Laying proof to the notion that a catastrophic turn of events can foster positivity and ultimately lead to the creation of something inherently good is this latest full-length drop on Agogo Records. So positive, in fact, that it continues to expand, ultimately transcending the limitations of self and attaining a sense of heightened spirituality. Rest assured, we have not lost sight of the ground beneath our feat. We are, however, poised to take flight, [...]

To describe this album as a wild sonorous ride seems appropriate. Especially when superimposed against the backdrop of even crazier antecedents. Cameroonian singer, songwriter and bassist Jeano Elong hails from the village of Eboné, located an estimated three-hour drive north of the country's economic capital, the coastal city Douala. And although he has meanwhile settled in Hamburg, his backstory is one of hardship, struggle and presumably the occasional [...]

Let's get right to it: Yes, we are and always have had a soft spot for Brazilian grooves, i.e. música popular brasileira (MPB) and Dora Morelenbaum has no doubt rekindled that fire. Hailing from Rio, a member of Latin Grammy award-winning outfit Bala Desejo and a rising star on the Brazilian scene in her own right, Dora Morelenbaum first came to our attention with her 2021-released three-tracker "Vento de Beirada" and we made sure to include "Japão" in our "[...]

Something's afoot in Geneva, known today as home to a multitude of international organisations, but also an urban entity in and of itself, a city that looks back on a once thriving "punk history and squat scene." It is from this 'go against the grain' spirit that Vincent Bertholet (Hyperculte, Yalla Miku) conceived the ever-evolving Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp (OTPMD) back in 2006 and later founded the Bongo Joe Records imprint and record store [...]

Born in New Jersey and raised in Northern Galilee, Palestinian-American violinist Akram Abdulfattah's youth and musical upbringing was strongly influenced by his immediate surroundings and steeped in tradition. He enrolled at a local conservatory, was trained in performance and composition and later graduated from the Jerusalem Music Academy with honours. Looking to expand his horizon beyond the familiar Arabic/Palestinian repertoire and push the boundaries, he [...]

With temperatures on a decline in the northern hemisphere, we turn to Norway of all places where the Flammer Dance Band has been steadily blazing its very own trail to glory. The certified off-their-rocker, Oslo-based collective lit a spark with its 2020-released 7" "Mer/Holder Rytme" and we made sure to include the B-Side in our monthly Spotify selection of extraordinary tracks from around the globe back in November 2021 – better late than never. Following [...]

Talking about "UNITY", collaboration and social cohesion, Welsh singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and producer Carwyn Ellis recently returned to present the latest project of his Rio 18 brainchild, bringing a breath of fresh tropical air to the global airwaves and simultaneously celebrating the seemingly invincible radio format. "Radio Chévere" is more like an actual 45-minute radio show, with none other than the voice of celebrated [...]

As we wake up to another day on this wildly magnificent planet of ours, we feel like this might be the right moment to immerse ourselves in the latest album by Jerusalem-based bassist, composer and improviser Yosef Gutman Levitt and Argentinean-Israeli classical guitarist Itay Sher. Released at the tail end of August via Levitt's own imprint Soul Song Records and titled "UNITY", this nine-track oeuvre realizes a novel "approach [to] Hasidic Jewish nigunim [...]

Leave it to Belgian reissue imprint and digging collective Radio Martiko to drop another fine release that absolutely tickles our fancy. "Guapa Je!" is a compilation of tropical tunes by lesser-known Colombian arranger and composer Edmundo Arias that takes listeners back to the 1950s and '60s, "think of big bands with sharp-dressed musicians playing the finest cumbias, porros and other tropical sounds in fancy ballrooms on a hot evening in Medellín or [...]

Coming straight 'from the heart', Havana's Grammy-nominated Orquesta Akokán presents its "unique brand of mambo" with album number three on Daptone Records. Led by producer and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Plasse and virtuosic pianist, composer and arranger Michael Eckroth, "Caracoles" serves up another crisp helping of life-affirming mambo tunage, rooted in the past yet achored firmly in the 21st century. This novel record of theirs also showcases the [...]

Back in May, we enjoyed a two-hour Globalwize 'African Presence' special introduction to the music of Tanzania with Prof. Dr. Imani Sanga, which you can relisten to here. In it, we encountered the 'taarab' genre, a musical style popular in Tanzania and Kenya, "influenced by the musical traditions of the African Great Lakes, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent." Then late last month, WeltBeat host and selector Jean Trouillet played a track [...]

At times reminiscent of though not to be confused with the entrancing sing-song of the Indonesian gamelan, the significantly more minimalistic soundscapes of the thumb piano on this first-ever studio recording by "lukeme maestro and legendary Langi griot Ekuka Morris Sirikiti" are no less spellbinding and wonderfully haunting. Back in 2018, the Nyege Nyege Tapes imprint delved into Ekuka's work, which proved a bit challenging, seeing as this artist had never [...]