Charanga Cakewalk Loteria de la Cumbia Lounge (Triloka/Artemis ARTCD-256, 2004) Being a hardcore fan of global music shouldn’t preclude a person from possessing a working…
A Cakewalk on the Latin Side
Category: Album reviews
The Real Revolutionaries
Tinariwen Amassakoul (World Village 468026, 2004) A lot of musicians fancy themselves rebels and freedom fighters. The members of Tinariwen truly were. Their heritage is…
Feasts of Fusion
Lo’Jo – ce soir la… (World Village 468027, 2004) Global Village Orchestra – Globalistics (Random Chance Records RCD-19, 2004) As vague as a phrase like…
Potent SeneRap with a feminist message
Alif Dakamerap (Out here records 2004) It’s a fact that hip-hop & rap has taken hold in a big way in West Africa. Notably…
Leave Your Grass Skirt at Home
Ooklah the Moc – Rearrange Your Positive (Ghetto Circus Records CG2, 2004) The Lambsbread – Sing Praise (Adin-nin Records ADOO3, 2003) Much as some people…
Tumbling oud, rumbling basslines
Azzddine Ouhnine with Bill Laswell – Massafat (Barraka Recordings/Barbarity 023, 2004) I can’t honestly claim to be totally enamored of some releases on the Barraka…
Bel, Bel…
M’Bilia Bel – Belissimo (Sterns AfricaTCD1098, 2004) M’Bilia first came to prominence in the 1970s as vocal sidekick and wife of the top Zairian [Congolese]…
Ecstatic Voices
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain, The Very Best of (Wrasse Records WRASS 139, 2004) There can be no doubt that the collective voices…
A Different Kind of Blue
Various Artists Blues Lounge (Putumayo PUT 229-2, 2004) The art of mixing roots music from various sources with modern electronica has really taken off lately,…
Children of the Earth
The Juan L. Sánchez Ensemble Hijos de la Tierra (Música Cosmopolita, 2004) Juan Sánchez is a Spanish singer-songwriter based in California, who collaborates with musicians…