing Very Fast is a talented group of thunderers, well able to wind up their music and send it bursting over you in jellied, semi-psychedelic waves. [15 August 2006] 
Various Artists: Ethnic Minority Music of Northeast CambodiaI can't tell you whether this album is better or worse than other recordings of northeastern Cambodian animist tribes, because, to be honest, it's the first one I've heard, and for all I know it's the only one available. [14 August 2006] 
Various Artists: Radio ThailandIt switches rapidly from one sound to another as if the listener is wandering down a street catching brief snatches of radio from different doorways. [11 August 2006] 
Lulendo: AngolaAngola doesn't often produce international musicians, but when it does, then they're usually worth the wait. [9 August 2006] 
The Hallelujah Chicken Run Band: Take OneOther compilers might provide us with overviews of famous names, but only a fan is going to put this much love into showcasing bands that would otherwise have been nothing but footnotes to the English-speaking world. [7 August 2006] 
Phi Ta Khon: Ghosts of Isan (2006)The audience is in the position of an uninformed observer; like a tourist who wanders in... doesn't the language, just drifts around... sometimes feeling thrilled, occasionally feeling bored. [2 August 2006] 
Edip Akbayram: Edip AkbayramIn Edip Akbayram's mouth, the dreamy, hopeful sunshine of hippie psychedelica has merged with a dramatic lament. 
Presents The Songs of Sheikh Sayyed Darweesh ‘The Soul of a People’Sheikh Sayyed Darweesh (nationalist, opera-lover, maker of rhythmic drag) gets a well-deserved showcase. [31 July 2006] 
Al-Andalus: AlchemyAnd yet, as the album went on, I began to realise that there was something of substance here... [28 July 2006] 
Think of One: TráficoMusical collectives are often hit and miss, but Think of One hits far more often than it misses. [21 July 2006] 
Chavela Vargas: At Carnegie HallYou might think that the people in this audience are idiots for cheering at a raspy voice. You might prefer raw, bitey, old Vargas to young Vargas. You might not know what to think. [14 July 2006] 
Pedro Luis Ferrer: NaturalThe album of an honest man, who works without tricks or promises or loud bangs. [10 July 2006] 
Elvy Sukaesih: The Dangdut QueenSukaesih's pop songs sit sweetly at the intersection of the Islamic religion that most of Indonesia's population follows, and the Hindi films they love to watch. [13 June 2006] 
TV-Resistori: Serkut Rakastaa ParemminIn its smart lumpiness, it has the same appeal as those ugly-adorable vinyl monster toys made for adult collectors. [9 June 2006] 
Various: Turkish GrooveI want shine. I want bubblegum shine. I want beautiful men and handsome women. [6 June 2006] 
Romica Puceanu and The Gore Brothers: Sounds From A Bygone Age: Vol. 2Romica Puceanu never made a name for herself outside Romania, which is fine for the Romanians but harsh on the rest of us. We've been missing out. [26 May 2006] 
Boban Markovic Orkestar feat. Marko Markovic: The Promise: The King of Balkan BrassThe solo flugelhorns are exciting, but it's the sound of the group that brings the album together. [25 May 2006] 
Various Artists: ParisIt's music to make you feel good, or, at least, 'good' in the modest sense of leaving you sleepy and smiling and disinclined to do wrong. [22 May 2006] 
Kal: KalThe band vivifies their traditional music with boings and booming echoes, wah-wah pedals, tango, and konakkol singing. [17 May 2006] 
Extra Golden: Ok-Oyot SystemThere were three reasons why I wanted to love this album... [9 May 2006] 
Storsveit Nix Noltes: Orkideur HawaiStorsveit Nix Noltes are the sweatiest and most rambunctious non-Bulgarian Bulgarian group around. [5 May 2006] 
Juana Molina: SonThe sun is warm and we're both intelligent people. Let's have some fun. [4 May 2006] 
The Green Arrows: 4-Track Recording SessionIf you told me that this is a perfect representation of the band as they were during the 1970s, I'd believe you without a qualm. [3 May 2006] 
Gecko Turner: Guapapasea!He's so cool that he can groan, "How come you do me like you do me?" and sound as if he's saying something meaningful, even intriguing. [24 April 2006] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Flamenco NuevoSome compilations summarize a genre. This one makes it look larger than you expected. [21 April 2006] 
Abidin Ensemble: From The Day I Was Tossed Here: A Tribute to the Poetry of Nazim HikmetVictoria Serruya finds a fine line between grand formality and genuine emotion, while Yaghi Malka and Ehud Gerlich drone thoughtfully on the double-bass and cello, and Oren Fried taps a slow-paced drum. [19 April 2006] 
Various Artists: Dada, Pansaers et Correspondance; Volume 1 (1917-1926)Meet James Ensor. Meet the people who came after him. But first, learn French. [18 April 2006] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of TanzaniaIt's an entire music store in a single album. Or something like that. [11 April 2006] 
Black Ox Orkestar: Nisht AzoyBlack Ox Orkestar bring a darkly serious tone to the world of folk music. [7 April 2006] Womadelaide FestivalThe grass did its best to stand up to a weekend of dancing, but in patches we killed it, leaving its blades to dry out in the heat and turn to fine hay. [31 March 2006] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of IsraelThere's more to Israel than bombs and bad news. [16 March 2006] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Urban LatinoA good mixture of anger, pop, and energy, with one surprise. [13 March 2006] 
Devics: Push the HeartWith four albums already behind them, Sara Lov and Dustin O'Halloran use Push The Heart to gather themselves together and plan for the future. [10 March 2006] Samite: EmbalasasaEmbalasasa is an album of warm, kind singing with a warm, kind flute and warm, kind drums. [27 February 2006] 
Various: CongotronicsSix new bands help Konono No. 1 expand the sound of the Congo street aesthetic. [16 February 2006] 
Gregor Samsa: 55:12Gregor Samsa create long, moody indie-ambient landscapes in which occasional monsters spring out at you. [15 February 2006] 
Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys: DominosDominos draws the living and the dead together in a jaunty two-step strut. [9 February 2006] 
Ian Anderson: Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull [DVD + CD]For a non-Tull Tull, it's a good Tull, but hardly an essential Tull. [8 February 2006] 
Thandiswa: ZabalazaA honeyed solo debut from one of South Africa's well-loved female singers. [6 February 2006] 
Zulya and The Children of The Underground: The WaltzZulya's voice is as silvery as ever, but now she has a better band, and racier, more multilayered tunes. [1 February 2006] 
Julia Sarr and Patrice Larose: Set LunaSet Luna is an album of serene, sweet-natured flamenco with a strong West African twist. [26 January 2006] 
Väsen: Live In JapanVäsen crosses the formal skill of a chamber orchestra with the dynamism of a folk band and comes up with a wonderful live recording. [25 January 2006] 
Motion Trio: Play-StationThere are not many experimental accordion groups who take their musical cues from arcade games. Motion Trio do it with inventiveness and technical skill. [23 January 2006] 
Ion Petre Stoican: Sounds from a Bygone Age, Vol. 1Asphalt Tango does a great job of reissuing this Romanian violinist's only album, a 1977 LP with a terrific backing band and arrangements by a 'cimbalom god'. [19 January 2006]
Various Artists: Sound of the WorldThe latest instalment in Charlie Gillett's series of annual world music round-ups is a mixed bag of favourites, imperfect but interesting, an appetite-whetter. [18 January 2006] 
Amadou and Mariam, Dimanche À BamakoTheir collaboration with Manu Chao brings the good parts of all three musicians together in wonderful ways. [17 January 2006] 
Gangbé Brass Band: WhendoGangbé Brass Band sound like a group of men leading a parade down the road with streamers flying over their heads and the sun shining. [16 January 2006] 
Gangbé Brass Band: WhendoGangbé Brass Band sound like a group of men leading a parade down the road with streamers flying over their heads and the sun shining. 
Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars: Carnival ConspiracyFrank London and his Klezmer Brass Allstars marry klezmer music with carnival exuberance, farting, fruity tubas, Rabelais, and shouts of ah-ha!" [9 January 2006] 
Les Yeux Noirs: tChorbaBack with their sixth album, Les Yeux Noirs turn 'Eastern European, Jewish, gypsy... and rock music', into a friendly, polished blend. [4 January 2006] 
Frigg: OasisFrigg is a fiddle group, first and foremost, and their fiddles are not the dark fiddles or rock fiddles or mystic fiddles that you might find on other Northside releases, no, these are dancing fiddles. [21 December 2005] BlogsRe:Print: Lovesong by Elizabeth Jolley [21 September 2009]Re:Print: Bible Readings for the Home Circle [27 August 2009]Re:Print: African Writers Series, Founding Editor: Chinua Achebe [14 July 2009]Re:Print: Miss MacIntosh, My Darling [28 April 2009]Re:Print: A minor poet and his longest poem: John Dyer and “The Fleece” [6 March 2009]Re:Print: Ann Radcliffe [19 September 2008]Re:Print: In appreciation: Bruno Schulz [2 October 2007]Re:Print: The great Christina Stead [24 September 2007]Re:Print: In appreciation: The Book of Disquiet [22 August 2007]Re:Print: Author appreciation: Henry Treece [13 August 2007]Short Ends and Leader: Depth of Field: Big Girls and Little Heroes [20 June 2007]Re:Print: Secondhand Wonderland: Library Book Sale [3 June 2007]Re:Print: Author Appreciation: William Hope Hodgson [21 May 2007]NewsWorld music finds a home at WOMADelaide 2009 [27 January 2009] |
Now on PopMatters
Columns
Moving Pixels: Parent-Child Bonding: Video Games that Bridge the Generation Gap The Rockist: Metal, Back from Purgatory
Blogs
Short Ends and Leader: Shameless! Tasteless! Hilarious! The Films of Yakov Levi Marginal Utility: A Quick Theory of the Self Mixed Media: Monsters of Folk - “Temazcal” (video) Sound Affects: Masters of the Form: Rage Against the Machine (1992) Moving Pixels: Cut Scenes Can Work in Games Notes from the Road: Fuck Buttons + Growing: 4.Nov.09 - Washington DC
Music
:. Say Anything: Say Anything :. Wolfmother: Cosmic Egg :. The Swell Season: Strict Joy :. Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms :. Karen O and the Kids: Where The Wild Things Are :. Slaraffenland: We’re on Your Side :. Gloria Jones: Share My Love
Film
:. The Men Who Stare at Goats :. Endgame :. The Fourth Kind :. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire :. Disney’s A Christmas Carol :. Gentlemen Broncos
DVDs
:. Adult Swim in a Box :. The 39 Steps :. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Those Aren’t Pillows Edition)
News
:. Craig Ferguson’s autobiography is a testimony to America’s eternal appeal to immigrants :. INTERVIEW:Jeff Bridges abides, and works like crazy :. Roland Emmerich’s latest big-budget doomsday extravaganza is his ‘darkest film’ to date :. INTERVIEW:Hit repeat with Steely Dan and ‘Aja’ :. INTERVIEW:Lily Tomlin has had an extraordinary career being ordinary :. Film changes student’s course: ‘Precious’ star pursuing acting
|
