Various Artists – Reggae Pulse, Vol. 3: Love Songs (Sanctuary Records Group 06076-80446-2, 2004) Sly and Robbie – The Dub Revolutionaries (RAS Sanctuary 06076-89917-2, 2004)…
The Many Faces of Roots
Category: Album reviews
X-Tango, indeed!
Fernando Otero, X-Tango – Plan (Twinz 602, 2003) This is not your grandmother’s tango! This isn’t even your mother’s tango. X-Tango, indeed! Fernando Otero uses…
Kenya Feel the Spirit?
Various Artists – The Rough Guide to the Music of Kenya (World Music Network RGNET 1137 CD, 2004) The tightly syncopated, guitar-percolating style known as benga…
Shacking Up
Aphrodesia – Shackrobeat Vol. 1 (Flatbed Lamborgini Records FLR808, 2003) Though they’ve been pegged as part of the current Afrobeat revival, San Francisco’s Aphrodesia go beyond that.…
Life in the Vas Lane
Vas – Feast of Silence (Narada 70876-18497-2-1, 2004) Vocalist Azam Ali and percussionist Greg Ellis began making music as Vas in 1995, both bringing to the…
Music For a Global Gathering
Hamsa Lila – Gathering One (BRG/In The Pocket BRG 1268 2424701262 2, 2003) If a good fusion band is one that knows how to combine the…
Desechos
Desechos – Cuando es Mañana (Boa Recording 05002023, 2003) Desechos recalls the Mexican musical melange, Los Abajos at times with its bouncy ska tunes and rap…
The Eyes Have It
Ojos de Brujo – Bari (Europe: La Fábrica de Colores/USA: World Village 468024, 2004) Flamenco ain’t what it used to be, and if the purists want…
It’s the Thought that Counts
Think Of One – Chuva Em Po (Zonk Records LCM 100036, 2004) After three album’s worth of cleverly mixing their eccentric Euro-jazz with Moroccan music, Belgium’s…
Songs From The Back Porch
Jolie Holland – Escondida (Anti 6692, 2004) Thankfully, the transition from lo-fi spare room demo to recording studio hasn’t harmed the sound or spirit of Jolie Holland’s…