Best
World Music CDs of 2005: see below
Best
New Artist: Aurelio
Martinez: Garifuna
Soul
The music of Aurelio Martinez is welcome not only for its unique Afro-Caribbean
sound, but also as an invitation to discover more about the Garifuna culture
of Central America's Atlantic coast... (Reviewed April
2005)
Best
Live Album: Old Blind Dogs: Play
Live
Energetic live recordings from one of our favorite live acts...
Best
DVD: Femi
Kuti Live at the Shrine
If you want to understand Femi - or Fela or Nigerian politics for that matter
- this DVD may be the next best thing to being there - and you're less likely
to be hit by a plastic chair... (Reviewed September 2005)
Best
Compilation: (tie)
Best
Collaboration: (tie)
Best
Re-issue: Nawal: Kweli
Stunningly beautiful Muslim-rooted music from the Comoros Islands... (reviewed
December 2005)
Best
world music songs of 2005 (our
year-end mix CD - not available in any store, or anywhere
else!):
Artist
(country)- Song - Time - Album (Label)
1. Fantazia (Algeria/UK) - Sidi Mansour -
2:13 - Mul
Sheshe (World Village)
2. Romashka (USA) - Shimdiggy - 3:43 - Romashka (self-released)
3. Suphala (India/USA) - Secret Language -
4:33 - The
Now (Rasa)
4. Nawal (Comoros) - Kweli (Truth) - 3:29
- Kweli (self-released)
5. Freshlyground (South Africa) - Mowbray Kaap -
6:04 - Nomvula (Sony/BMG)
6. Badi Assad (Brazil) - Asa Branca -
1:08 - Verde (Edge)
7. Jamarhl Crawford (USA) - War In Babylon -
1:53 - Les
Nubians Presents: Echos Chapter One: Nubian Voyager (Triloka)
8. Shukar Collective (Romania) - Taraf -
3:27 - Urban
Gypsy (Riverboat)
9. Kilema (Madagascar) - Volovolo (Hair) -
4:12 - Lavi-Tani (Audiovisuals
de Sarria)
10. Kari Bremnes (Norway) - Han e en Katastrofe
(He's a Catastrophe) - 3:25 - Over
en by/Over a City (KKV)
11. Tigist Bekele (Ethiopia) -Ye Africa Konjo (African
Beauty) - 4:40 - Woman
Care! (KKV)
12. Candido Oye-Oba (Nigeria) - Komaya (Please Don't
Break My Drums) - 3:44 - Adura
Power (Asela Music)
13. SambaSunda (Indonesia) - Ecek - 5:02
- Rahwana's
Cry (Network)
14. Gangbé Brass Band (Benin) - Gbedji -
4:50 - Whendo (World
Village)
15. Omar Torrez (USA) - Dejame - 3:40 - Dynamisto! (self-released)
16. Trio Mocotó (Brazil) - Marinella -
3:59 - Beleza!
Beleza!! Beleza!!! (Ziriguiboom)
17. Leilía (Galacia, Spain) - Pedras Contra
Tanques - 3:41 - Madama (Discmedi
Blau)
18. Aurelio Martinez (Honduras) - Tagarigu Nanigi -
4:38 - Garifuna
Soul (Stonetree)
19. Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe) - Menzva Kudzimba -
5:19 - Nhava (Heads
Up)
20. Balkan Beat Box (USA) - Meboli (featuring Vlada
Tomova) - 3:53 - Balkan
Beat Box (JDub)
Spin
the Globe's 20 Favorite World Music CDs of 2005
Gangbe
Brass Band: Whendo
It's like Ladysmith Black Mambazo meets the Dirty
Dozen Brass Band in West Africa... (Reviewed
January 2005)
Michael
Spiro & Michael Williams: BataMbira
Shona and Santeria/Orisha traditions may be miles
apart geographically, even spiritually, but in the hands
of Michaels Spiro and Williams, their musics blend beautifully,
woven so tightly and harmoniously it's hard to believe
they weren't always played together.... (Reviewed
May 2005)
Ali
Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate: In
the Heart of the Moon
Two African masters meet for a wonderful guitar-kora
collaboration...
Freshlyground: Nomvula
African-rooted pop that's universal and appealing...
(Reviewed October 2005)
Anoushka
Shankar: Rise
The famed daughter takes a step into Indian fusion
with delightful results...
Choduraa
Tumat: Belek:
The Gift
The five stages of throat singing: 1: Ignorance
("Throat singing? Overtones? Tuva? What are you talking
about?"); 2: Denial ("There's no way one voice
can produce several tones simultaneously."); 3: Acceptance
("Wow. That's cool!); 4: Experimentation ("Hey,
check it out - I'm throat singing!"); 5: Advocacy
("You have to listen to Ondar. And Yat-Kha. And did
you know that there are great women throat singers as well?
Check out Choduraa
Tumat and her group Tyva
Kyzy - they're amazing!").
Fantazia: Mul
Sheshe
a fascinating musical journey from village roots
to city sounds, complete with the bittersweet knowledge
that there's no going back... (Reviewed
December 2005)
Kilema: Lavi-Tani
Kilema constructs beautiful harmonies. His smooth,
soft voice sings songs of travel, nostalgia, rain, and
other important themes... (Reviewed
July 2005)
Eliseo
Parra: De
Ayer Manana
a touch of Manu Chao anarchy, a little Radio Tarifa
multiculturalism, and tons of hard work and imagination... (reviewed
December 2005)
Emanuel
Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim: Ceasefire
From Sudan's battling regions comes one of the
most satisfying collaborations of 2005... (Reviewed
October 2005)
Orange
Winds: Dahab
Walk
A theme of winds blows them from Africa to the
Caribbean to Mexico to Asia on this sublime instrumental
album... (Reviewed November 2005)
Yerba
Buena: Island
Life
Crazy Latin party music from NYC, with a little
politics and a lot of fun in the mix...
Shukar
Collective: Urban
Gypsy
Pairing a traditional form of Roma (Gypsy) singing
known as usar ("bear handler") with jazzy basslines
and electronic beats, Urban Gypsy is like nothing you've
ever heard before. I guarantee it... (Reviewed
June 2005)
Trio
Mocoto: Beleza!
Beleza!! Beleza!!!
All three original "fathers of the samba
soul beat" return for their first album since 1977,
and it's a delightfully satisfying guilty pleasure... (Reviewed
December 2005)
Oliver
Mtukudzi: Nhava
If you're keeping track , we're counting this
as album #48 for the prolific bard of Zimbabwe. Still,
Tuku manages to sound fresh and explore new musical territory...
(Reviewed June 2005)
Kronos
Quartet & Asha Bhosle: You've
Stolen My Heart-Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood
This delicious CD sets a high standard for cross-cultural
collaborations... (Reviewed October
2005)
Amira
Saqati: Destination
Halal
Recorded during Ramadan 2004, the CD achieves
a rootsy sound through the use of traditional instruments
including oud, gembri, violin, and darbuka. And then there's
the rapping and the techno beats... (Reviewed
December 2005)
Leila: Madama
Powerful women's vocals command your attention
from the opening bars on this album from Galacia's Leilia,
a group of women singers and percussionists (imagine Varttina
with sax and udu)... (Reviewed April
2005)
David
Krakauer & Socalled: Bubbemeises-Lies
My Gramma Told Me
Klezmer meets hiphop with
lyrics provided by your grandmother: "Get
off the kitchen table or you'll never get married / And
never whistle walkin' past where people are buried / If
you can kiss your elbows then you're probably gay / and
yo if you cross your eyes you know they'll stay that way"... (Reviewed
December 2005)
Rim
Banna: The
Mirrors of My Soul
Fresh from her contribution to Lullabies from
the Axis of Evil, Banna sings a fresh batch of Palestinian
music with a decidedly pop personality...
©2005
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media
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