The
Top 10
Régis
Gizavo, Louis Mhlanga, David Mirandon: Stories
A breathtaking global collaboration from a from a French drummer,
a Zimbabwean guitarist, and a Malagasy accordion player, all at the top of
their
craft.
(STG
review)
Hazmat
Modine: Bahamut
Roots-blues with Tuvan throat-singing? This NYC band is great on their own, but
in enlisting Huun Huur Tu to add overtones to several tracks, they've created
something wonderful and surreal. Consider it the soundtrack to some dark, wonderful
movie that hasn't been made yet. (STG
review)
KAL: KAL
With positive messages about Rom culture and traditional melodies frosted with
modern beats, KAL is a musical treat that Fans of Balkan speed brass or
other energetic Eastern European
music
will
find
hard
to turn
off.
(STG
review)
Susheela
Raman: Music for Crocodiles
Is it world music? UK-based Indian singer Susheela Raman pushes back against
that label with an album on which most songs are in English and wouldn't sound
out of place on a progressive mainstream radio station. Still, the roots are
clearly in South India, and the result is a beautiful grenre-defying
album by a confident and competent musician. (STG
review)
Habana
Abierta: Boomerang
This album rocks. It manages to be both just-picked fresh and still full of
catchy hooks that reel you in. The title is apt, for the Madrid-based Cuban
band boomerangs not just geographically, but also between elements as diverse
as
rock guitar,
Latin
rhythms, and Beach-Boys-worthy vocal harmonies. (STG
review)
Toumani
Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra: Boulevard de L'Independance
Recorded in a series of all night sessions at Mali's Hotel Mandé, Diabate's
latest offering maintains a vibe of acoustic tradition while incorporating modern
influences (and musicians from Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso,
as well as Mali) into a rip-roaring ride through Diabate's imagination, richly
appointed with strings and horns. (STG
review)
Eliseo
Parra: De
Ayer Mañana
Parra has recorded songs on all four of Spain's official languages (Castilian,
Catalan, Galacian, and Basque) and explored musical traditions from all over
the Iberian peninsula, seeking lost or endangered sounds. From the rapping
speed-talk on the baile-juego (dance game) "Galandun" to the bagpipe-led
sheep-shearing song "De Esquileo," Parro has created a work of wonder
that should send many digging deeper into the musical offerings of Iberia. (STG
review)
Sara
Tavares: Balancé
On the self-produced Balancé, Lisbon-based Tavares looks toward her
family's roots in Cape Verde. Playing many of the instruments herself, she
builds subtle, joyful songs that show how much of the island spirit still lives
within her, assimilated through annual trips to Cape Verde. (STG
review)
Madrigaia:
Pleiades
Madrigaia, a seven-woman group from Canada, cast their musical net wide, singing
songs from Brazil, France, Uruguay, Poland, and beyond. And they carry it off
beautifully, with music that sounds natural and grounded. (STG
review)
Ali
Farka Toure: Savane
Ali Farka Toure was known as one of the best and most
original guitarists in the world until his recent passing.
This album was already in the works then (on the heels
of In the Heart of the Moon, his Grammy-winning collaboration
with Toumani Diabate) , so it's really his last word
to his fans. So African music fans will be pleased
to know how pleased Toure himself was with the recording. "I
know this is my best album ever," he said. "It
has the most power and is the most different." (STG
review)
10 more great albums, 'cause I just can't help myself:
Tastes,
of course, are personal. So please consider
this list as a jumping-off point for further explorations
in
world music. I've left off a lot of great music; what
I've listed are the albums to which I've returned again
and again. Albums that, to me, have an enduring charm.
I expect you may agree with some, and disagree with
others. I'd love to know how your own favorites from
the past year differ from mine, so keep
in touch.
©2006
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media
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