There have been many groups that have come through and displayed the ability lay down the funk. Very few have shown the potential to create the cosmic slop like Sa Ra Creative Partners. Since they emerged on the scene back in 2000, Sa Ra has teased us with a single here and there, most notably the underground hit “Glorious” before finally releasing their debut in 2007. Their latest release, “Nuclear Evolution” fulfills some of the promise that has been long associated with the group. With their trademark psychedelic funk spread across 23 tracks, Sa Ra waxes poetic on tales of partying and all night sexual encounters. Some of the highlights include “Dirty Beauty”, which features Erykah Badu. “Melodee N Mynor” and “Gemini’s Rising featuring Rozzie Daime”. “Traffika” depicts a wild night of chaos in New York City. They slow things down for a moment to enter the galaxy of love on “Love Today”. Each track features their trademark spacey synths, funky basslines and soulful production. Sa Ra’s stylish compositions have been sought after for many hip-hop and soul artists alike. “Nuclear” demonstrates a definitive progression from their debut and will satisfy the legion of fans who like their funk to stretch out beyond the outer limits. Simply put, this is one of the most creative and enjoyable records of 2009.

Reg Dancy

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Ancient Astronauts are Kabanjak and Dogu from Cologne, they are heavily influenced by funky hip-hop from the nineties but they add in Afro, reggae and dope beats mixed into a spacebeats shake up. There really is a big mixture going on here with favourites including Tippa Irie toasting on ‘All Of The Things You Do’ and The Pharcyde breezing through ‘Classic’. Great stuff. 

Graham Radley

African dub blending Ethiopian traditional with afro jazz and Jamaican dub recorded in Ethiopia & the UK  from this new band  formed by Transglobal Underground founder member Count Dubullah (aka Nick Page) . The recording features several amazing vocalists including  Sintayehu Zenebe (the "Ethiopian Edith Piaf) Tsedenia Gebremarkos,. Bahta Gerbrehiwot and Teremage Woretaw, listen out to for some superb piano from Samuel Yirga and brilliant saxophonist Feleke Hailu. This really is a wonderful album.

Graham Radley

This might well upset the purists but Baaba Maal has always been adventurous and here he brings in a strong pop element to a Senagalese core heavily featuring  Sabina Sciubba and Didi Gutman from the New York electronica outfit the Brazilian Girls . This is his first new release for about 8 years and my only real gripe would be that I’d love to hear even more of the great man featured. I think maybe the purists will retreat to the traditional albums like ‘Missing You’ but hopefully this release will bring in a whole new audience who will also go on to savour his back catalogue . I love it.

Graham Radley

Dubbed as bhangra Latina this is Kuljit Bhamra, top tabla player and the name behind soundtracks like "Bhaji on the Beach", and "Bend it like Beckham",  teaming up with top salsa pianist Alex Wilson. The marriage of styles flows easily and you often forget there’s two very distinct styles merging here, I especially like the opener ‘Pyar Ka Hai Bairi’ with vocals from Sangeeta.

Graham Radley

Essex folk band Mawkin in a very successful collaboration with the wonderful singer Jim Causley from Devon. The result is inspiring with their live sets adding to the excitement and expectancy over this They’ve managed to capture the freshness of their take on traditional folk and it’s all so wonderfully topped off by that terrific voice. Recommended.

Graham Radley

Very interesting collaboration this, Najma is obviously well known for her collaborative work with Page and Plant, Peter Gabriel etc while Gary, a brilliant guitarist,  has a hugely impressive CV having been part of Beefheart’s Magic band as well as writing with Jeff Buckley on ‘Grace’. This album is a perfect sum of its parts, for instance the fusion of Najmas gorgeous voice, tabla and Gary’s bluesy guitar on ‘Daaya’ is just delightful. Well worth investigating.

Graham Radley

Excellent two CD collection from Chris and features material from a wide range of sources, there’s material from his solo albums as well as  work with Andy Cutting, The Two Duos, Jean-François Vrod, Martin Carthy & Roger Wilson, Karen Tweed,  English Acoustic Collective and my own favourite the  Imagined Village, the duet with Eliza Carthy is simply spot on. Excellent.

Graham Radley

Legendary drummer Tony Allen oozes Afrobeat he was a mainstay of Fela Kuti’s Africa ’70 and here he returns to his Afrobeat roots after his more recent involvement with The Good, The Bad & The Queen’ . Produced by Tony Allen and using his tight funky band this is driving afrobeat with vocals from Nigerian singers Ayo, King Odudo, Switch, Kefee Obareki, Wura Samba and Allen himself on the title track and ‘Elewon Po’. Brilliant.

Graham Radley

Follow up to his 2006 debut and it’s a solid step forward with the desert blues so much the trademark of his late father now broadened out by the introduction of more modern influences. Check out the dubby ‘Diaraby Magni’ for an idea of the newer influences and ‘Wale’ for the traditional side of things, including guest vocals from Afel Bocoum and ‘Paradise’ with Toumani Diabate guesting. Highly recommended.

Graham Radley