Absolutely gorgeous this one, vocals, full of passion and emotion, against a backdrop of equally intense but fluent music. Concha Buika’s parents are from Equatorial Guinea but she grew up alongside the Gypsy community on Majorca and it’s flamenco to the fore here. As you might expect the influences filter through (she’s also had success on the Euro house scene) so jazz and funk melt easily into the Spanish vibe but to be honest that voice could take you anywhere. Recommended.

Highly significant group to come out of Zimbabwe in the 1970’s who used the political upheaval of the time as a positive force within their adventurous music which brought together the different rhythms of the region. 20 re-mastered tracks taken from 1974’s Chipo Chiroorwa LP and from singles recorded between ’76 and ’79 showcasing their mellifluous, dancing, guitar led funky African music. Excellent.

Ok what I have is a 12 track sampler taken from this series. This first wave of releases, which have not been available in the UK before, will feature Chucho Valdez, Guapacha with Chuco Valdez, Irakere, Los Papines & Ruben Gonzalez and Orquesta Cubana De Musica Moderna. Further releases will include Los Amigos, Cachao and Ruben Gonzalez. The quality is of course superb.

Yet more excellent roma tracks, but this time more on the euro remix side of things. Included are !DelaDap, Shantel (also featured here with an excellent remix of the Amsterdam Klezmer Band), Balkan Beat Box, Anselmo Crew, Magnifico & Turbolentza, Kistehen Tanczenehar, Luminescent Orchestrii and Gipsy.cz. A portion of proceeds goes to the Roma Education Fund.

Subtitled ‘Playful tracks from around the world’ we start with ‘Animal Crackers’ from the aptly named Wee Hairy Beasties (featuring the Mekon’s Jon Langford). Some tracks like The Be Good Tanya’s ‘The Littlest Birds’ are more familiar than others while Quartetto Cetra deliver an Italian version of ‘Old Macdonald’ and kids themselves join in on Les P’tits Loups du Jazz and ‘L’Otorhinoceros’. Be warned if you listen to this with your kids you might find you keep singing ‘no more monkeys jumping on the bed’ for the rest of the day! Good fun.

There is a really brilliant number of gypsy music releases just now and this one is straight out the top drawer. The village of Clejani in Southern Romania is the birthplace of an amazing number of brilliant musicians, including Taraf de Haidouks, their arranger and musician Ionitsa, with his wife Viorica, decided to branch out and form Clejani Express here we get both highlights from recent years and some brand new recordings. Top class.

Third album from Ex-Wise Heads, I’m not familiar with the previous two but this is a thoughtful, innovative release centred around Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) and Geoff Leigh (Henry Cow) . The sound is one of rhythmically driven ambient, electro, jazzy, global interplay which moves you, chills you and comes up fresh each listen. I especially like ‘Winter Of Discontent’ with some great trumpet from Ian Dixon.

33 tracks over 2 CDs showcasing nominees and winners, you might debate those facts but what’s for sure is you get a great selection of quality music here. Look out for category winners like Maurice el Medioni & Robert Rodriguez, Gotan Project and Mahmoud Ahmed while among those those not so lucky but equally deserving are Balkan Beat Box, Gogol Bordello, Lo’jo, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Les Boukakes. Every ipod should have one. ps Apparently the 20th anniversary of ‘World Music’ is approaching, strange that, we thought much of this music and certainly the traditional sources had been around for centuries! Just having our periodic gripe at the patronising terminology which apparently works on the basis that lots of people use it so that makes it right-it’s not.

Probably best known as the vocalist for the superb Radio Tarifa this is the debut solo album for Granada-born vocalist and lyricist Benjamín Escoriza. Several of Radio Tarifa guest on this acoustically driven album and that  blend of medieval, Moorish, Sephardic, Andalusia folk is still to be heard but flamenco comes more to the fore bringing out the best of the North African influences and driving this compelling CD forward. Highly recommended.

Another good ‘Essential Guide’ with this 3 CD set themed ‘Roots’ ‘Folk Rocks’ and ‘Nu Routes’. So, to give a feel of each one, ‘Roots’ includes The Copper Family’, Anne Briggs, Pete Seeger and Leadbelly. Folk Rocks includes Linda Thompson, Lindisfarne, Nic Jones and June Tabor while Nu Routes has tracks from the likes of Tim Van Eyken, Shooglenifty, Eliza Carthy and Salsa Celtica. There’s obviously a huge range to cover but this neatly sets the ball rolling in what could be an extensive series.

John Paul Jones at the controls for CD number two for this excellent female quartet. Rayna Gellert, Abigail Washburn, Kristin Andreassen and A.C. Carter are terrific musicians whose vocals like their music blend and gel with oneness. A stringband yes but one that embraces old and new, with a shine and enthusiasm delivering something special and fresh.