Mariana Aydar "Cavaleiro Salvagem Aqui Te Sigo" (Universal Brasil)
Carlinhos Brown "Diminuto" (Sony-Brasil)
Carlinhos Brown "Adobro" (Sony-Brasil)
Chico Buarque "Chico" (DRG)
Adriana Calcanhoto "O Microbio Do Samba" (Sony-Brasil)
Coeur De Pirate "Blonde" (Barclay)
Vanessa Da Mata "Bicicletas, Bolos e Outras Alegrias" (Sony-Brasil)
Thomas Dutronc "Silence On Tourne, On Tourne En Rond" (Mercury-France)
Maria Gadu "Maria Gadu" (Som Livre)
Jadid Ensemble "Sigh Of The Moor" (Self-Released)
The Lijadu Sisters "Mother Africa" (Afrodisia/Knitting Factory)
Daniela Mercury "Canibalia" (Four Quarters)
Mario Moite "Fado Navegante" (Arc Music)
Marisa Monte "O Que Voce Quer Saber De Verdade" (EMI)
Maria Rita "Elo" (Warner-Brasil)
Roberta Sa E Trio Madeira "Quando O Canto E Reza" (Universal-Brasil)
Various Artists "BACHATA LEGENDS" (iASO)
Various Artists "BACHATA ROJA: AMOR Y AMARGUE" (iASO)
Various Artists "LEGENDS OF FADO" (Arc Music)
Various Artists "PSYCHEDELIC PERNAMBUCO" (Mr Bongo)
Various Artists "THE ROUGH GUIDE TO ENGLISH FOLK" (Rough Guide)
PLUS:
Severino Araujo "Nova Serie" (Warner)
Jil Caplan "Derriere La Porte" (Odeon)
Various Artists "FORGOTTEN GUITARS FROM MOZAMBIQUE: 1955-57" (SWP)
Various Artists "SOUTHERN MOZAMBIQUE: 1943... 1963" (SWP)

Mariana Aydar "Cavaleiro Salvagem Aqui Te Sigo" (Universal Brasil, 2010)

Carlinhos Brown "Diminuto" (Sony-Brasil, 2011)

Carlinhos Brown "Adobro" (Sony-Brasil, 2011)

Chico Buarque "Chico" (DRG, 2011)

Adriana Calcanhoto "O Microbio Do Samba" (Sony-Brasil, 2011)

Coeur De Pirate "Blonde" (Barclay, 2011)
The second album by French-Canadian singer Beatrice Martin, aka Coeur De Pirate... More straight-up, better-than-average indiepop with French vocals; I find her work to be pleasant, but not magical, less generic than some French-language indie/alt rock but still a little same-sounding after a while. See what you think!

Vanessa Da Mata "Bicicletas, Bolos e Outras Alegrias" (Sony-Brasil, 2010)

Thomas Dutronc "Silence On Tourne, On Tourne En Rond" (Mercury-France, 2011)
The second solo album from the son of French avant-pop stars Jacques Dutronc and Francois Hardy. He shifts gears a little here, opening with several (great) indie-rock oriented songs that do justice to his royal lineage, and slowly circles back to the acoustic gypsy-jazz sound of his debut, along with a lot same kind of mellow, melodic indiepop that's big in France right now. Nice record: I'm keeping my eyes on this guy.

Maria Gadu "Maria Gadu" (Som Livre, 2010)
Young, up-and-coming MPB singer from Brazil, sticking mostly to a sleek acoustic style... Sounds a lot like Marisa Monte to me... Pretty voice, restrained production, nice music.

Jadid Ensemble "Sigh Of The Moor" (2010)
An impressive, self-released debut featuring a lively British ensemble dedicated to performing authentic, mainly traditional Arabic music, incorporating pan-Arabic influences and European crossovers such as Spanish flamenco and Turkish popular music. The multi-talented bandleader Glenn Sharp plays oud, guitar, cumbus saz (a particular style of long-necked oud with a sound that's like a mix of banjo and sitar) as well as piano and bass. Sharp composed all the pieces and is joined by a trio adding drums, flute and violin to the mix... The Jadid Ensemble creates a soulful blend of Arabic-influence new music that points to a bright future for themselves and their songs. Recommended! (For more information, check out the group's website, www.jadidensemble.com)

The Lijadu Sisters "Mother Africa" (Afrodisia/Knitting Factory, 1977/2012)
(Produced by Biddy Wright)
Nice reissue of the second album by the Lijadu SIsters, who were practically the only female stars of the Nigerian 1970's pop scene... The Lijadus, sisters Kenhinde and Taiwo, were relatives of the legendary Fela Kuti and performed behind the scenes as session vocalists, and went on to record their first single in the late 1960s, and later toured with prog-rock drummer Ginger Baker during his early '70s foray into African music. They released four albums in the 1970s, all produced by and featuring the music of multi-instrumentalist Biddy Wright, whose distinctive funk-meets-psychedelic guitar gets even trippier on this disc. The album has a much different feel than their first, opening with a beautiful vocal harmony, backed only by sparse talking drums by Ayanwunmi Ayanleke and his band -- only later do the guitars join in, and when they do, there are some really weird, distinctive riffs, stuff that sounds a lot like the art-rock-meets-Africa explorations of Brian Eno and Talking Heads, later in the decade. Hearing the Lijadus sing in Yoruban as opposed to English is a real treat; this sounds like a set of children's tribal chants, but with a mystical, psychedelic edge. An intriguing, unusual album... Highly recommended!

Daniela Mercury "Canibalia" (Four Quarters, 2011)

Mario Moite "Fado Navegante" (Arc Music, 2011)
A fascinating, eclectic, multi-textured set of modern Portuguese fado from pianist Mario Moite, who has revived the 1870s tradition of "piano on fado," a style which died out in favor of the more familiar guitar style. While Moite champions this lost style he also brings new influences to the fado genre, elegantly mixing in Argentine tango, Cape Verdean mornas and perhaps a bit of Brazilian classical as well. It's lovely romantic music with inventive twists that will be fresh and new for many world music fans. Recommended!

Marisa Monte "O Que Voce Quer Saber De Verdade" (EMI, 2011)

Maria Rita "Elo" (Warner-Brasil, 2011)

Roberta Sa E Trio Madeira "Quando O Canto E Reza" (Universal-Brasil, 2011)

Various Artists "BACHATA LEGENDS" (iASO, 2011)
The first Bachata Roja compilation remains one of my all-time favorite albums, an invaluable, revelatory introduction to the beautiful romantic music of the early 1960s Dominican Republic. I've scoured the Internet and local record stores ever since it came out, trying to track down more of this music, but nothing comes close to that stunning collection. So, when I saw two more albums from the iASO label, I literally gasped with delight. And they're both pretty good: this first disc is a modern-day session gathering several of the original stars of the old acoustic style. It's a little rougher-edged, with some good guitar playing but a more rhythmic, driving percussion that perhaps reflects at the hyperactive pop genre that bachata morphed into a few decades ago. These tracks didn't have quite the same sleek, lyrical feel as the vintage recordings, but it's very welcome nonetheless, and includes tracks by several artists who weren't on the first record, such as El Chivo Sin Ley, Samuel Paredes and Los Inimitables, along with more tracks by old-timers Ramon Cordero, Leonardo Paniagua, and Augusto Santos. Great stuff, especially when combined with the Amor Y Amargue collection (below).

Various Artists "BACHATA ROJA: AMOR Y AMARGUE" (iASO, 2011)
Stunning. More great acoustic bachata ballads from the golden era of the 1960s and '70s, with classic tracks by Juan Bautista, Ramon Cordero, Luis Segura, Leonardo Paniagua and others. It's all great stuff, full of rich, emotional performances and gorgeous guitar work, a perfect companion to the first Bachata Roja collection, and an album I will be listening to, again and again, for many years to come. Highly recommended! (BTW, anyone know where I can get ahold of more of Rafael Encarnacion's music? He's possibly my favorite artist in this series, but it's impossible to find his old albums...)

Various Artists "LEGENDS OF FADO" (Arc Music, 2011)
A highly satisfying set of classic, traditionally-oriented Portuguese fados from major artists such as Amalia Rodrigues, Carlos Ramos, Fernando Farinha and others. I'm not sure of the exact provenance of these recordings, but they are all of a high caliber, and eminently listenable: this is great stuff! A great introduction to the genre, or a treat for folks who are already fado fans.

Various Artists "PSYCHEDELIC PERNAMBUCO" (Mr Bongo, 2011)
A strong compilation of early-1970s Brazilian obscurities from the wigged-out, uber-eclectic, bizarre-a-loid psychedelic folk scene of the Pernambuco region. This album cherry-picks odd songs from a handful of albums that have been reissued elsewhere in the last few years and, frankly, creates a better listening experience than the original albums (which have a lot of material on them that's best described as "difficult listening...") Includes early work from Geraldo Azevedo and Alceu Valenca who became stars in the '70s, and the more-obscure Lula Cortes, Flaviola, Marconi Notaro (who did not) as well as one track by a group called Gentlemen, who I'd never heard of before... It's all pretty weird, pretty challenging and well-curated on this intriguing collection. Definitely worth checking out!

Various Artists "THE ROUGH GUIDE TO ENGLISH FOLK" (Rough Guide, 2011)
This is a decent introduction to several modern, more pop-oriented British folk acts, with a few modest nods back towards talented but obscure musicians from the '60s/'70s scene, such as Pete Coe, the Copper Family and the Old Swan Band. Strangely, there is an entire second disc of the Coope, Boyes & Simpson band -- yes, they are one of the most commercially successful folk acts in English, but having an entire album's worth of their work grafted onto a more wide-ranging compilation like this does seem a bit odd. The contemporary/crossover slant of the collection is also mildly jarring, given the generic album title; if they'd branded it as a collection of newer material, that would have been helpful. Regardless, I'm sure many listeners will find new music to enjoy here, and fresh faces to add to their listening lists.

Severino Araujo "Nova Serie" (Warner Brasil, 2007)
A nice overview of one of my favorite guilty-pleasure Brazilian easy-listening instrumental bands, clarinetist Severino Araujo and his Orquestra Tabajara, who had a kind of swinging, big-band Mancini-and-Severinson-meet-samba vibe. This collection ping-pongs between Araujo's work in the late 1950s/early '60s and stuff from the '70s. The 'Seventies tracks are poppier with a prefab, Vegas-y glitz, but some of them are fun as well. The real fire is on the old recordings, which have a delicious, swank feel to them. Some tracks are cheesy, but both eras offer gems -- I was particularly psyched to get a newly-remastered version of "Um Chorinho Pra Voce," one of the coolest pop-choro tunes I've ever heard. This is a great introduction to a classic, if kinda corny, Brazilian band.

Jil Caplan "Derriere La Porte" (Odeon, 2007)
(Produced by Jay Alansky)
A lovely, downtempo French pop album, with hints of electronica laced in with moody acoustic neo-chanson and perky, modern-day indiepop. I think some of her records are pretty overproduced, but this one seems more restrained and elegant. Slick, but sweet - definitely recommended!

Various Artists "FORGOTTEN GUITARS FROM MOZAMBIQUE: 1955-57" (SWP, 2003)
One of several volumes from the amazing trove of African field recordings made by Hugh Tracey in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. This volume collects guitar-based songs by singers Feliciano Gomes, Aurelio Kowano, Americo Kossa, Nacio Makanda and others living in Mozambique back when it was a Portuguese colony. The style is generally rugged and stark, a bit piercing and perhaps inaccessible to many modern world music fans. But it is a welcome companion to other collections of East African music, on SWP, Original Music and other like-minded labels. I have to confess that, even as a fan of African music of this era, I found this album hard to get into -- it was just a little harsher and harder-edged than I prefer... Definitely worth a spin, though.

Various Artists "SOUTHERN MOZAMBIQUE: 1943... 1963" (SWP, 2003)
This mindboggling collection of potent, lo-fi field recordings from Mozambique is a must-have record for listeners in search of truly "new" obscuro-sounds, things that you simply haven't heard before. I couldn't help thinking, on track after track, what a rich reservoir this is for modern-day musicians who want to explore unique sounds either as remixes or by trying to figure out how the sounds were made, all those years ago. In some cases, it's been done by accident -- for example, the droning, flanging overtones of the Chopi tribe's marimbas (similar to the accidental, buzzing tones produced by finger pianos, but larger and more dense) which sound remarkably similar to the downward notes of the synthesizers on the Magnetic Fields song, "In My Car." The percussion and vocals on other tracks are equally unusual, a pure, unfiltered indigenous style largely uninfluenced by the world of pop music and electrification that lay beyond the poverty of postwar Mozambique. Stark, inaccessible-sounding at first, but a real mind-blower if you can get into it.

World Music Index
Other Recent Reviews