A beautiful take on the compositions of Milton Nasicmento – performed by guitarist Ricardo Silveira and pianist Luiz Avellar. Given the majesty and ambitious production styles often used with Nascimento's own recordings of his tunes, this stripped-down set is a very different take on the material – one that gets at the deeply personal spirit of the tunes, and which moves past the original lyrics into some introspective musical territory. We're surprised at how much we like the results, and we really enjoy the album's versions of "Para Lennon E McCartney", "Vera Cruz", "Cravo E Canela", "Travessia", and "Nuvem Cigana". CD

Mid 70s Afro Funk from the great Manu Dibango – adding in a bit more of a full production sound than on his earlier albums, but still sounding pretty darn nice! There's definitely more of an uptempo club groove going on – and the band has a lot more players than ever before – but the funk component is still high, and Manu's work on funky sax solos is as great as ever. Very much in Manu's "Big Blow" mode – and with the tracks "Mimbo", "Angola", "Bokilo's Boogie", and "Mouvement Ewondo", plus the slow spacey "Besoka On Salsa". In a way, this is the kind of record that would be rated high if it was the first effort by an unknown player – but often tends to get passed up because it's not as hard as the artist's more famous work. LP, Vinyl record album

A mindblowing journey in sound – a dip into the archives of French composer Pierre Henry – the postwar master of electronics and musique concrete, and an artist who was still very active in the final years of his life! The material here was all either recorded or reworked in Henry's own studio during the last few years of his time on the planet – with some tracks that revisit important early compositions, but with a different sonic perspective – mixed with a few new pieces that really continue that wellspring of recording that Henry was doing from the mid 90s onward! There's a wonderful array of sonic elements throughout – plenty of electronics, compelling tape and analog sounds, and lots more that we're hard pressed to figure out – in the best tradition of Pierre's music. Titles include "Variance (remix de Variations)", "Rock Electronique/La Reine Verte", "Prologue/Messe Pour Le Temps Present", "Danse/Mouvement Rythme Etude", "Final/Utopia Hip Hop", "Tokyo 2002", "Machine Danse", and "Tunne De La Mort/Le Fil De La Vie". LP features bonus tracks "Metamorphose/Fragments Rituels", "Enchevetrements De Spirales/Tam Tam Du Merveilleux", and "Etincell Qui Relie Deux Nuits". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful bossa – and one of Leny Andrade's best albums! The record was recorded way back in 1965, when Leny was starting her career, years before she went onto become one of Brazil's most famous jazz singers. She's working here with Deodato, who did a beautiful set of jazzy arrangements that work perfectly with Leny's rich voice – warm and airy, with a sweetly skipping quality throughout! The whole thing's really jazzy and wonderful – without any of the heavier styles of Leny's later work – and titles include "Tema Feliz", "Samba De Rei", "A Resposta", "Banzo", "Cliche", "Samba Em Paris", and "Coisa Nuvem". LP, Vinyl record album