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80s Afro grooves, recorded in Belgium – given a nice twist by the Crammed Discs label, which was one of the first to really open up African styles with more European elements! Bony Bikaye handles vocals, and Hector Zazou plays plenty of keyboards and adds in beat – so there's an electro-styled groove to most cuts, in a mode that's similar to some of the New Africa material on Celluloid Records from the same time! The remaining member of the group handles lots of saxophone solos – but the trio also get some studio help that includes more saxophone from Marc Hollander. Titles include "Angel", "Mr Manager", "Nostalgie", and "Soki Akei". Features the bonus track "Viva La Musica", "Signorina", and "Le Menteur". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most unusual projects we've heard in the recent wave of genre-crossing work from the Crammed label – a beautifully fragile album of vocals and light instrumentation from the lovely Cibelle! The sound here has some of its roots in bossa, and maybe borrows a bit from traditions of France – but the overall presentation is very unique – and often just features a key instrumental element supporting the vocals, plus bits of sounds that filter into the record and give it a really textural quality. Production is by Cibelle, Apollo Nove, and Mike Lindsay – and they beautifully blend the vocals with bits of harp, glockenspiel, off-tune piano, cello, and other elements used sparely and effectively. Titles include "Green Grass", "Mad Man Song", "Lembra", "Train Station", "Por Toda A Minha Vida", "London London", "City People", and "Cajuna". CD

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Wonderful work from the Kasai All-Stars – a group we first discovered in the Congotronics series with Konono No 1 – and who still have the same wonderful blend of raw rhythms, fuzzy distortion, and very powerful vocals! Their music has this powerfully organic vibe – with acoustic and electric elements bumping together in a fantastic way – that special sort of immediate power that really grabs you, and never asks for deeper cultural understanding as the price of admission. And the record's also got some interesting surprises too, in that a few numbers are performed by the larger Orchestra Symphonique Kimbanguiste, used in the soundtrack of which the main Kasai music is a part – versions of a few compositions by Arvo Part, which creates a heavenly juxtaposition next to the earthier numbers – with a vibe that's quite unusual, and makes the Kasai music seem even more powerful. Titles include "Kapinga Yamba", "In Praise Of Homeboys", "Tshalemba", "Mabela", "Quick As White", and "Tshitua Fuila Mbuloba". CD

A really cool idea for a record – one that first features unreleased tracks recorded in Kinshasa in 1978, on a special bonus CD – then adds in vinyl versions of reworks of the original recordings done for the project! The originals are fantastic – very percussive and melodic at the same time – with a raw quality that's completely wonderful, and which really shows the special sort of vibe that was going on in the city during the period. Konono weigh in with a fantastic early cut – "Kin 78 One" – and other tracks include "Kin 78 Four" by Sankayi, "Kin 78 Three" by Orchestre Bambala, and "Kin 78 Two" by Orchestra Bana Luya. The reworks are all handled by Martin Meissonnier, and mix the original sounds with touches of contemporary elements – yet never in a way that sounds too electronic – maybe more in a spirit that tries to imagine what the originals would sound like if recorded today. Titles include "Il Ne Faut Pas Intervenir" by Sankayi, "Roots Of K" by Konono No 1, "Animation" by Orchestre Bana Luya, and "Animation Kifuti" by Orchestre Bambala. LP, Vinyl record album

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A group with a sound like no other – one that features home-made electronics and amplification, and an array of highly-percussive instrumentation that includes thumb pianos, megaphones, microphones, and old car parts! Konono's been making this music for the past 25 years – working in the suburbs of Kinshasa as a collective of musicians experimenting with the relation of sound and rhythm – using a fair bit of distortion to push the boundaries of their style. There's a unique relationship here between traditional African rhythms and newer electronic music – almost a primitive electronica, if you will – but with a style that goes way beyond such a facile tag. Titles include "Paradiso", "Mama Liza", "Kule Kule", "Lufuala Ndonga", and "Masikulu". CD

A dark set of post-punk work from Minimal Compact – a Middle Eastern group who found a home in the increasingly creative roster of Crammed Discs at the time – and who are working here with a fair bit of Tuxedomoon touches! The group's sound has some slight ethnic undercurrents, twisted around a much more prominent Factory Records-like guitar-based style. Vocalist Samy Birnbach's got a flat, hollow tone that clearly carries the torch that Ian Curtis left behind – and the set features the group's mini "hit" "Next One Is Real", plus the tracks "The Well", "There's Always Now", "Nada", "Not Knowing", and "Deadly Weapons". CD also features 6 bonus tracks – including "Introspection", plus remixes of other tracks from the album! CD

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A great contemporary entry in the mindblowing musical legacy of Aksak Maboul – a group who first started mixing up many different genres in the late 70s, then went on to maybe set the tone for the whole creative legacy of the Crammed Discs label! Original member Marc Hollander is still at the core – handling keyboards, reed instruments, percussion, and all sorts of sonic elements – mixing them with that creative musicality that always made his vision so unique. And singer Veronique Vincent is at the forefront of the group now, after a few previous collaborations – heading things up by co-writing the material with Hollander, and opening the door for a host of guests, who include Fred Frith on guitar and viola, and Steven Brown on vocals. The sound has evolved since the early days, but is also remarkably true to the legacy of the group – with titles that include "Retour Chez A", "The Untranslatable", "Sgraffites", "True False Fictive", "C'Est Charles", "Silhouettes", "Martial Arts For Boys", "Tout A Une Fin", and "Fatarasie Pulverisee". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual little album – one that partly embraces a globe's worth of acoustic percussion, partly expresses itself in the minimal percussion legacy after Steve Reich's Drumming, and partly embraces some of the electric/acoustic sounds of the New York downtown scene of the early 80s – in work by artists like David Van Tieghem or Peter Gordon! The group use a mix of vibes, balafon, marimbas, and other percussion instruments – then add in occasional beats or other electric elements, but usually in a subtle way – that blend of global and European modes that was also surfacing a bit on the Crammed label at the time. All tracks are instrumental – and titles include "Black Africa", "Back To The Factory", "Kpanlogo", "Biologic Music", and "Adowa". LP, Vinyl record album