I’ve no desire to stem the tide of singles reaching me on a daily basis, but keeping up with the sharing thereof is a challenge. In an attempt to rise to said challenge, here are my weigh-ins on what I’d call a fair number of them.
You’d do well to heed “Early Warning” by The NoLaNauts, a 10-strong band that brings the sound of New Orleans in all its big, swampy goodness. The tune is a real roof-raiser and sincere in the advocating of preventive measures.
Congolese/French/American Duck Geoffroy proves he’s no quack. His “Lidza bana” superbly blends African and Latin sounds.
“The Ballad of Ardith Clark” by Tracy Morrison tells the long, savory musical story of a woman who roughed it in the old west of the US, from the perspective of someone familiar with such a life, albeit in more modern times.
Chiming guitars and tender but urgent vocals are the stuff of “DEDICACE Jm,” a Congolese/Tanzanian soukous song by FayedLux that jumps handily into sebene overdrive.
I have an odd fondness for music that’s hard to categorize. Such is the case with French duo Cam & Leo. She’s a harpist, he’s a percussionist. Their “Nettuno” is a wavy and wonderful blend of what I would call jazz and Afro-Caribbean atmosphere. (Oops, did I just categorize?)
“Where Have All the TuTones Gone?” wonders the USA’s Stefanosis on a piece that celebrates the anti-racist power of second wave ska. Much respect.
A very engaging Caribbean/Celtic air is achieved with “Cazale,” by Daniel Bellegarde, a Canadian of Haitian heritage. Whimsical feel aside, the song is a tribute to Polish soldiers who defected from the French to the Haitian side during Haiti’s early 19th century war of independence.
Another Haitian, Gregory LaForest, taps into the music of Guinea on “Ede’m Pote,” a swaying tune laden with melodious balafon punctuating rich Kreyol vocals. A cross-cultural meeting of the best kind.
Brazilian Rosi Garrido gives “Peço Perdão” a silky line between bossa nova and French cabaret, courtesy of sounds so sweet you can almost taste them.
What makes “Gira Sete Saia” by Brazilian singer and bassist Paola Pelosini stand out is its embrace of rock, funk and psychedelic influences that help shaped the 1960s MPB movement and never really left.
Slow and pensive but rhythmically very much alive, “Salvador meu amor” by Rafael Ponde is a fitting tribute to his hometown in the Brazilian state of Bahia.
A man named Victor Diawara who was, oddly enough, born in Lithuania and raised in Mali is the mastermind of a band called Afrodelic. Their “Be Ka Wili (Shtuby Remix)” is a nicely crafted blend of traditional and electronic sounds.
Israeli multi-instrumentalist Shahar Kaufman has a “Yearning” and expresses it with a fine classical and Middle Eastern mix.
An Australian named Mick Dick stretches dub reggae to the hilt with “Twin Stares,” a 10-minute mind-bender punctuated by militant trumpet blasts.
Faela, a. band from all over, take a pan-Latin approach with a jumping, twisting and altogether jamming “La Mia.”
Afrobeat from Lithuania? Yup, “Igobi Keke” by Ojibo Afrobeat is just that, and a very good take it is.
Jamaican/American Alfred Lloyd’s “Jah Jah Jehovah” features a tongue-tripping singjay style testifying mightily to some familiar reggae business.
Mix jazz with traditional Macedonian music and the seemingly unlikely but musically solid result is “Katerino Krotko Jagne” by Aneta George.
I never heard reggae from New Caledonia before “T’es Qui Toi” by I Nu. Now that I have, I’m better off.
Ghana’s H. 4real mightily uses reggae as a message to hold leaders responsible for their actions on “Babylon People.”
Amine Khettat is a visually impaired Algerian proficient on various instruments. His “Nahla” provides an earful of just how good he is.
The first known all-female mariachi band from a certain merry old place, Mariachi Las Adelitas UK has the authentic swinging grace and elegance to send their premiere single, “Intro.,” straight into your pleasure zone.
“Twilight Train” is suitably nocturnal-sounding, appealingly eerie dub reggae by Feldub, out of France.
A French Canadian/Estonian reggae artist called Francois Marius offers “Ca Roule Rastaman” and gets everything right in terms of groove and vocal delivery.
Despite his American-sounding name, Joe “Fingerbob” Carson is a Frenchman. His “I Tried Hard” is a throwback (way back) bare bones blues winner.
Reggae from Italy has long since ceased to be an unusual thing, and De Strangers prove as much with “Island Breeze,” a track every bit as cool as the name suggests. The band’s “No Justice” shows their militant side with equal skill.
He’s from Brazil, he reportedly gigs regularly in San Diego, and his Jamaican-rooted sentiments are evident. Thus, Marauak brings a classic reggae aura to “Knock With Blues.”
France’s Eleonore Fourniau channels Kurdish sensibilities through “Lawo,” a rollicking tune with an urgent beat, zesty instrumentation and passionate vocals.
A hypnotic blend of Afro-Caribbean groove, freestyle jazz, psychedelia, acoustic sparkle and a dozen or so other facets, “Hands” by the UK combo Talking Spirits is true “world” music at its finest.
Egyptian singer Habiba combines the lush orchestral style of her country with a danceable sense of drama on “Samaka,” a song about a less-than-perfect relationship.
Patrick Seinin-Aul and his band AZZAF bring “Kreye Pou Louwe,” a lively slice of the French Caribbean sporting guitar chiming like that of Congolese soukous.
Moussa Koita, from the perhaps musically under-represented nation of Burkina Faso, expertly combines West African rawness with reggae throughout “Ouaga-Bobo.”
Is Mexico’s Matanga Records an artist or a label? Beats me, but their “Glyoxal” (named for a Lyme Disease treatment, oddly enough), is a savory slice of funk that’s at once vintage and contemporary.
An American band that combines several Latin threads, Barbarita Ole asserts, with absolute believability, that they are “Lovers Not Fighters.”
American duo Bourgeoisie Paper Jam deserve points for their name alone, and “One Love (Find a Way)” shows their brand of reggae to be a high scorer as well.
Niv Klil Hahoresh, Israeli flutist, blends Middle Eastern and Celtic vibes on a dandy instrumental called “Urban Beat.” Nicely spontaneous video as well.
Okay, that’s plenty for now. More to come, perhaps in similarly copious quantities, perhaps not. Thank you for your kind attention.
Author: Tom Orr
Tom Orr is a California-based writer whose talent and mental stability are of an equally questionable nature. His hobbies include ignoring trends, striking dramatic poses in front of his ever-tolerant wife and watching helplessly as his kids surpass him in all desirable traits.