World

Ben Zabo - Ben Zabo

Vibrant and inventive Malian Afro-beat, occasionally let down by naff blues guitar

22 May 2012

Described as Malian Afro-Beat, Ben Zabo’s music expands its scope well beyond the Fela Kuti-inspired sounds of 1970s Bamako to incorporate the bwa rhythms and melodies of his own Bo region, alongside elements of funk and rock. Slick production has…

Tinariwen - Oran Mor, Glasgow, Thu 5 Apr 2012

An evocative but occasionally flat show from the Tuareg blues guitarists

23 Apr 2012

A beguiling mix of blues guitar sounds, gently insistent but sometimes complex rhythms and desert sensibilities is what’s always made Tinariwen unique. Live, the blend is all the more compelling, which must be due, at least in part, to the sheer…

Kuljit Bhamra, Jacqueline Shave, John Parricelli - Postcards From Home

Cross-cultural fusion partly inspired by the Hebrides

18 Apr 2012

(Keda Records) A fresh and deftly executed cross-cultural fusion featuring a tabla player with strong jazz connections, a classical violinist and a jazz guitarist, playing music inspired in part by the Hebrides. Violinist Jacqueline Shave’s ‘Machair to…

Various Artists - Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2

Two-album reissue of classic compilations from 1989 and 1993

18 Apr 2012

(World Circuit) The sinuous dance rhythms of the Colombian music known as Cumbia are captured in this nicely packaged and documented two-album reissue of two compilations regarded as the classics of the genre, which first brought Cumbia to wider…

Batida - Batida

African-inspired electronica record that probably works best in a club setting

8 Mar 2012

(Soundway) Having carved out a reputation for unearthing rare tracks of touchstone Latin musics, Soundway now champions hot sounds heard today on the streets of Luanda. Angolan/Portuguese DJ Mpula (aka Pedro Coquenão) creates electronic dance music…

Various Artists - World Routes: On The Road

30-track BBC Radio 3 compilation featuring Toumani Diabaté, Tito Paris and Ilham Al Madfai

1 Feb 2012

(Nascente) How would we hear diverse world musics without Radio 3? Thank goodness they still have the budget to travel to far-flung places to capture stunning sounds from ordinary musicians we’d never know about otherwise. Since 2000 the World Routes…

Ibrahím Maalouf - Diagnostic

A groundbreaking album of brooding French-Arabic tones from trumpeter

1 Feb 2012

(Harmonia Mundi) The brooding French-Arabic quarter tones of Ibrahím Maalouf’s trumpet first seduced as guest on the late Lhasa de Sela’s desert island disc The Living Road. Bewitching then, Maalouf’s own debut with a brace of tremendous musicians…

Vieux Farka Touré set for Celtic Connections 2012

Blues and country influence from son of legendary Malian guitar player

27 Jan 2012

Farka Touré. Where have you heard that name before? Vieux is the son of legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré, one of the true stars of the world music scene. Farka Touré senior passed away in 2006, but junior has picked up where he left off…

Five picks from Celtic Connections 2012

Featuring Zoe Muth, Jack Bruce, King Creosote and Jon Hopkins and Vieux Farka Touré

6 Jan 2012

Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers The year in Americana 2011 belongs to Gillian Welch and the release of her album The Harrow & the Harvest, but amongst a promising field of young female country singers, Zoe Muth stands out. With her ear for an instant…

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Area 52

Orchestral backing and lots of special guests leads to a fun if over-wrought latin-funk-rock record

6 Jan 2012

(Rubyworks) For their fifth studio album the Mexican acoustic rock duo have teamed up with 13-piece orchestra C.U.B.A. to rework nine previous compositions. The radically increased personnel (which is also augmented by several guests including Cuban…

Baobab-Gateway – Strings That Sing

Accomplished Scottish-African musicians with healthy, multicultural roots

6 Jan 2012

(Brechin All) Baobab-Gateway’s name pinpoints the West African influences found in their original sound. The international pedigree and multi-ethnicity of these experienced Scottish based musicians (Salsa Celtica, Bhundu Boys, Waa Sylla) is a…

Simon Thacker and the Nava Rasa Ensemble – Nada-Ananda

Fruitful reinterpretation by the British classical guitarist and collaborators

5 Jan 2012

(Slap The Moon) Shirish Korde’s Nada-Ananda concerto allows classical guitarist Simon Thacker and South Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, working with the Edinburgh Quartet, Brazilian bassist Mario Caribe and percussionist Iain Sandilands, to show…

Group Inerane / Flower-Corsano Duo - Kinning Park Complex, Glasgow, Fri 2 Dec

Two transcendent groups in a Victorian school turned artists’ studio

9 Dec 2011

This was always going to be special: two of the most transcendent groups on earth in the bohemian environs of a Victorian school building turned artists’ studio. The diverse crowd is not left disappointed. Mick Flower and Chris Corsano mesmerise with a…

Anoushka Shankar - Traveller

Thrillingly diverse yet fluent sequence of Indian and flamenco that does justice to both

7 Dec 2011

(Deutsche Grammophon) With cutting-edge Spanish producer Javier Limón as collaborator, Anoushka Shankar (daughter of Ravi, sister of Norah Jones) brings together two strong cultures linked historically by nomadic Roma gypsies. Created more or less in…

The Scottish Ensemble’s candlelit concerts to focus on the Baltic Renaissance

Music by composers Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Sven Tüür to feature

16 Nov 2011

While the phrase ‘it’s Baltic’ is usually heard in relation to Scotland’s freezing temperatures, this winter it can be applied to something a bit warmer. The Scottish Ensemble’s traditionally candlelit concerts home in on the Baltic nations and music by…

The Very Best of Muzsikás featuring Márta Sebestyén - Fly Bird, Fly

Fantastic retrospective of the Hungarian folk group's career

16 Nov 2011

(Nascente) Early on, Hungarian musicians Muzsikás, with singer Márta Sebestyén, were at the forefront of the European folk scene. Forty years after they pushed forward traditions championed by ethnomusicologists Bartok and Kodaly, they sound as fiery…

Caetano Veloso & Maria Gadú - Multishow Ao Vivo

Concert from Brazilian singer/guitarist and up and coming singer

10 Nov 2011

(Universal) This superb stripped-back concert sees Brazilian hero and singer/guitarist Caetano Veloso partnered by up-and-coming female singer Maria Gadú. Armed only with acoustic guitars, their deceptively light, shapely and meaningful voices blend…

Carlos Paredes - Guitarra Portuegesa / Movimento Perpetuo

9 Nov 2011

(Drag City) Fêted by Six Organs of Admittance and the Kronos Quartet, Carlos Paredes was a virtuoso of the Portuguese guitar, a small 12-stringed instrument with a crystalline sound. Paredes was known as ‘the man of a thousand fingers’ and these…

Celtic Connections 2012 line-up announced

Glasgow traditional music festival features 2100 artists and 300 events over 18 days in 20 venues

26 Oct 2011

This year's festival will include 2100 artists, 300 events, 20 venues all over 18 days. Being that winter is in the offing, you now wake up in the morning for work and its dark, you then head home from work and its dark. One thing that will surely…

5 Reasons to Go See Toumani Diabaté

The Grammy-winning Malian musician has a rich history of collaboration

20 Oct 2011

1. His music is mesmerisingly beautiful Toumani Diabaté is a master of the kora, a traditional Malian harp-like instrument. His ability to weave a gorgeous tapestry of cascading melodies from the 21-string kora is magical. One thumb plays the tune and…

Javier Limón - Mujeres de Agua

Spanish musician-producer's songs with 12 top female singers from across the Mediterranean

20 Oct 2011

(Wrasse) Spanish musician-producer Javier Limón is a man of tremendous intuition and vision: responsible for watershed discs for artists like Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía, or the collaboration between Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés and Spanish singer…

Archive Trails - Artists making new work from old photos and songs from Scotland's past

Scottish folk ballads reworked via song, video and puppetry

21 Sep 2011

After months of delving through old photos and songs, three performers aim to bring to life Scotland’s long-lost folk ballads through experimental vocals, video and glove puppets. Rachel Devine reports

Brian d'Souza's Glasgow club night Highlife expands its horizons globally

19 Sep 2011

‘Highlife started with a conversation about the mass of fantastic music being made outside of the normal Western club genres, of things like house, techno and dubstep.’ That conversation was between Brian d’Souza (speaking above) and Andrew Thomson…

Sia Tolno - My Life

Empoweringly feelgood collection from Young Guinean singer

14 Sep 2011

(Lusafrica) Young Guinean singer Sia Tolno overcame civil war exile to compose defiantly funky songs championing a better life for African woman and children. Her richly rhythmic tones have been rightfully compared to Miriam Makeba and Tina Tuner (as…

Ravi Shankar - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Mon 22 Aug

A mesmerising show of classical Indian music as part of 2011 EIF

24 Aug 2011

Ravi Shankar crossed over into popular culture with his associations with various 60s musicians, working with and/or influencing the likes of The Beatles, The Kinks and The Byrds. Going on to play at iconic festivals such as Woodstock and The Monterey…

Various artists - The Rough Guide to World Lullabies

Globe-spanning collection of bedtime songs

24 Aug 2011

(World Music Network) Despite the fact that so many plug into i-Pods daily, it seems folk still enjoy going old school, and serenading their babes with a restful lullaby. For List readers who may have tiny ones in their immediate or extended family…

Lucas Santtana - Sem Nostalgia

Playful, laid-back guitar work from the Brazilian musician

24 Aug 2011

(Mais Um Discos) Publicity can backfire, as with comparing songwriter Lucas Santtana to bossa nova innovator João Gilberto. Where Gilberto distilled everything through a ‘cool’ Brazilian sensibility, Santtana represents more 21st century, universal…

Wesseltoft Schwarz - Duo

Norwegian ‘nu-jazz’ guru and techno producer make ambient jazz-meets-dance

24 Aug 2011

(Jazzland) The combination of piano and laptop computer would once have been pretty much the exclusive preserve of the free improv end of jazz, but Norwegian ‘nu-jazz’ guru Bugge Wesseltoft and techno producer Henrik Schwarz bring their collaboration…

Orkestra del Sol's Top Trumps

Balkan, gypsy and polka sounds in a musical face-off

12 Aug 2011

Orkestra del Sol’s Top Trumps show is an inspired concept for a live music performance. Flyers bearing each band member’s vital statistics are handed out prior to the gig, so that audience members can pick a favourite from the nine musicians. The…

Various artists - Cumbia! Bestial

10 Aug 2011

(Chusma records) Americans have been dancing in time with the Colombian cumbia music style, with its easy slide side-to-side moves in 2/4 time since the 60s, it really hit the international club scene in the 21st century. Cumbia! Bestial offers a…

Hammock House - Africa Caribe

Classic original DJ-friendly Latin music of 70s and 80s plus remixes

21 Jul 2011

(Fania-Código) Brooklyn DJ/producer Hammock House, aka Joaquín ‘Joe’ Claussell, wittily adds vital 21st-century underpinning to Latin classics created for Fania, the New York label responsible for the hottest, most pertinent Latin music of the 70s…

Vieux Farka Touré - The Secret

Tracks that decorate rather than eclipse Malian blues and father's legacy

13 Jul 2011

(Six Degrees) Anyone watching the 2010 South African World Cup opening concert will have seen Vieux Farka Touré showing he is no longer merely walking in father Ali’s footsteps. This album sees Vieux recording in Brooklyn and Bamako, developing…

Amjad Ali Khan to perform set of morning ragas on sarod at EIF 2011

Edinburgh 11am concert accompanied by Ravi Shankar's evening ragas

7 Jul 2011

The sarod may not be as familiar an instrument to western audiences as the sitar made famous by Ravi Shankar, but virtuoso player Amjad Ali Khan is happy to establish its proper context. 'Ravi Shankar's teacher was a sarod player,' says Khan on the line…

Theatre, music and dance highlights from the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Semiramide and King Lear among picks

7 Jul 2011

The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) has been a benchmark for quality and innovation in the performing arts since its inauguration nearly 65 years ago. This year artistic director Jonathan Mills builds his programme around the multi-faceted…

Review - Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Tue 28 Jun

Beninese Afrobeat with brass, percussion, guitar, bass and drums

1 Jul 2011

Nine good men and true fill the stage of Glasgow’s most beautiful (internally) venues in a Django like return to European conscience. Presumed missing or dead, or both, in their home country of Benin, West Africa, the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo were hunted…

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo set for Glasgow Jazz festival date

West African afro-beat band tour their new album Cotonou Club

23 Jun 2011

The influential West African band have set a series of tour dates circling the UK this summer, visiting Glasgow for the first time in the 30-plus years that they have been a band. Having formed in the late 60s, they have accumulated a collection of…

Mulatu Astatke set for Glasgow Jazz Festival

Ethio-jazz pioneer visits Scotland for the first time

21 Jun 2011

An alto saxophone line snakes slowly over shimmering vibraphone and sensuous Latin percussion. Horns create a dreamy, exotic mood as Ethiopian modes meet Western scales. A buzzing guitar or grooving organ might come in, bringing a touch of slow-burning…

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - The 1st Album (1973)

Sensationally funky West African music from a 16–piece with brooding organ melodies

13 Jun 2011

(Analog Africa) In 1970s West Africa, various creative ensembles emerged in the former French trading post of Cotonou, Benin; notably the vibrant Orchestre Poly-Rythmo. Their distinctive earthy grooves mined a musical axis involving neighbouring…

Susana Baca - Afrodiaspora

20 May 2011

(Luaka Bop) Grammy award winning Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca was an early signing to Talking Head David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label and her latest, long-awaited album sees her explore rhythms of the African-Latin diaspora. Her attractive, clear…

Various Artists - Songlines Music Awards 2011

Varied and fluent tracks from world music awards shortlist

19 May 2011

(Songlines) Kicking off with Femi Kuti’s throbbing Afrobeat anthem ‘Dem Bobo’, this is a superbly varied, fluent sequence of top tracks from the 16 nominees for the 2011 Songlines Music Awards. The foremost international music magazine stepped into…

5 Reasons to Go See. . . Khaira Arby

25 Apr 2011

She’s Mali’s biggest star Arby is known in Mali as ‘The Nightingale of the North’, and her music reflects the cultural diversity of the Sahara region. ‘Timbuktu is a multicultural city and has been for many hundreds of years. I sing in several…

Mariza - Fado Tradicional

Stunning fifth album from Portguese fado singer

25 Apr 2011

(EMI) Mariza, with her iconic, bleached short hairstyle has become an international star since reviving classic Portuguese fado, placing her country and its compelling port songs on the musical map. This new release is her best ever, a 12-song…

Seun Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 - From Africa with Fury: Rise

The youngest Kuti maintain's the family's vibrant Afrobeat legacy

25 Apr 2011

(Knitting Factory Records/ Because Music) The youngest son of Fela Kuti and step-brother of the fiery Femi, Seun Kuti records and tour with a rejuvenated version of his father’s old band Egypt 80 with whom he has played since pre-teens. This is…

Kronos Quartet to curate Glasgow mini-festival in May 2011

Highlights include Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Jon Rose and Matmos

6 Apr 2011

Not every new music quartet can count Nine Inch Nails and Nelly Furtado amongst their list of collaborators, nor put live performances with David Bowie and Allen Ginsberg under their achingly-creative belt. The Kronos Quartet, are not your average…

Downton Abbey sold worldwide

TV Gossip

1 Apr 2011

'Downton Abbey' is set to be shown in over 100 countries. The ITV1 period drama was been a huge hit with British viewers - commanding an audience of up to 11 million people, and is now proving popular internationally, with it already becoming the US…

Five reasons to go see Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

The African Soul Rebels visit the Usher Hall

28 Mar 2011

1. He’s part of the afrobeat dynasty. Nigerian musician Seun Kuti plays sax, chant-sings and dances – not unlike his legendary father Fela, pioneer of the funky Nigerian afrobeat sound. ‘What inspires me is Africa today’, says Seun. ‘The same things…

Boubacar Traoré: Mali Denhou

Malian musician still holds the power that raises him above many other 'Saharan sound' artists

24 Mar 2011

(Lusafrica) Back in 1990, Malian singer and guitarist Boubacar Traoré recorded Mariama, a debut that captured the bittersweet yearnings of love. Most who heard it became instant fans and those who saw him play in a tiny club in Newcastle (the closest…

Sergent Garcia: Una y Otra Vez

The internationalist French musician returns with another highly enjoyable LP

21 Mar 2011

(Cumbancha) Whether Sergent Garcia is a stylist extraordinaire or king of pastiche, a five-year wait sees him deliver an irresistible batch of 14 original songs. The fertile Colombian scene is springboard for ‘Time and Time Again’, fuelled by post…

Orkestra del Sol: Lung Capacity

More globe-trotting party tunes from the many-limbed Edinburgh group

21 Mar 2011

(Sol) Gyspified, klezmeric, samba-soaked party tunes: anyone who’s heard the Orkestra’s previous two albums will be well prepared for what’s in store on this third instalment. As ever, the band’s infectious live energy is 90% present here – there’s…

Benda Bilili!

A documentary on the Congolese rhythm'n'blues band Staff Benda Bilili

2 Mar 2011

Kinshasa is the largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s rated as one of the most dangerous cities in the world in terms of crime with a spiraling homeless problem that includes over 20,000 children under the age of 18 living rough…

Aurelio - Laru Beya

Sublime and original fusion of sounds and often poignant musical stories

1 Mar 2011

(Stonetree/Real World) When Belizean singer Andy Palacio died tragically three years ago, people feared his placing of Garifuna language music onto the global scene, via the extraordinary album Wátina would end. Palacio must be beaming at the sound…

Curro Fuentes & The Big Band - Cartagena! Cumbia and Descarga Sound of Colombia 1962–72

1 Mar 2011

(Soundway) This fabulous record beams you right into the 1960s Colombian coastal scene courtesy of Curro Fuentes, son of the family owners of the pioneering Discos Fuentes recording company. One summer Curro formed a supergroup-styled orchestra…

Samba Sene & Diwan - Remind Me (Fatalima)

Debut album from Edinburgh-based Senegalese musician

11 Feb 2011

With this long awaited debut original songs, Edinburgh based Senegalese musician Samba Sene shows just why he’s an asset to the Scottish scene. With Senegalese musicican Baaba Maal as his mentor, a stellar list of international musicians in his band and…

Mama Rosin - Black Robert

Quirky, rootsy music from Swiss, Cajun punk trio

11 Feb 2011

Quirky, rootsy music from a Swiss, Cajun punk trio reassures us that wild creativity 2011 style is flourishing. This fresh take on North American French traditions gets these three young guys compared to Parisian gypsy-punkers Les Negresses Vertes for…

Eduardo Niebla - My Gypsy Waltz

28 Jan 2011

(LMR Records) While Eduardo Niebla wittily illustrates his debt to diverse cultures with a photo of himself brandishing his guitar alongside a rustic, horse-led gypsy caravan, it’s his debt to rich family community that makes his music resonate…

Cesaria Evora - Cesaria Evora &

3 Jan 2011

(Sony) When she burst onto the scene twenty-two years ago ‘the barefoot diva’ put Cape Verde on the map, blowing everyone away, even though live on stage she could be stiff and diffident. True, after her first irresistible albums her output became…

Fruko & Joe Arroyo - The Very Best of Fruko & Joe Arroyo: Rebelión Tropical

3 Jan 2011

(Nascente) A long shelf-life is the hallmark of great music and Rebelión Tropical maps how in the 1970s Julio Ernesto ‘Fruko’ Estrada and Alvaro José Arroyo González aka Mr Joe Arroyo pioneered the best Colombian tropical music ever. There’s nothing…

Various Artists - The Sound of Siam

Experimental fusion reinvents world music genre

24 Nov 2010

Chris Menist’s intrepid Sound of Siam: The Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz and Molam 1964-75 challenges the African, Latin and European dominated world music market while neatly shifting Deborah Kerr and Yul Bryner King and I images for the sounds of Bangkok…

Tabu Ley Rochereau - The Voice of Lightness Vol 2

23 Nov 2010

(Sterns) World music is as much about back catalogue as innovation and London-based Sterns has a formidable reputation as the pioneer shop and label. In this panoramic collection, bridging 1977-81 and 1983-93, Zaire’s singer-songwriter Taby Ley…

AfroCubism latest project from makers of Buena Vista Social Club

Musicians from Mali and Cuba record album and play live dates

19 Nov 2010

AfroCubism was for several years one of world music’s great what-ifs? In 1996, Nick Gold of World Circuit Records invited the Malian musicians Djelimady Tounkara and Bassekou Kouyate to Havana to record with the cowboy-hatted Cuban singer and guitarist…

Original Broadway Cast Recording - Fela!

16 Nov 2010

(Cast Records) If you can’t get to London’s National Theatre to see the phenomenal show telling the extraordinary life of Afrobeat’s Fela Kuti, look no further than this tremendous recording of the original Broadway show. It evokes Lagos in…

Femi Kuti - Africa For Africa

15 Nov 2010

(Wrasse Records) With songs like ‘Bad Government’ and ‘Nobody Beg’ Femi Kuti not only takes up the cause of ordinary Nigerians and Africans but consciously takes on the mantel of his father, the late Fela Kuti, as scourge of corrupt politics. With…

Robert Plant - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Mon 18 Oct 2010

Singer's 'other band' create intimate experience mixing Americana with Led Zep

2 Nov 2010

It’s impossible to ignore Robert Plant’s illustrious past with his ‘other band’ but tonight belongs to The Band of Joy. He may have reprised the name of his 1966 folk rock group but the current incarnation is very much an Americana outfit.

The Creole Choir Of Cuba - Tande-La

27 Oct 2010

(Real World) What an inspiring story: only weeks after the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, The Creole Choir of Cuba were working with the Cuban medical mission singing the same exuberant songs to survivors living in makeshift tents that they…

Los De Abajo - Actitud De Calle

26 Oct 2010

(Wrasse Records) Mexico’s crazy Los de Abajo – with their irresistible fusion of Latinised ska, rock, reggae and more – are here joined by a stellar list of guest musicians. Kicking off with the party ‘Fiesta’, powered by flashes of brass, this tight…

2010 Le Weekend bows out with Faust, Murcof and Tarwater

Pioneering Stirling experimental music festival also hosts Ben Frost, Bill Wells and John Butcher

6 Oct 2010

Since its inception in 1997, Le Weekend has brought a remarkable range of beautiful and challenging music to Scotland. ‘The idea of an experimental music festival, and also the idea of a festival in Stirling, was quite unique,’ says Alastair Campbell…

Grupo Lokito - Esengo Ya Ko Bina

6 Oct 2010

(Cavendish Music) Esengo Ya Ko Bina, which in Lingala means ‘the Joy of Dancing’, is a nine track heady, feel-good mix of Congolese and Cuban music. A band of UK based African and Latin musicians led by singer José Hendrix Ndelo and salsa pianist…

Wounded Knee - House Music

15 Sep 2010

(Krapp Tapes) With cassettes and CDRs being churned out by below-radar experimentalists and available online and at gigs, Edinburgh’s premier progenitor of looped vocal rounds Drew Wright is joining in. Here, he serves up a bumper-sized C-60ish…

Afro Celt Sound System - Capture 1995-2010

15 Sep 2010

(Real World Records) Cherry picked from the collective’s five acclaimed studio albums, these twenty-five songs divide into instrumentals (on a disc titled Chorus) and songs (Verse). Emerging from cross-cultural collaborations at WOMAD involving…

Various Artists - El Boom Boom

1 Sep 2010

(Tumi) Cuban music fêted off the island is old style ‘son’, light years away from what Cubans themselves dance to. Tumi, the label mapping the Cuban scene since the 1980s, has recently released this compilation, which won the 2010 Cuban music…

Cheikh Lo - Jamm

1 Sep 2010

(World Circuit) Cheik Lô’s label as a ‘Senegalese Sufi troubadour’ is good yet it by no means gets over just how sublime the music this funky genius creates. True, he seems to hold a spliff a lot of the time and maybe it’s the way that laidback edge…

D.O Misiani and Shirati Jazz - The King of History

Classic 1970s Benga Beats from Kenya

13 Aug 2010

This is the kind of mesmerising music that has you moving before you know it: undulating guitar rhythms flow like a brook over pebbles while sweet vocals chant stories over rubbery bass and the steady tickety-click of percussion. Daniel Owini Misiani…

Brazil! Brazil!

Capeoira kicks, samba hips and footie tricks

8 Aug 2010

Brazil! Brazil! is like the fantasy beach party everyone wants invited to. Chilled-out Brazilian beats to rival Astrud Gilberto, buff bare-chested guys wheeling out jaw-dropping capoeira kicks and backflips, voluptuous feather-topped girls in bling…

Rhythms With Soul

Foot-stomping romp through flamenco history

8 Aug 2010

On posters Venezuelan-born flamenco dancer Miguel Vargas appears smouldering and bare-chested. But unlike paparazzi-friendly contemporaries such as Joaquin Cortes he is no peacock, all baby-oil and no substance. There is strut aplenty. There is simmer…

Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves, Ghana & Togo 1972–1978

Analog Africa's latest compilation is a testament to 1970s Africa

5 Aug 2010

Drawing from the archives of Ghanian label Essiebons and PolyGram West Africa, Analog Africa’s latest compilation is testament to the cosmopolitan culture of 1970s Africa. Tracks by Ebo Taylor and Orchestre Abass offer intricate polyrhythmic grooves and…

Edinburgh Mela 2010

An international and ceremonial start to the Festivals

30 Jul 2010

These days the Mela is just as much of a ceremonial start to Edinburgh’s Festivals as the (often far less exciting) Fringe Cavalcade. This year, alongside Bollywood dance shows, multi-artform companies from China, traditional Sufi music from Rizwan…

Anywhere On This Road - Sound of the World

29 Jul 2010

(Warner Classic) Pioneer DJ Charlie Gillett became the world music guru. His wacky annual compilations are a veritable Who’s Who of contemporary music from all known parts. This selection of 34 artists from 36 countries is his last, as he died…

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp

Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Wed 14 Jul

23 Jul 2010

It’s a homecoming of sorts for the Geneva-based Afrodelic agit-skronk surrealist sextet, who now feature Wilf Plum, formerly of Edinburgh’s blartiest avant-punk combo Dog Faced Hermans, on drums. With Liz Moscarola’s urgent vocals fronting a reckless…

Nalle - Wilder Shores of Love

23 Jul 2010

(alt.vinyl) Inspired by the Greek myth of doomed lovers Hero and Leander, and named after a Cy Twombly painting, the third album by vocalist Hanna Tuulikki, viola player Aby Vulliamy and multi-instrumentalist Chris Hladowski fuses ancient and modern…

Raices en Viaje by Proyecto Evocacion is full of surprises

The Festival del Caribe gives birth to five-piece set.

23 Jul 2010

World Proyecto Evocación Raíces en Viaje – Roots en Route (Spherical Records) Just occasionally an unexpected recording captures a magical moment. So it happened when ex-Happy End trumpeter Loz Speyer got into a basement home-studio in Santiago de…

LTM Records releases compilation Les Filles du Crépuscule

22 Jul 2010

(LTM) LTM Records chic and boutique catalogue exists like some raincoat-clad European republic that’s forever 1981. This 20-track collection sashays through the Belgian-based Les Disques du Crépuscule’s roster of chanteuses, many of whom set the…

The xx, Biffy Clyro and Dizzee Rascal among favourites for 2010 Mercury Music Prize

Spotify playlist: Mercury Music Prize 2010

20 Jul 2010

The shortlist of contenders for this year's Mercury Prize was announced today. The £20,000 prize is awarded to the best album of the last 12 months, as chosen by a panel of music industry members. Among the 12 acts competing for this year's prize are…

Festival collaboration unites Alonzo King Lines Ballet with Zakir Hussain

EIF show fuses Indian classical music and contemporary American ballet

16 Jul 2010

Zakir Hussain was always destined for musical greatness: one look at his childhood bedtime routine will tell you that. For years he would come home from school and go straight to sleep, only to be awakened by his father at midnight to rehearse through…

The Bays play Edinburgh show for Departure Lounge's seventh birthday

14 Jul 2010

Name Departure Lounge Occupation Edinburgh’s home of ‘heavyweight global sounds’. What exactly are ‘heavyweight global sounds’? Departure Lounge takes in everything from hip hop to funk and jazz to dub with a healthy dose of world music…

Five pop songs influenced by world music

7 Jul 2010

Arabic Gorillaz – ‘White Flag’ Damon Albarn has long foraged global sounds – his Chinese opera, his Malian album – but ‘White Flag’ was revelatory. Betwixt cameos from Kano and Bashy blazed the real stars of Plastic Beach: the Lebanese National…

Land of Kush’s Egyptian Light Orchestra - Monogamy

7 Jul 2010

(Constellation) Following the lead of US novelist Thomas Pynchon’s Against The Day, Montreal’s Sam Shalabi reconvenes his psych-Arabic jazz orchestra for this exploration of shame, sexuality and society. With horns, strings, keyboards, percussion…

Miriam Makeba - South Africa’s Skylark

7 Jul 2010

(Nascente) Forget Shakira: the benchmark song of World Cup 2010 was a reworking of Miriam Makeba’s 1967 hit ‘Pata Pata’. Johannesburg-born Makeba, who died in 2008, was nicknamed Africa’s Skylark, evoking the beauty of her voice, but falling short of…

Various Artists - Yes We Can: Songs About Leaving Africa

2 Jul 2010

(Out Here Records) Pulsing beats from hip hop to dance make up this stirring collection, telling contemporary stories of today’s Africa. Most compilations are an easy forage through label back-catalogues. All salutations to Rose Skelton then…

Various - The Essential Guide To South Africa

1 Jun 2010

(Union Square) Time for a rich South African soundscape to celebrate World Cup time. Many will recognise the deep harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo from baked beans ads if not from Paul Simon’s Graceland. This exuberant panorama also stretches…

Luísa Maita - Lero Lero

1 Jun 2010

(Cumbancha) São Paolo singer Luísa Maita can do fresh and fragile as with ‘Aí Ven Ele’ (There He Comes), Brazilian north-eastern zippy with ‘Fulaninha’ (What’s Her Name), funky upbeat with ‘Lero Lero’ (Hey, What’s Up) and modern bossa with…

Music festivals 2010: Festivals timeline

28 May 2010

From Rock Ness to Roskilde, Glastonbury to Glasgow Jazz Festival, we list the best of the many great fests happening throughout the summer. Which one(s) will you choose?

Salsa Celtica - En Vivo en el Norte

20 May 2010

Discos León There’s no escaping the exhilarating energy and musicianship captured in this live recording of the final gig of the 2009 ‘Salsa Celtica All Stars’ tour recorded in the beautiful Universal Hall of the Findhorn Community on the northeast…

Gil Scott Heron

HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, Mon 26 Apr 2010

12 May 2010

At over three score years, novelist, poet and musician Gil Scott Heron cuts a dapper, if weathered figure. Slender and sage-like, he resembles a jazz Gandalf. His famous baritone cuts through the packed auditorium, here to witness the return of a true…

Chango Spasiuk - The Very Best of El Chango

12 May 2010

Nascente Chango Spasiuk hails from Misiones, the hotlands of northern Argentina, and his gorgeous chamamé music tells us that that there is more to his country than tango. Think small villages, days working in the fields, then beer and dancing under…

5 Reasons to go and see... Omar Souleyman

29 Apr 2010

1.) He’s Syria’s biggest star In the cassette stalls of Damascus, Omar Souleyman is king, with over 500 releases to his name. He plays around 20 weddings and parties a month and is also popular in parts of Turkey and the Gulf. His biggest hit, the…

Lila Downs - Y la Misteriosa En Paris: Live at Fip

21 Apr 2010

(World Village) What could be more glorious than a live recording of a Lila Downs’ gig in Paris? The Latin American songwriter has revamped Mexican traditional music for the 21st century, embedding it in indigenous languages and the power of the…

Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle

14 Apr 2010

American Recordings/ Columbia What an apt album title. This latest effort from gypsy-punks Gogol Bordello, Trans-Continental Hustle, takes us on a meandering trip through Eastern Europe and back — via South America too. With lead-man and…

Etran Finatawa - Tarkat Tajje/ Let’s Go!

31 Mar 2010

(World Music Network) If Ali Farka Toure paved the way for mesmerising desert blues then the Festival in the Desert held near Timbuctou has encouraged a new generation of musicians, including the all-male Etran Finatawa (The Stars of Tradition) who…

Orkestra del Sol line up date showcasing new show in Glasgow

31 Mar 2010

Returning with a brand new 2010 show, Orkestra de Sol generally deliver a bedazzling, euphoric and riotous live performance. Describing this gig as ‘a game of top trumps but with musicians not cards’, the top trump of the orkestra will be decided…

John Butler Trio - April Uprising

31 Mar 2010

(On Because) Teamed with new bandmates and a new record label, dancehall, roots and rock all find their place in this musical voyage into Butler’s ancestry.