Evritiki Zygia's Ormenion has a ferocity that speaks to the tenacity of old traditions as well as to a progressive spirit. It's nothing short of hypnotic.
Marimba-driven cumbia punk sounds celebrate the old and new on Son Rompe Pera's debut album Batuco.
For International Women's Day, Les Amazones d'Afrique amplify the voices of West African women in their new video for "Queens".
Ibrahim Ferrer's Buenos Hermanos is a thoroughly enjoyable, perfectly realized example of Afro-Cuban music's appeal.
A remixed reissue of Ibrahim Ferrer's Buenos Hermanos brings one of Cuba's most iconic voices back into the spotlight.
Ostinato Records presents an array of revolutionary musicians on the impassioned funaná compilation, Pour Me a Grog.
A new Soul Jazz Records compilation presents Apala songs, created to reject colonialism and celebrate recent independence in late 1960s Nigeria.
Brooklyn bhangra heavyweight Sunny Jain draws on jazz, rock, and folk in a new, anti-xenophobia album Wild Wild East.
Algerian rock legend Rachid Taha's legacy of innovation lives on in the posthumous release Je Suis Africain.
Classic calypso from Lord Invader brings us incisive historical commentary with a new reissue of 1960's Calypso Travels.
A vinyl reissue of Tuareg Music of the Southern Sahara sheds light on the folk origins of today's thriving Saharan rock scene.
New voices bring fresh new perspectives to all-woman powerhouse supergroup L'Amazones d'Afrique on their bold sophomore release Amazones Power.
Smithsonian Folkways chronicles 50 years of folk recordings on Sound Portraits from Bulgaria. It is a truly essential addition to any global folk collection.
Strut Records compilation Alefa Madagascar! traces cultural flows and musical history in funk and folk, and shows a range of the nation's popular music styles from 1974 to 1984.
El Khat is a project of equal parts technical skill and intangible humanity, and Saadia Jefferson a singular masterpiece.
In each of our best "world music" albums of the year, artists ask their audience to leave behind insular world views and understand new perspectives.
Rwandan folk trio, the Good Ones fight harsh reality with a sense of love and hope for their third album, Rwanda, You Should Be Loved.
Before the vinyl reissuing of his rare, 1977 folk-jazz debut, Berlin-based Habibi Funk previews Issam Hajali's LP with "Intazirne".
Five decades into their career, Los Wembler's de Iquitos are still in full force on new psychedelic cumbia album, Visión del Ayahuasca.
Haitian group Lakou Mizik team up with a slew of prominent New Orleans artists to bring together these two geographic points in brilliant chorus on HaitiaNola.
Urgent new track "Tch'elema" sees Brooklyn's Anbessa Orchestra expressing a chaotic moment through Ethio-jazz sounds.
Yasser Tejeda and Vicente GarcÃa team for "Amor Arrayano", which takes on issues of love and politics, specifically those at the fraught Haitian-Dominican border
Peru's Dengue Dengue Dengue release their fourth album Zenit & Nadir today via Enchufada and it expands beyond their earlier success in the electro cumbia scene into a greater variety of rhythms and approaches.
Maria finds Carminho at her most intimate and personal, a collection of original tunes that honor the past while still defining her own voice as a trailblazing vocalist.
Austin-based folk group Ley Line interpret intercontinental flows of sound and spirituality for messages of environmental advocacy on their new single "Oxum".
Aban is the Garifuna Collective at their most dynamic, playing with textures and techniques for an album that exults in the potential for newness in musical frameworks long-established
Saharan collective Tinariwen reign over a star-studded album of sincere desert blues on their latest gem Amadjar.
Soul Jazz Records investigates the brilliant intersections of stateside jazz and Brazilian samba on Brazil USA 70.
Old and new Malian blues stars unite on calabash legend Hama Sankaré's latest solo album, Niafunké.
Ranky Tanky honor the Gullah culture of their South Carolina ancestors, even as they update that culture for the 21st century on Good Time.
Golden Dawn Arkestra make their earthly home in Texas. Founder Zapot Mgwai says, "I wanted to talk about how this could be the end for human beings if we don't get our shit together."
The Mariachi Ghost announce their new album, Puro Dolor, as dark theater unfurls between living piñatas in their new music video for "Cuerpo Mortal".
An electronic take on vintage Bollywood takes Vandana through supernatural scenery and behind-the-scenes chaos in her new video for "Ahsa".
Reissued Japanese psych-folk cult classic Misora shines a new light on the genius of singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu.
Quantic's Atlantic Oscillations sees his return to the forefront, with all original music that draws on house, disco, soul, jazz, dub, and Will Holland's wanderlust.
Ahead of new album Aban, the Garifuna Collective showcases the radiance of Belize and the resilience of the Garifuna culture in the new video for laid-back single "Hamala".
Idiosyncratic troubadour Moken returns with a story from his life as only he can tell it in the new video for "Machine Man".
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