Avant-Garde Music, Abstract Art, and Good Friends: ‘Do.So’ by Rolando Renè and ‘Trónco’ by Trónco from Torto Editions, 2019December 9th, 2019|Country: Canada, Italy|An Italian music label makes a premiere with two records of experimental music. One is a dramatic showcase of string musicians playing dangerously, another—an immersive easy listening experience
From Beslan hostage to hip-hop artist—Indi, ‘Perviy’, 2019December 5th, 2019|Country: North Ossetia, Russia|A survivor of the Beslan school siege and chronic illness creates soulful hip-hop about love, faith, and perseverance, blending Moscow moodiness with Caucasus mountains flair
Music: Senyawa, Sujud, 2018November 26th, 2019|Country: Indonesia|Dark experimental doom folk duo from the center of Javanese culture makes bringing music back to nature a visceral, earthy experience with handmade instruments and radical approach to vocals
Music: Rytmus, Krstný Otec, 2016November 15th, 2019|Country: Slovakia|An exploration of Slovakia's cultural and political contexts as a rapper reflects on the two decades of his career which made him, a working class Roma boy, into a superstar
Music: Davlatmand Kholov and Abdoussatar Abdoullaev, Tadjikistan. Davlatmand, Art and Folk Music, 1992November 5th, 2019|Country: Tajikistan|Music from the mountains of Pamir infused with Sufi mysticism as performed by its master: a testament to the power of Tajik-Persian culture that will entice lovers of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Music: Mighty Sparrow, Soca Anthology: Doctor Bird, 2011October 21st, 2019|Country: Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago|The most honored king of calypso whose sharp tongue had turned to a variety of topics, like sex, race, slavery and politics, which he then fearlessly explored—a musical treasure still performing at 84
Music: Laetitia Zonzambe, Sanza Soul, 2017October 10th, 2019|Country: Canada, Central African Republic|A singer's resilient voice serves as a reminder that the Central African Republic isn't just about war and poverty, but has quite a cultural heritage that is reimagined for the contemporary audience
Music: Mitra Sumara, Tahdig, 2018 September 6th, 2019|Country: Iran, USA|An NYC-based avant-garde band fronted by a singer who found her Persian roots reimagines the music of pre-Islamic Revolution Iran: a delectable adventure into Tehran's sexy disco past
Music: Cherrie, Sherihan, 2016August 17th, 2019|Country: Somalia, Sweden|The first album by the Somali-Swedish R&B diva whose song “163 För Evigt” became a sensation worldwide despite the language barrier: powerful music informed by growing up black in Europe
Music: Narasirato, Inoni Ana Totoraha, 2015July 26th, 2019|Country: Solomon Islands|A perfect soundtrack for preventing climate change from a 17 piece panpipe orchestra who live and work near the rainforest: traditional yet modern Solomon Islands music that lights up rock festivals
Music: Huarere, Homson Tribute, 2004July 14th, 2019|Country: Vanuatu|Reggae from Vanuatu that’s both a testament to the genre’s power and a potent reimagining of it, drenched in Oceanian culture and realities. Archipelago dwellers sure know how to make intelligent beach music
Music: Afro-Beat Airways, West African Shock Waves: Ghana & Togo 1972-1978, 2010July 2nd, 2019|Country: Ghana, Togo|1970s psychedelic funk from the less explored musically regions of West Africa: fresh soundings of the epoch that sometimes doesn’t seem like it could be cool again
Music: Tenzin Choegyal and Taro Terahara, The Awakened Heart, 2011June 21st, 2019|Country: Australia, Japan, Tibet|Calming, healing collection of mantras, both ancient and contemporary, in a collaboration between Tibetan musician based in Australia and the Japanese master of the bansuri flute
Music: Ngaiire, Blastoma, 2016June 11th, 2019|Country: Australia, Papua New Guinea|Dark, danceable future soul from Papua New Guinea in a sophomore album named after the singer’s childhood cancer: Ngaiire is a talent from Oceania to look out for
Music: Bamba Pana, Poaa, 2018May 29th, 2019|Country: Tanzania|Singali reimagined for Dar Es Salaam’s dancefloors in this album of Tanzanian electronica of the future
Music: M.I.A., Arular, 2005May 22nd, 2019|Country: Eelam Tamil, United Kingdom|The vernacular of rootlessness, multiculturalism and politics of war in one of the greatest albums to come out in the 21st century so far
Music: Deben Bhattacharya, Zingari, 2011April 25th, 2019|Country: Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Roma, Romania, Spain|Following the routes of Roma migration across Europe via music
Music: Širom, I Can Be a Clay Snapper, 2017April 19th, 2019|Country: Slovenia|Imaginative, experimental take on multi-instrumental folk music
Music: Kondi Band, Salone, 2017April 13th, 2019|Country: Sierra Leone, USA|Thumb piano electronica that brings tradition to the dancefloor
Music: Yma Sumac, Mambo!, 1954April 9th, 2019|Country: Peru|Peruvian goddess sings: four and a half octaves and a whole lot of mambo
Music: Panama! 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk on the Isthmus, 1967-77April 2nd, 2019|Country: Panama|
Music: Ne Zhdali, Hey Driver Cool Down the Horses, 1994January 25th, 2019|Country: Estonia|Multicultural polyphony with Jewish and Mediterranean roots from Tallinn created during the era of underground Soviet rock music
Music: Laurent Jeanneau, Ethnic Minority Music of Southern Laos, 2015January 1st, 2019|Country: Laos|
