Ellen McIlwaine Made Music For ‘We the People’ 50 Years Ago
By combining multiple styles, playing techniques, and cultural influences, Ellen McIlwaine challenged notions of genre classification and embraced music as a “universal language”.
By combining multiple styles, playing techniques, and cultural influences, Ellen McIlwaine challenged notions of genre classification and embraced music as a “universal language”.
The best global music albums demonstrate how much art comes specifically from connections between people and the importance of the places they bring with them.
These sounds are some of Batida’s most dramatic to date as Neon Colonialismo is made for hot, dark nights of the best kind.
Kottarashky and the Rain Dogs dig deep into the possibilities of contemporary Balkan folk-pop assemblages on Doghouse. There’s much here that’s truly exquisite.
Putumayo’s Afro-Cubano continues the breezy, tropical tour of the world, pouring new ingredients into their familiar aural elixir.
The Rough Guide to the Music of Yunnan is yet another admirable volume of the venerable Rough Guides series with its embrace of many forms of diversity and very catchy tunes.
Ibrahim Maalouf and Angelique Kidjo reinvent the Solomon-Sheba legend as a cross-cultural story with contemporary resonance on Queen of Sheba.
Slipping on a Paris Combo album is like sliding into the ease of a Sunday afternoon. The rhythms’ soft sway and Belle du Berry’s charming vocals don’t urge; they invite.
Red Baraat’s Sonny Singh celebrates Sikh spiritualism with more than a dash of Western pop’s global power on Chardi Kala, but its dependence on pop balladry weakens it.
The Good Ones’ raw truths and achingly beautiful music reach staggering depths on Rwanda… You See Ghosts, I See Sky.
Congotronics International, a supergroup of Konono Nº1 and Kasai Allstars members and guests, make their recorded debut with Where’s the One? It’s phenomenal.
Pierre Kwenders’ José Louis and the Paradox of Love is inventive and heartfelt. Kwenders isn’t simply blazing a narrow trail but opening up a cosmos.