Excellent work from one of the funkiest steel bands around – a totally hip combo who just seem to be getting better and better with each new release! This time around, they've stepped up the beats even more than before – mixing their 70s funk and steel drum work with just a slight current from hip hop production – all of which almost makes you feel like Wu-Tang made a trip to the Caribbean, then came back with these tapes as a result! There's also some additionally cool touches in the horns – used with maybe some slight Ethio jazz inflections at points – alongside other elements that really help move the Bacao aesthetic forward in a mighty nice way. Titles include "Hotline Bling", "Grilled", "How We Do", "Hazy Memories", "In The Crosshairs", "The Champion's Walk", and a very cool take on the "Stranger Things Theme"! LP, Vinyl record album

A group with a name that might not easily roll of the tongue, but one who've got a sublime harmony sound that's wonderfully fluid overall – a combination of nine young voices from the scene in Soweto, working without any other instrumentation at all! The combination of vocals almost takes us back to the sound of Take 6 on their first album – and as with that group, the message here is spiritual, but not entirely pointed at the church – with much more of a universal appeal that's perfect for the subtly righteous power of the harmonies! Titles include "Too Late For Mama", "Nomalizo", "My Brother", "Who Knows", "Sip", and "Baninzi". LP, Vinyl record album

A totally amazing little package – every single album recorded by Fela Kuti, served up in tiny LP-style sleeves, and brought together in one excellent box set – with a bonus movie as well! The collection features a total of 51 albums, most of which are paired up with crucial counterparts, as on some of the previous CD releases of the material. But this time around, there's way more than you might imagine in one place – classic records that include Afrodisiac, Confusion, Shakara, Fela's London Scene, He Miss Road, Kalakuta Show, Music Of Many Colors, Beasts Of No Nation, Army Arrangement, Coffin For Head Of State, Original Sufferhead, ITT, The Fela Singles, Roforofo Fight, Excuse O, Moise For Vendor Mouth, Why Black Man Dey Suffer, Na Poi, Authority Stealing, VIP, Fela With Ginger Baker Live, Underground System, Zombie, and lots lots more – a truly amazing run of music! Also features the bonus DVD – A Slice Of Fela. Plus, this package also features 3 more CDs than the previous complete box set – filled with loads of rarities, and 2 previously-unissued tracks! Also features a 52 page booklet with a biography and album commentary. CD

A brilliant album from Fela – and one that shows him really coming into his own, with that tremendous new sound that would go onto influence decades of musicians! The title track – "Roforofo Fight" – is a side-long jam that instantly sets a new standard for African funk – skittish drums, a sweet keyboard line that snakily sets the groove, and a wonderful long alto solo that's got even more raspy soul than Fela's vocals! Those vocals are sometimes more broken up, verbally – and have an instrumental quality at the start – then lay into the lyrics later, with some great supporting backup. The flipside features the side-long "Go Slow" – a tune that layers and layers sounds as it moves on – from an initial thin keyboard line, to a rumbling bassy blend that has lots of room for the horns and vocals! LP, Vinyl record album

Haunting guitar work from Branko Mataja – a player with roots in Belgrade, but who recorded these tracks while living in California during his later years – all in a mode that's filled with longing for his homeland! The material is pulled from two different albums – one recorded in the 70s, one in the 80s – both of which focus on older traditional songs from Yugoslavia, but handled by Branko in an otherworldly style that often uses electric guitar and echo to really break with any sense of tradition! The tunes are lovely – often mixing very deft work on the strings with the nicely atmospheric mood created by the production – all at a level that's unlike anything you might have expected to hear coming from the SoCal scene in the 70s. Titles include "Tesko Mi Je Zaboravit Tebe", "Tamo Daleko", "Cija Li Je Livada", "Kafu Mi Draga Ispeci", "Duboko Je More", "Zapletnicki Cacak", and "Susti Bagrem Beli". LP, Vinyl record album

Mocko Jumbie is an unusual skill – a the word stands for stilt dancing at carnival time – something that Hugo Moolenaar could do very well, as you'll see on the cover – although he's even better here on record in a musical mode! The EP brings together four of the best tracks from Hugo's rare records – all of them funky, but in a Caribbean mode – with all these light colors bursting over the top of the lively rhythms – riffing guitar next to basslines, percussion, and keyboards – while Hugo calls out the lyrics with plenty of charm throughout. Titles include "Big Man Cry", "Give It Your Best Shot", "We Can Live Together", and "Children Children". LP, Vinyl record album

A great combination of Congo grooves and Nigerian 70s – served up here by vocalist Ondigui and his Bota Tabansi ensemble! Ondigui already has a fantastic sound himself – this vocal range and ability to inflect his notes that has the singer cascading up and down the spectrum – in ways that really explode when the lively rhythms of the group come into play – lots of romping percussion, often influenced by Cuban modes – colored in with these bright guitar lines that bubble and glisten throughout the tunes! Titles include "Longe La Wenge", "Wonderful For Ashawo", "Meveg", "Mude Dzam", and "Beza Bakili Ma Nyon". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most incredible African collections we've ever heard – almost more amazing than the African Scream Contest set from the same label! The package focuses on work by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou – a group who really live up to their name, by bringing in a host of complicated rhythms to their music – including the "sato" groove, which is kind of a modern funky take on older voodoo modes! Production is often echoey – in ways that dub out the bass and drums nicely – and make the guitar parts sound nice and sinister – the vocals too, for that matter, even though we can't ever understand the lyrics. The music was originally recorded for a variety of different labels, but is brought together here beautifully – complete with a 44 page, full color booklet that not only tells the tale of the group, but also that of all the labels – then follows the whole thing up with a discography as well – a real labor of love that's as much of a visual treat as it is a sonic delight. Titles include "Se We Non Nan", "Ako Ba Ho", "Mi Ni Non Kpo", "Assibavi", "Mi Homlan Dadale", "Iya Me Dji Ki Bi Ni", "Mawa Mon Nou Mio", and "Koutoulie". CD

Just a short record, but one that brings together three tracks from Wilfred Trevor Woodley – a very cool pianist from Trinidad & Tobago, and one who effortlessly mixes together soulful jazz with just the right amount of elements from the Caribbean! "The Lone Pilgrim" is a great cut that has offbeat reeds, riffing guitar, and some nicely subtle use of steel drums – all of which makes for a really great sense of tone and color! "Uhuru" has a deeper spiritual jazz vibe – nicely raspy tenor blended with warm keyboards over a mighty nice bassline! And "Stickman" builds with almost a Latiny groove – nice percussion and guitar, and a bit more steel pans – topped with tenor and keyboards! (Jazz, Global Grooves) LP, Vinyl record album

David Byrne waited a full decade before giving the world a follow up to his original Beleza Tropical collection of funky Brazilian music – yet during that time, it's also clear that he learned a lot more about the scene – and was able to pick up on some very hip artists who were much more contemporary than the first time around! The record has a fair bit of late 90s gems from a time when Brazilian music was really catching fire again – inspired both by its own experiments of the past, and new attention to its more groundbreaking styles by artists up north – which then seemed to let loose a new era of fresh sounds and styles! The set's got a total of 15 tracks in all – and titles include "O Seu Olhar" by Arnaldo Antunes, "Coriosidade" by Tom Ze, "Tanacara" by Gonzaguinha, "Balanca Pema" by Marisa Monte, "Acho" by Carlos Carega, "Bog La Bog" by Carlinhos Brown, "Pregoes Do Rio" by Moleque De Rua, "Batuque" by Daniela Mercury, "Hoje Eu Quero Sair So" by Lenine, and "Rios, Pontes, & Overdrives" by Chico Science. (Brazil, Global Grooves) LP, Vinyl record album

Cambodian rock, pop and psychedelia from the 60s & 70s – compiled by the members of Dengue Fever, LA's modern torchbearers of rare prime rock era rarities from Cambodia! It's wonderful stuff – like a lot of the sounds from the pulpy garage rock era Asian underground, most tunes have love female vocals, but the instrumentation varies from raw r&b & kind of moddish influenced sounds, to more psychedelic electric guitar and hazy melodies, bits of funk, and strains that come closer to traditional Cambodian sounds. The tracks were culled for rare cassette tapes, and the sound quality is top notch! Titles include "Give Me One Kiss" by Dara Chom Chan, "Don't Speak", "Jombang Jet", "I Will Marry You" and more by Pan Ron, "Shave Your Beard", "Flowers In The Pond", "I Will Starve Myself To Death", "Cold Sky" and more by Ros Sereysothea. 12 tracks in all. LP, Vinyl record album

Music as lively and colorful as the image on the cover – upbeat work from the second half of the 80s scene in South Africa – music that has a very positive vibe overall, and a sound that's perfect for the mix of keyboards and beats used in the rhythms! The styles here are those which were borrowed – or plundered – by artists in the mainstream up north – but these are the tracks that really made the SA scene back in the day, and have a wonderful blend of synth, basslines, and vocals that often trade back and forth nicely – warming up the music a lot more than you'd expect! Titles include "Crocodile's Rock" by Black Moses, "I Was Born In Africa" by Richie S, "Blackout" by Tools & Figs, "Dayshift" by Dieketseng, "Ximamane" by Joy White, "Chomesa" by Chicco, "Nwananga Washanesera" by Joe Masunga, "Pusa Twala" by Sky Jinx, "Khombora Mina" by Paul Ndlovu, "Johnny Boy" by The Angels, "Don't Follow Me" by Mafika, and "Special Angel" by Babsy Mlangeni. CD