Top ten

MBILIA BEL (D.R.Congo) “Welcome” (Sonodisc) - a delight, great horn sections and a variety of Congolese styles - contemporary but with lots of echoes of the past. And her voice still sounds sweet and smile-inducing. Essential summer dance sounds.

YOUSSOU N’DOUR (Senegal) “Nothing’s In Vain” (Nonesuch/EastWest) - strong, catchy melodies, a voice as compelling as ever, and a strongly roots-based set, makes for his best album for a while.

RED HOT & RIOT - A TRIBUTE TO FELA KUTI (Various) (MCA) - wonderful multi-artist, rip-roaring rollercoaster ride of a record. Cut-up samples of Fela, grooves from Femi's Positive Force band, and featuring vocalists Baaba Maal, Taj Mahal, D'Angelo and more. Much more than the sum of its parts. I think he'd like it.

TAMA (West Africa) “Espace” (Realworld) - second album from the mixed West African group and it flows along very nicely in a mostly manding-influenced fusion in a semi-acoustic mode.

SALLY NYOLO (Cameroon) “Zaione” (Lusafrica) - the ever-inventive Nyolo turns her studio and your living room to a warm, bubbling polyrhythmic jungle of sounds and melodies, plus the old-school reggae of "J'Attends Abeba" recorded with Tyrone Downie, and the slinky latin-funk of "Jah Know".

REBECCA MALOPE (South Africa) “Iyahamba Lenqola” (CCP) - passionate South African gospel singer and when she meets a tough dance groove like the loping kwaito of "Phephela Khona" then destination heaven - elsewhere the power and commitment of her voice carries the day.

BEMBEYA JAZZ (Guinea) “Bembeya” (Marabi) - return of one of the truly all time great bands and I was a mite disappointed to tellt' truth after bein' a long time passionate fan. Some old tunes reworked and some new un's. Do the horns have to sound that out of tune? Or is it just me. And the discovery that one of me fave, sweet tunes was an ode to female genital mutilation was a bit of a shame. But when all's said and done they can still swing and in ol' Diamond Fingers they've got a guitarist to live for. How's about rewritin' "Lefa" as a plea for cultural change guys?

CHEBLI (Comoro Islands) “Promesses” (Next Music) - from the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros, comes a sweet and lyrical voice, with a gentle blend of Swahili and Comoran tradition and funky melodies and arrangements.

CHANTAL AYISSI (Cameroon) “Renaissance” (JPS) - starts with the crackin' garagey anthem of "Fais Ce Qu'il Te Plait" and then it's non-stop high octane bikutsi guitar pop. Her voice overwhelms a bit after a while but hey give the musicians some! It had me dancin' for sure.

ANNIE-FLORE BATCHIELLILYS (Gabon) “Afrique Mon Toit” (SOL) - stunning, confident set that actually came out in '97 but only just came to my ears - sounds like a voice we'll hear more of.

best of the rest

WENDO KOLOSOY (D.R.Congo) “Amba” (Marabi) - one of the founding fathers of Congolese rumba shows he can still cut it with his regular 8-piece band.   

DANIELA MERCURY (Brazil) “Sou De Qualquer Lugar” (BMG) - a broad range of styles from contemporary club beats to traditional forro and a voice as bright, breezy and joyful as ever.

MONICA VASCONCELOS (Brazil) “Olerenda” (Candid) - a great all round contemporary Brazilian album from London -based  Joyce-soundalike and her jazz-influenced band Nois.

YUSA (Cuba) “Yusa” (Tumi) - young Cuban woman singer/songwriter mixes Brazilian and Cuban jazz to good effect.

COCO MBASSI (Cameroon) “Sepia” (Tropical Music) - Paris-based singer/songwriter with jazz and African-roots flavours to her compositions.

SIBONGILE KHUMALO (South Africa) “Quest” (Sony Jazz) - classy S.African-tinged dinner jazz from the great singer, and nice background music though she's capable of much more.

various artists compilations

GLOBALISTA - IMPORT/EXPORT (Trikont) - riotous romp around the raw end of the global music biz. Glorious hooks, cheap synths, energy and vitality. Culled one imagines from swathes of dodgy cassettes. A dj's dream - one of them cd’s you could put on random play and get applause for your expert selection of local-global hits from Cote D'Ivoire to Chile.

THE MUSIC IN MY HEAD Vol 2 (Sterns) - even better than the wonderful Vol 1. More hard-to-find 70s & 80s classics from Guinea/Senegal/Mali with electric guitars, keyboards and saxes rippin’ it up with traditional rhythms. The only one I'd heard before was Etoile de Dakar's awesome "Dom Sou Nare Bakh" and seein' as it's my alltime fave track o' theirs I can't complain. Elsewhere steamin' tracks from Super Diamono, Rail Band, Balla et ses Balladins and many more. One you'll keep comin' back to I reckon.

Andy Healey

Website:  http://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/

email address:  nfn@pop3.poptel.org.uk

Click here to see the old reviews

[Drumcall] [News] [Troups] [Teachers] [Local Contacts] [Local Groups] [Sales] [Reviews] [Noticeboard]