Lesser known than the music of powerhouse countries like Ireland, the UK and Spain, Italy is, nevertheless, a land of rich musical traditions. These are…
Occitan Beats, Tarantella Power and Beyond
Category: Album reviews
Divine Madness
Sussan Deyhim Madman of God (Crammed Discs craw 22, 2006) The Sufi are a minority sect in the Muslim world, their belief in music and…
SGAE Releases its Annual Compendium of Spanish Roots Music
Various Artists SGAE es: Raíces, Alternativo, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Urban – six album boxed set (Iberautor/SGAE, 2006) Every year, the Fundación Autor and SGAE release…
World Beat at its Best
Natacha Atlas Mish Maoul (Mantra Recrodings / Beggars Group MNTCD 1038, 2006) The queen of world music is back with an superb recording that shows…
Drums and Dreams
Nii Tagoe – African Roots (ARC Music EUCD 1981, 2006) Shaman’s Dream – African Dream (Sounds True M1014D, 2006) Recordings based around African percussion are…
A Musical Balancing Act
Sara Tavares Balancê (Times Square Records TSQ-CD-9054, 2006) Let me first disclose that I haven’t the computer knowhow to type this album’s title with the…
Vem, Sacred songs from Armenia
Lucineh Hovanissian Vem, Sacred songs from Armenia (Studio SM /Abeille Musique) “VEM” means rock in Armenian. The name of the album concerns the site where…
Lila’s Cantina
Lila Downs La Cantina (Narada 09463-34248-2-1, 2006) Where her last two releases combined the confessional intimacy of Mexican folkloric music with global seasonings, Lila Downs‘…
Bicultural Songs
Michele Dominguez Greene Luna Roja (Appleseed Recordings APRCD 1095, 2006) The release, Luna Roja by bicultural singer- songwriter, Michele Dominguez Greene couldn’t have arrived at…
A Collection of Tango
First up is Carlos Libedinsky’s Narcotango. One can only assume the narco part of the title is in some way linked to the Mexican narco-corridos,…