Totally cool, totally amazing music from the enigmatic Francis Bebey – a contemporary on the early 80s African scene of William Onyeabor, and an equally experimental artists! Bebey used a fair bit of electronics, but often with sounds that had acoustic roots – in this case, the ultra cool sansa, which is a similar thumb piano to the kalimba – amplified here in really great ways, and mixed with some moody, dark elements throughout! The music has much more of a 70s vintage than you'd guess from the dates on the record – thanks partly to the raw percussion, and very offbeat production – which sometimes is mellow, sometimes bursts out in these shocking waves of sound. Titles include "Sanza Tristesse", "Forest Nativity", "Sunny Crypt", "Ngoma Likembe", "Guinee", "Di Saegi", and "Binta Madiallo". LP, Vinyl record album

Two early calypso albums on Capitol Records – both pretty unique! First up are some of the first-ever recordings by Harry Belafonte – material recorded in 1949, with Pete Rugolo backings that are really amazing – as jazzy and modern as anything Rugolo did for other singers of the time, with only a hint of calypso in the rhythms. Belafonte sounds quite different on the sides than in later years – still with those tremendous vocals, but almost more of a jazz singer at points – which is a really surprising discovery! This aspect's supported strongly by the choice of tunes – which includes "Deep As The River", "Farewell To Arms", "Close Your Eyes", "The Didn't Believe Me", and "I Still Get A Thrill". Next up is a full album of straighter calypso material by Lord Flea & His Calypsonians – but one that also has a bit of a Capitol Records groove! Flea plays acoustic guitar and sings, and percussion is nice and tight – but there's also a fuller sense of space on the record, one that really sets it apart from other 50s efforts of this type – kind of a Capitol clarity that really adds a lot of charm. Titles include "Out De Fire", "Mister Give Me De Rent", "It All Began With Adam & Eve", "Jump In The Line", "Run Run Run", "Love", and "Monkey". (Vocalists, Global Grooves) CD

Don't think "rock", think "groove" – because oud player John Berberian takes his instrument into some very groovy territory here – mixing its Mid-East roots with a sweet array of modal rhythms and psychedelic elements – all of which make for an album that's even trippier than you'd guess from its cover! The album's one of the few "jazz meets world" sets that really gets things right – bringing together different global elements to come up with a sound that's wonderfully new and fresh – and which moves the whole thing way past its roots in Turkish, Greek, Armenian, and North African styles! Joe Beck plays some great electric guitar on the record – but the main string focus is on the oud, which Berberian uses with this exotic tinge that rivals the instrument in the hands of Ahmed Abdul-Malik on his own albums like this. The lineup also includes tenor and other reeds from Souren Baronian, plus other percussion, and nice use of electric bass to hold the whole groove together – and titles include "The Oud & The Fuzz", "Tranquility", "Chem-oo-Chem", "Iron Maiden", "Flying Hye", "3/8=5/8=8/8", and "The Magic Ground". LP, Vinyl record album

A strangely beautiful set of African-tinged folksy soul – with a sound that's pretty darn tough to describe! Birigwa plays guitar and sings – and he's got a breezy style that sounds a bit like Letta Mbulu on some tracks – but a bit more folksy on others, given the largely acoustic setting of the album. The rest of the instrumentation here includes a range of percussionists, plus flute, tenor, piano, flugelhorn, and bass – the last of which is played by Phil Morrison of Stark Reality. Many of the tracks are short, personal, and poetic – but the album also features one longer cut titled – "Yelewa" – which has a jamming Afro jazz sort of groove! Other tracks include "Lule Lule", "Okusosla", "Njabala", and "Obugumba". CD

A really wonderful album from this ever-changing Brazilian group – a combo who started out in more standard Afro Funk modes years ago, but who've really shifted their music in all sorts of great ways over recent albums! There's still some strong use of horns and heavy percussion throughout – but they also work in keyboards and electronics in these really great ways – almost echoing some Brazilian musical experiments from that Trama Records generation at the start of the century, while also holding true to the more acoustic elements at their roots! Titles include "Baile Flutante", "Mar Virado", "Loa Lua", "Marginal Elevado Radial", and "Na Quarta Feira". (Brazil, Global Grooves) CD

A really wonderful album from this ever-changing Brazilian group – a combo who started out in more standard Afro Funk modes years ago, but who've really shifted their music in all sorts of great ways over recent albums! There's still some strong use of horns and heavy percussion throughout – but they also work in keyboards and electronics in these really great ways – almost echoing some Brazilian musical experiments from that Trama Records generation at the start of the century, while also holding true to the more acoustic elements at their roots! Titles include "Baile Flutante", "Mar Virado", "Loa Lua", "Marginal Elevado Radial", and "Na Quarta Feira". (Brazil, Global Grooves) LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from this funky Finnish combo – a group who celebrate a strong decade in music with this really wonderful set! The Blassics bring in all the right sort of influences from African funk of years back, especially Ethiopian music – and they spin out tracks that are often nice and long, and which feature some tremendous jazzy solos from the horn section – players stepping out from the ensemble for individual expressions, and not just vamping with the rhythms! The rest of the instrumentation is great too – well-crafted, and shaded with all sorts of tones that really deepen the music in personal ways, and don't just echo styles of the past. Titles include "Afrohustler", "Special Occasion", "Ruff Strut", "West Side Glory", "Swazi Funk", "Yeketema Set", and "Hagerun Geleba". (Deep Funk, Global Grooves) CD

It's been quite a few years since Bombino's previous record – and in that time, it almost feels as if he's locked himself up somewhere and learned how to be even more amazing on guitar! His sense of sound, tone, and timing is incredible – and the record's one of those Tuareg sets that can easily stand next to Anglo greats from the years of psych and hard rock – but with that special sub-Saharan quality that also makes a player like Bombino so unique – as he spins out long lines of freedom and fuzz over plenty of driving rhythms! Titles include "Darfuq", "Alwane", "Tazidert", "Aitma", Si Chilan", "Mes Amis", "Ayes Sachen", and "Nik Sant Awanha". LP, Vinyl record album

It's been quite a few years since Bombino's previous record – and in that time, it almost feels as if he's locked himself up somewhere and learned how to be even more amazing on guitar! His sense of sound, tone, and timing is incredible – and the record's one of those Tuareg sets that can easily stand next to Anglo greats from the years of psych and hard rock – but with that special sub-Saharan quality that also makes a player like Bombino so unique – as he spins out long lines of freedom and fuzz over plenty of driving rhythms! Titles include "Darfuq", "Alwane", "Tazidert", "Aitma", Si Chilan", "Mes Amis", "Ayes Sachen", and "Nik Sant Awanha". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of classic albums, served up here in a single set! First up is the sound of Angola, circa 1972 – served up here in a beautiful album of songs from Bonga! The music is relatively spare – mostly just lead acoustic guitar, bass, and percussion – the latter of which is played by Bonga himself, almost always with this lively quality that really matches his vocals – which themselves are filled with all these fantastic inflections that almost remind us of salsa singers of the time – no surprise, given how much Latin music styles were hitting the scene in West Africa during the 60s and 70s. But the style here is very different, too – as Bonga's richly expressive in the way he uses his voice – almost more folkloric, given the acoustic guitar instrumentation – yet surprisingly powerful too, despite the spareness. Titles include "Ku Tando", "Balumukeno", "Uengi Dia Ngola", "Paxi Ni Ngongo", "Muimbo Ua Sabalu", and "Muadikime". Angola 74 is a beautifully sophisticated setting for the voice of Bonga – as he works here with lively small group backings, and a bit of larger orchestrations as well! There's this fantastic blend of folk roots and modernism in the music – maybe a bit like some of the more experimental work from Havana at the time, but a bit like some Brazilian projects too – as the enigmatic vocal inflections of the leader mix with his own percussion – all given nice shadings in color by acoustic guitar. Titles include "Venda Poro", "Kubangela", "Ma Kongo", "Kinga Kueta", "Ghinawa", "Roots", and "Marika". CD

A pair of classic albums, served up here in a single set! First up is the sound of Angola, circa 1972 – served up here in a beautiful album of songs from Bonga! The music is relatively spare – mostly just lead acoustic guitar, bass, and percussion – the latter of which is played by Bonga himself, almost always with this lively quality that really matches his vocals – which themselves are filled with all these fantastic inflections that almost remind us of salsa singers of the time – no surprise, given how much Latin music styles were hitting the scene in West Africa during the 60s and 70s. But the style here is very different, too – as Bonga's richly expressive in the way he uses his voice – almost more folkloric, given the acoustic guitar instrumentation – yet surprisingly powerful too, despite the spareness. Titles include "Ku Tando", "Balumukeno", "Uengi Dia Ngola", "Paxi Ni Ngongo", "Muimbo Ua Sabalu", and "Muadikime". Angola 74 is a beautifully sophisticated setting for the voice of Bonga – as he works here with lively small group backings, and a bit of larger orchestrations as well! There's this fantastic blend of folk roots and modernism in the music – maybe a bit like some of the more experimental work from Havana at the time, but a bit like some Brazilian projects too – as the enigmatic vocal inflections of the leader mix with his own percussion – all given nice shadings in color by acoustic guitar. Titles include "Venda Poro", "Kubangela", "Ma Kongo", "Kinga Kueta", "Ghinawa", "Roots", and "Marika". LP, Vinyl record album