Afel Bocoum
Alkibar
(World Circuit/Nonesuch)
He may be a protégé of guitarist Ali Farka Toure (whose 1999 effort Niafunké is very fine indeed), but Malian guitarist/vocalist Bocoum is hardly a new kid on the Afrobeat block; the extensive liner notes date his breakthrough performance to 1972. As befits a veteran performer, his new disc is a sonic synthesis that includes folk passages, rocking solos and the call-and-response vocals that call to mind the late, great Fela Anikulapo Kuti. -- Roberts
Corey Harris
Greens From the Garden
Barry Admanson
The Murkey World of Barry Adamson
Related Content
More About
Vinicius Cantuária
Tucumã
(Verve)
On Tucumã, Cantuária is given the star treatment; guests include Bill Frisell, Joey Baron, Nana Vasconcelos, Arto Lindsay, Laurie Anderson and Sean Lennon. But the main man more than holds his own, offering up blindingly romantic variations on Brazilian jazz and popular forms using his gentle guitar technique and a voice capable of melting even the iciest heart. -- Roberts
Boukman Eksperyans
Live at Red Rocks
(Tuff Gong)
When Boukman Eksperyans met the best Colorado has to offer -- Red Rocks, KGNU's "Postman" Roger Gillies as DJ, a perceptive and appreciative audience -- this live disc was destined to be among the year's world music highlights. Sure enough, the August 1998 concert captures the Haitian 12-piece at their best. Their controversial political music, which is grounded in spirited African and Caribbean drumming and sharp call-and-response harmonies, got Boukman kicked out of Haiti for Carnival last year. But this album shows why they'll always be welcome in the Rockies. -- Josh Green Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
Spanish Dance Troupe
(Mantra)
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci is from Wales, and two of the four bandmembers are named Euros. The band's music is supremely bizarre, but nevertheless tuneful. Each song takes an entirely different musical approach, from lovely, gentle Welsh ballads to the creepy "Hair Like Monkey Teeth Like Dog," in which the performers maniacally chant the title over menacing piano music. Lead singer Euros Childs barks the chorus of the off-kilter "Poodle Rockin'," while many songs feature merry background trumpeting. Spanish Dance Troupe never bores. -- Shank Habib Koite and Bamada
Ma Ya
(Putamayo Music)
Koite, a softly urgent chanter/singer, charges himself with the task of downloading the many varieties of Mali's rhythms onto this album and translating tunes from the banjo-like ngoni and hand percussion to the fretboard of his acoustic guitar. Bamada doesn't always help -- the band's Westernized guitars, bass and drums are a few touches short of the suppleness of classic African pop or folk, often hitting offbeats as clunky as wheels hitting the road before being perfectly rounded. But the sense of purpose in Koite's words and in that cleanly plucked guitar testify to the charms of a vanishing Malian culture. Now that's shouldering a cultural burden. -- Young
Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabate
Kulanjan
(Hannibal)
A partnership that finds the gooey vocals and front-porch-in-the-Delta guitar work of Mahal paired with Diabate's mastery of the Malian kora. The result is a lush recording that alternately plays with Malian traditionals and embellishes standard blues themes. A record as suited for quiet meditations as it is for careful studies of the ways in which two cultural styles can intersect so gracefully. Sweeter than a honeybee. -- Bond
Os Mutantes
Everything Is Possible
(Luaka Bop)
This long-overdue compilation of the defunct Mutantes places the pioneering Brazilian rock band in the first tier of '60s acid-munching innovators. With disorienting beauty, the densely populated tracks combine congas, ethereal harmonies, groovy organs and just the right tinge of "not your stepping stone" guitar 'tude. Smooth, driving, retro gems sung in lilting Portuguese, this batch of songs could make any lava lamp owner's heart melt with joy. -- La Briola
Puya
Fundamental
(MCA)
The Puerto Rican rap-metal band Puya doesn't actually outrock Rage Against the Machine. But rapper/singer Sergio Cubelo roars where Zach de la Rocha rants, and sings where de la Rocha rants, too. Puya has another secret weapon: a blaring, one-of-a-kind hybrid of Latin funk blended into four kick-ass metal raps -- horns, congas, guitars, and drums trying to crowbar their way into your two little ears all at once. -- Young Sister Carol
Isis: The Original Womb-Man
(Tuff Gong)
In addition to being at the forefront of reggae's dwindling number of relevant roots stars, "Mother Culture" further distinguished herself this year with reggae's first feminist album. Preaching reggae's traditional message of empowerment to women was a development that was long overdue; delivering that message with vital, rapid-fire toasting and an unmatched feel for cadence and delivery ensured it would appeal to everyone. -- Green
Barbarito Torres
Havana Café
(Harbour Bridge/Havana Caliente/Atlantic)
The unanticipated success of the Buena Vista Social Club precipitated a boom in the stateside availability of recordings by Cuban musicians -- and since the sounds they make are among the planet's most vital, who's complaining? This salvo from Torres, a wizard on the acoustic guitar and laúd (a kind of lute), is among the most consistently engaging recent releases of its type, but Compay Segundo's Calle Salud, on Nonesuch, and a slew of other offerings will reward the adventurous as well. -- Roberts
