Mahotella Queens – Abaculi Bethu / Umculo Kawupheli

Today’s share is a joyful slice of township jive out of South Africa from the legendary Mahotella Queens.  It’s a tragedy that it took a cretinous thief like Malcolm McLaren to turn the world on to such music.  From the Umsakazo Records Bandcamp site: “The reach and influence of “Umculo Continue Reading

PoiL Ueda – PoiL Ueda

This is a heavy, near-monstrous release involving Japanese singer and bassis Junko Ueda and the French avant-prog group PoiL.  From their Bandcamp site: “PoiL Ueda is the result of a collaboration between Junko Ueda, a vocalist and satsuma-biwa player from Japan, and PoiL, a French rock/contemporary music band. The creation Continue Reading

Badieh – Badieh

This is quite a pairing.  Badieh consist of Spaniard Michel Gasco, who plays oud and rebab, pairs with Iranian musician Mohammed Miragharzadeh on tar and setar. From Badieh’s Bandcamp site: “Worlds Within Worlds is proud to announce the release of Badieh’s self-titled debut album – a collection of mystifying folk Continue Reading

Dur-Dur Band Int. – The Berlin Session

Somalia’s Dur-Dur Band have released fresh material, so if you’re interested in Somali music, Afrobeat, funk or soul, you might want to pick this up quickly. From the band’s Bandcamp site: “The Berlin Session travels far beyond the gems collected from dusty cassettes. It is a bridge between the sorrow Continue Reading

Karolina Ossowska & Jeff Gburek – Ariadne’s Thread

I’m used to expecting amazing things from composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Gburek, and certainly so when he pairs with violinist Karolina Ossowska, but this is a shockingly good album even with such expectations. The album has four compositions which are about as gentle and pleasing as anything I’ve heard in Continue Reading

Afro National – African Experimentals (1972​-​1979)

An Afrobeat treat from Sierre Leone originally formed in 1972 is what we have here from Afro National. From their Bandcamp site: “The Afro National band was formed in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1972. Their inspirational leader, Sulay Abu Bakarr accompanied by his wife Patricia and Ayo Roy Macauley split Continue Reading

Visera Crash – Babé

Some time in 2017 or so, perhaps earlier, I stumbled onto Bandcamp thanks to some friends sending me links.  I thought I’d do some exploring, and one of the first bands I came across was one from Argentina, a classical string quintet from Buenos Aires called Visera Crash.  The music Continue Reading