Delicious Tunes is one of Europe’s finest labels dedicated to the best of modern African music. This track is from legendary Angolan guitarist and singer Paulo Flores, and if you wish more of his music, visit the label’s website here or visit Paulo’s Spotify account.
World Music
Noori & His Dorpa Band – Beja Power! Electric Soul & Brass from Sudan’s Red Sea Coast
I can’t say I know much about who Noori, the tambur-guitarist and leader of his eponymous band is, but to learn more, consider reading this article by OK Africa. From the Bandcamp site: A soundtrack of Sudan’s revolution and the first ever international release of the Beja sound, performed by Continue Reading
Ellipsis Quintet – Avoid The Void
This is something of a revelation for me! The music produced by the Ellipsis Quintet, led by trumpeter Vasilis Nalbantis, mixes traditional Balkan, Greek and Levantine melodies inside a framework that would appeal to fans of the avant-progressive and Rock-In-Opposition genres. Theirs is a prog-world-jazz stew that’s one of the freshest Continue Reading
Ajate – Abrada
Ajate are a Japanese band who have the Afrobeat sound down. They’re one of the best bands working in this style while seamlessly blending Japanese percussion, funk and soul into their milieu.
Sak Sok Ensemble of Fershampenuaz Village – Nagaybak Songs From Chelyabinsk Region, Russia
A fascinating release from our friends at Antonovka Records. From their Bandcamp website: “Nagaybaks are an ethnic group that descends from the Christian Tatars and shares the same self-name with them — “Kreshenner”, which means “Baptized Ones”. There are about 10 thousand Nagaybaks in total, they live primarily in the Continue Reading
Hermeto Pascoal – Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo
As magnificently weird as most Hermeto Pascoal albums are, this one holds a special place in my heart, as it sounds like a more Amazonian Mahavishnu Orchestra jamming with Bill Bruford, Jeff Berlin and maintaining a healthy jazz thread all the while.
Antiq – Ilbeltz / Hanternoz / Anceisural Eritance – D’Anjou en Vasconie
This was a combination I didn’t expect. It’s not uncommon for, say, black metal musicians to integrate their music into pagan folk and make a good hybrid, but this is something different. Antiq combine soaring traditional Basque and Breton vocals with a proper metal backing, and somehow, by some strange Continue Reading
Msylma & Ismael – The Tenets of Forgetting (مذاهب النسيان)
Saudi singer Msylma & Egypt’s Ismael are two musicians who come from the rich Middle Eastern electronic music scene. Msylma’s rich, mournful and introspective voice gives depth and emotion to the electro music produced underneath. I have to admit, though this isn’t the kind of music I normally listen to, it’s Continue Reading
Adjin Asllan, Tarik Bulut, The Garabed Brothers, et al. – In An Egyptian Garden
From the legendary Canary Records Bandcamp site: From the 1910s through the 1950s, immigrants released 78rpm discs marketed to their own language / ethnic groups, and that practice survived for a century well into the era of the 33rpm, 45rpm, cassette, and CD era. But from the mid-50s though the Continue Reading
Pelkkä Poutanen – Pyhä Veri Vuotaa
Finland’s Pelkkä Poutanen provide one of 2022’s best World Music albums, combining a wild combination of Scandinavian folk, drone, throat-singing and, if you can believe it, a very light touch of tango.