To celebrate the city’s 400th anniversary Putmayo bring us this collection of some of Quebec’s finest. Featured artists include Anne Villeneuve and the magnificent La Bottine Souriante, the funk meets African of DobaCaracol and the excellent Le Vent Du Nord. A rich musical city.

Graham Radley

Makasound find another gem, with this release originally recorded in 1979. plus various singles including Mikey’s first one ‘Got To say Love’ from 1975 and others through to 1984, great collection of musicians too including Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh and Robbie Shakespeare. Sweet.

Graham Radley

Elsa Rovayo  aka  La Shica started off as a flamenco dancer but then singing took over as did taking a contemporary view of flamenco. She integrated hip hop into her music, not the most obvious of fusion partners but one that works really well taking both genres into new territory . There’s still a place for the traditional though with ‘Dos Carnes Paralelas’ being a beautiful ballad with guest Miguel Poveda. Very good.

Graham Radley

Magical long over due release from the stunning  Roma clarinettist. His playing is better than ever with even a variation on the Pink Panther theme getting his adventurous interpretation amongst wedding dances and jazz. An album of the year no question.

Graham Radley

18 tracks which bring a whole wealth and diversity of Japanese music to life but often take it off into unexpected directions which we like a lot. my picks would have to be Oki Dub Ainu Band’s ‘East Of Kunashri’ and Shibusashirazu’s ‘Akkan’, oh and make sure you listen to Takeharu Kunimoto & The Last Frontier’s ‘Appalchian Shamisen. Superb.

Graham Radley

Promising release from one of the Afro Celt founders with N’Faly Kouyate taking centre stage on kora and balafon, his Belgian based band has members from France, Belgium, Angola and  Cameroun. It’s a bit rough round the edges in places but N’Faly’s charisma shines through driving the band forwards.

Graham Radley

Flamenco with a superb, gritty  voice described as a blend of Tina Turner, Lola Flores and Sarah Vaughan. That voice teases its way through the roots and passion of flamenco bringing to it the jazz of Vaughan and on a couple of tracks the funk of Turner to create a subtle new take on the style, great piano too from Ivan Gonzalez Lewis. Excellent.

Graham Radley

I love this, yes it’s often dated and often raw but those are its strengths too with the infectious enthusiasm of what, at the time,  (these recordings cover 1972-1979) was a youthful explosion of new influences as the rock of Hendrix mashed up with heavy African rhythms. Among the featured artists are  Mono Mono, The Hygrades, Tabukah ‘X’, The Elcados and Ofege. Really good.

Graham Radley

Brazilian reggae from Northern Rio and the bands second CD. Great production by Chico Neves with singer Helio Bentes adding a rawness to the tightness of the band. I like.

Graham Radley

Double CD compiled by Charlie Gillett, 34 tracks altogether with a nice wide global mix. Probably best for me to list a few and that way you’ll get a better feel of where the compilation is coming from. Yasmin Levy, Almasala, DJ Delores, Dengue Fever, Nancy Arjam, Madilu System, Ceu, Lucky Dube and Servara, gives you an idea of the range of countries and styles. A good summer soundtrack.

Graham Radley