Natalia Lafourcade Gains New Perspective with a Powerful Alter Ego
By adopting a new persona, Natalia Lafourcade delves deeper into her folkloric sonic landscape, uncovering new perspectives along the way.
world music
Sami Galbi’s ‘Ylh Bye Bye’ Is an Incredible Debut
Swiss-Moroccan producer Sami Galbi crafts a warm, inviting blend of chaabi, North African folk music, trap, and global club sounds, creating a DIY street party
Francis Bebey’s Remarkable Legacy Shines on New Compilation
Francis Bebey made music that was traditional and future-facing, synthesized and acoustic: worldly music, in tune with both past and present, yet never nostalgic.
El León Pardo Offers a Celestial Reimagining of the Known
El León Pardo carves out new corners while slipping in a few nods to pre-colonial indigenous musical ideas, soaking them in reverb and layering on slippery grooves.
Pachyman Expands Dub Horizons on ‘Another Place’
What Pachyman is doing is too fresh to ignore, crossing enough lines that even the most cynical reggae skeptic will find plenty to enjoy here.
Amazonian Band Kayatibu Transmit the Forest’s Voices
Kayatibu’s NI HUI explores encounters between human societies, humans and animals, and plants and humans, and is proudly infused with the Amazon’s life force.
Elana Sasson’s Persian and Kurdish Influences Are Captivating
Elana Sasson is brilliant, and In Between is yet another elegant work treating tradition and high art with dignity and reverence while finding new ways to present them.
Mali’s Salif Keita Sounds Inspired on Irrestible ‘So Kono’
If Un Autre Blanc was Salif Keita’s music coming to a head, then certainly So Kono makes for a soothing and stunning denouement to his recording work
Kinshasa’s Kin’gongolo Kiniata Debuts with Bold Grooves
Kin’gongolo Kiniata translate vibrant existence into thrilling music with a modern punk edge and hope for the possibilities of better things that start from the ground up.
Iran’s Farnaz Ohadi Reclaims Freedom Through Flamenco
“Flamenco allows that raw expression of emotion and anger that I’m constantly feeling, the need to express, the need to fight for those who cannot,” says Farnaz Ohadi.
Raúl Monsalve Explores Vibrant Afro-Venezuelan Connections
With Sol, Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos add their soulful illumination to a world in which there are always bright and beautiful moments and music like this.
Derya Yıldırım’s ‘Yarın Yoksa’ Is an Astonishing Dream
Derya Yıldırım is a revelation, an artist with the kind of (literal, figurative) voice that makes legends. She finds deep meaning in everything she does musically.