World music

NEWS: Orchestra Boabab celebrate 50 not out with vinyl
SENEGALESE legends Orchestra Boabab are marking their 50th anniversary this year; and in celebration the band have announced the first-ever vinyl issue of their landmark 2002 reunion set, Specialist In All Styles, which is set for September 25th. Specialist In All Styles was the first full outing by the band in the three decades since …

ALBUM REVIEW: Khruangbin – ‘Mordechai’
THEY weren’t an outfit that was hyped into the musical consciousness worldwide by a huge machine, fully packaged and billboarded; rather Houston’s Khruangbin have seeped into the world gradually but effortlessly via all the coolest of channels. First breaking through in the UK on the back of their inclusion on Bonobo’s LateNightTales mix compilation, they …

News: Oumou Sangare To release new album ‘Acoustic‘
Malian singing superstar, songwriter and activist Oumou Sangare has just announced details of her next release ‘Acoustic’ via No Format which will re-invent her 2017 album the super funky ‘Mogoya’. That previous record, her first after an 8 year absence, marked a step change for this singular artist with its pumping bass, guitar stabs and …

See: Yorkston/Thorne/Khan share video for “Sukhe Phool”
Taken from their third album Navarasa : Nine Emotions, which came out earlier in the year to widespread acclaim, Yorkston/Thorne/Khan (aka James Yorkston, Jon Thorne and Suhail Khan) have shared a video for the track Sukhe Phool. The album centred around the nine emotions (nava) or Sentiments (rasa) of the arts, around which the trio …

Track: Dub Mentor – Hysteria (Wuhan Fight Dub)
Based on the Mark Stewart classic and with a stellar range of guests including Stephen Mallinder, Anna Domino, Ghalia Benali, Tao Weiss, Julia Rovinsky, Yao Xu and the people of Wuhan China, Hysteria is the new single from UK producer Dub Mentor. True to his title, Dub Mentor has produced something that marries the influence …

See: KOKOKO! release Boiler Room Session, plus world tour dates
KOKOKO! revealed the extent of their brilliance to the world with the release of their debut album Fongola, which came out earlier in the month via the ever brilliant Transgressive Records, and to accompany the release of video taken from their Boiler Room Session, they’ve also announced details of a World Tour Working since 2016 …

Say Psych: Album Review: Ouzo Bazooka – Transporter
Ouzo Bazooka, the undisputed champions of the middle eastern psych rock scene return with Transporter, their third album to date which has been released on Stolen Body Records today. After 2 years trotting the globe and playing over 150 live shows they returned to the studio a tight knot radiating with ideas and inspiration to create what …

Album Review: Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul and Synth Boogie in 1980s South Africa
There was a time where music from the Africa fell under the catch-all phrase of “world music”. Despite trendsetters such as Fela Kuti creating such lavish works which to this day still influences an incredible number of musicians, to explain tropicalia or afro-beat was to be met with heads cocked sideways and an utterance of …

LIVE: JAH WOBBLE’s INVADERS OF THE HEART, Hebden Bridge Trades Club, 7th Nov 2014
It’s been 20 odd years since the last outing of Jah Wobble’s Invaders, with tonight being one of a mere handful of gigs. Originally planned to coincide with a new album of covers and the forthcoming Redux Box Set (now expected in the New Year) they now serve as something of a live prelude to …