Los Lonely Boys Los Lonely Boys (Or Music OR803052, 2003) The self-titled debut CD, Los Lonely Boys, has garnered this trio from a tiny town…
Cross Cultural Latin Rock
Category: Album reviews
Fado and beyond
Cristina Branco Sensus (US: Decca/Universal Classics France, 2004) Cristina Branco is one of the young fado singers charting new directions for this traditionally conservative musical…
Expert Testimony
Samputu Testimony From Rwanda (Multicultural Media MCM 4003, 2004) It’s been a decade since the genocide in Rwanda, a massive tragedy that the United States…
Hit It
Joji Hirota / Pete Lockett – Taiko to Tabla (ARC Music EUCD 1856, 2004) Paoli Mejias – Mi Tambor (Paoli Mejias JMCD/2004-1, 2004) Since percussion…
A Cakewalk on the Latin Side
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…
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…