Dudubeat - Experience (2002)

«Experience is the debut project of the St. Petersburg-based duo Dudubeat. Its members, Karen Sargsyan (duduk) and Arsen Grigoryan (keyboards) brought together in it their love for the traditional melodies of Armenia and the desire to make them more modern, fully preserving the national colors, producing a tasteful blend of live instruments and electronic sounds. Combined with the electronic

Papaito - De Buenavista El Otro Sonero (2001)

«Papaíto (b Mario Muñoz Salazar, 5 Dec. '23, Buena Vista, Cuba, 4 June '00, New York City) Afro Cuban singer/ percussionist/ composer with engagingly poignant voice; worked with cha cha chá creator Enrique Jorrín, others; made films in Mexico and joined Sonora Matancera there, continuing as a member into the '90s; left Cuba for good '60. Sessioned on many recordings, among them Mark Weinstein's

Tiken Jah Fakoly - Françafrique (2002)

«In the tradition of Bob Marley, Alpha Blondy, and his African griot caste, Tiken Jah Fakoly emerged in the late '90s as Africa's premier social critic through reggae. Born Doumbia Moussa Fakoly (June 23, 1968) into a family of musicians and oral historians known as griots, a role honored throughout Africa, Fakoly took an earnest interest in reggae as a boy growing up in the town of Odienné on

Postcards from Italy (60): Torino, Piazzetta Mollino

Novalima - Afro (2006)

Many thanx to an anonymous Peruvian reader for this post. «Though Novalima was originally started by four Peruvian musicians living in all four corners of the world (Barcelona, Hong Kong, London, and Lima), this experimental music group's membership spans much wider than that. Their sound and goal are much too broad to be thought of in a traditional "credits list" sense. Though the world is

Oc - La Musique Occitane à l'aube Du IIIeme Millenaire (1999)

«Fondé en 1999 par Christian Salès, OC vise à promouvoir la culture occitane à travers des créations artistiques. Notre collectif comprend musiciens, danseurs, plasticiens et spécialistes des technologies numériques de l'image et du son. OC collabore à des projets éclectiques de l'audiovisuel au spectacle vivant dans l'esprit d’ouverture occitan. Les créations OC comprennent des musiques, films

Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains (1984)

«After the debacle that was the making of 1982's Groovy Decay, Robyn Hitchcock briefly retired from music, and when he returned it was with an album that offered a thoroughly uncompromised vision of Hitchcock's imagination. Released in 1984, I Often Dream of Trains was a primarily acoustic set with Hitchcock handling nearly all the instruments and vocals by himself; the tone is spare compared to

African Blues (World Music Network, 1998)

«Blues? That’s American Deep South stuff, right? Well, not only. The quest for “authenticity” in music has taken so many spurious turns in recent years that it has perhaps managed to overlook the overarching patterns. It’s these patterns that have made up the blues, that inimitable form of misery set to music that’s as vibrant today as ever. It has a long history – musicologists have traced the

Bareto - Boleto (2006)

A great instrumental band from Peru, fusing Jamaican ska ad reggae, latin rock, Peruan cumbia, jazz, etc. This is their first CD. Their second work, the equally interesting Cumbia, came out in 2008. «Bareto es una banda instrumental que sigue la tradición de agrupaciones como Black Sugar y los Belkings, que se convirtieron en verdaderos animadores de las fiestas de toda una generación de