The debut of the Keen brothers, Barnaby & Nathaniel aka Sounspecies is filled with soulful down-tempo grooves and funky hip-hop beats drenched in a soulful vibe that will have you wondering where have these guys been all along. The brothers, with a little help from their friends skillfully combine electronic grooves with live instrumentation and the result is a well crafted and deeply satisfying debut. The disc starts out with “Stars Wars”, an instrumental jam with a thumping bass line. That is followed up with “Something new”, a blissful and melodic gem. The lush arrangements plus the mesmerizing voice of Emilia Martensson takes this track on a musical voyage that his truly devine. “CDR People” is a funky dose of hip hop that features the Foreign Beggars. “Journeyman” is an ambient jazzy number that is enhanced by Ben Hadwen’s playing on flute and sax. The disc wraps up with the soothing “Waiting for the Sun to come up”, which features Barnaby and Deborah Jordan on vocals. Soundspecies spent many years in London cultivating their sound. This debut proves that they have learned their lessons well. This is an exceptional record that you shouldn’t miss.

Reg Dancy

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Follow up to the brilliant debut ‘Bari’ and superb second release ‘Techari’ this new release delivers more of that eclectic and vibrant mix. Expect tango, salsa, tabla, scratching, bolero and more all fired up with the passion and spirit which is Ojos de Brujo. Irresistable.

Graham Radley

There’s a couple of Bollywood tracks with A.R Rahman & Chinmayee and ‘Tere Bina’ from ‘Guru’ plus Rajeshwari Sachev’s ‘Maavan Te Tiyan’ together with Indian classical artists of renown Satish Vyas, Bombay Jayashri and Deepak Ram. A more contemporary approach from Kiran Ahluwalia, Niraj Chag, Sanjav Divecha and Susheela Raman through to the spiritual music of Uma Mohan. Good mixture.

Graham Radley

Third in Strut’s ‘Inspiration Information’ series, this one teams Ethiopian veteran jazzer Mulatu Astatke (star of Ethiopiques series) with UK funky jazzers Heliocentrics. Got a nice feel this one with the Ethiopian jazz groove being embellished by Heliocentrics as it flows along sometimes going off at heavier tangents then others hitting the chilled feel of ‘Blue Nile’ . My pick is the funky percussion driven ‘Live From Tigre Lounge’ . Excellent.

Graham Radley

A album of beautiful Tibetan mountain songs composed by Soname and which reflect the country and culture she had to escape some years ago. This amazing story is told in her book ‘Child of Tibet’, a journey that took her from Tibet to London via India. There’s a strong array of Indian musicians on the CD providing a lovely foil fopr Soname’s captivating voice.

Graham Radley

First solo CD from cameroon’s rising star who is part of the Bassa ethnic group (originally nomads from Egypt). He grew up surrounded by music, not only Bassa musical traditions but his familys collection of music from Western soul greats like Marvin Gaye. He then moved to Paris in 2005 where he worked with many top African musicians like Manu Dibango. Those influences now unite on ‘Leman’ with the soulfulness of Gaye enriching his African traditional heritage. Great debut.

Graham Radley

Originally from the island of La Reunion but now based in France, Davy’s music is sourced from the Reunionais folk dance ‘Maloya’ which is an amalgm of African slave chants and rhythms plus contemporary European instruments. The special ingredient though is Davy’s beautiful voice which glides across the music like a scrumptious coating, pure sweet and expressive. Good stuff.

Graham Radley

Brilliant release (first in 6 years although 1996 was her last full international release ) for the Malian star, this really is a superb collection of 11 tracks which leave you wanting more and more. A more mature, harder edge, than previous releases, with a positive flow to the groove and a respect for the tradition which reflects a woman happy in her skin and riding the crest of a musical wave. Superb.

Graham Radley

A retrospective of his acoustic live shows taken from gigs over the past ten years. Listen to the beautiful kora playing of the late Kaouding Cissoko, or Koni featuring Ernest and then drift into Baaba’s divine vocals and find yourself in a very special place, he’s a genius and please can we have a new CD soon.

Graham Radley

This is just the best, a classic band with 19 tracks spread over two CDs , this as the title suggests is the third part of a story covering 1970 to 1983. All I really need to say is this is the band that first brought us the talents that are Salif Keita, Mory kante, Sekou Kouyate, Lanfia Diabate and Makan Ganessy, listen to them here & revel in divine, pure music.

Graham Radley