Barry Adamson - I Will Set You Free (2012)

Barry Adamson has had a long and storied career in music, as a member of Magazine, The Bad Seeds, and as a solo artist. On February 14th he adds yet another chapter with the release of his tenth solo studio album I Will Set You Free.
Adamson has accumulated many an influence over the years. His broad experiences lend themselves well, helping to create a unique musical montage.
The album kicks off with "Get Your Mind Right", an amped up pop rock number that sounds like Honey's Dead-era Jesus & Mary Chain covering INXS, if you can imagine that.
The maelstrom of the Bad Seeds is reflected in "The Trigger City Blues", a song that lulls you before exploding into near-sensory overload. A dynamic, almost funky rhythm mesmerizes you on "Black Holes In My Brain". Adamson uses tension masterfully on the dark, ominous "Looking To Love Somebody", a remarkably sexually-charged track.
Garage rock is what Adamson may do best however. And that's exactly what he does on the energetic, if straightforward, lead single "Destination".
Not everything works on the album. "The Power of Suggestion", for instance, is a mid-tempo piano and drum machine number that feels oddly conservative. On the other end of the scale, "If You Love Her" takes the drama a little bit too far, venturing into schmaltzy territory.
The ship is righted in the end as Adamson caps things off with the supremely confident "Stand In". And after all, why shouldn't Adamson sound confident. He's been successfully making music on the fringes for more than three decades.

DRC Music - Kinshasa One Two (2011)

Kinshasa is a vast, sprawling and chaotic city with a glorious musical tradition. The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo may have suffered from war and dictatorship, with the result that many live in poverty, eking out a living on the streets; but there’s also an energy and a wild optimism that is reflected in the sounds that can be heard across the city. Kinshasa was home to Franco, Africa’s greatest guitar hero, and is now famed for that rousing and remarkable disabled band, Staff Benda Bilili.
It’s only natural that the city would attract adventurous African music fan Damon Albarn, who arrived four years ago to work alongside local musicians with the Africa Express movement.
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Modeselektor - Monkeytown (2011)

Twisting tempos and convention, Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary are a pair of Berliners who’ve smashed holes in the maternal linear structure of techno, added much-needed comedy into rap and electrified dancehall with the essence of a European Friday night. They’ve repeatedly rebuilt dance music in their own image, and whilst Monkeytown is their third album it’s the first recorded side by side in the same studio.
As further proof of their distillation of thriving energy, we see Radiohead’s Thom Yorke join the duo in the studio for two collaborative tracks.
Other collaborations appear: long-time ally Sascha Ring, Warp’s PVT, rap guru Busdriver, noise artist Otto Von Schirach and vocals from Antipop Consortium. It’s a dense and near-complete journey. Few dance albums can keep their soul for the duration, but with tracks featuring this many facets, ideas, genres and tempos, Modeselektor romp home. Monkeytown is the sound of two men working in harmony, perfectly in control of their machines.
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BaBa ZuLa - Gecekondu (2011)

Good news: the return of psychedelic rockers BaBa ZuLa! For their latest masterpiece they have brought on board some truly inspirational artists such as Asian Dub Foundation co-founder Dr. Das, Nu Jazz mastermind Bugge Wesseltoft and other magnificent guest musicians including Titi Robin, Alcalica, Serra Yilma and Cem Yildiz. On Gecekondu, BaBa ZuLa founder Murat Ertel (saz and other stringed instruments, vocals, oscillator, theremin) and Levent Akmann (wooden spoons, percussion, machines and toys) are accompanied by members of their touring band Cosar Kamci (percussion, darbuka) and Elene Hristova (vocals).
BaBa ZuLa are a unique and eye-opening experience - and afar remove from stereotypical notions of Turkish music.
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A BaBa ZuLa Interview on their new Album "Gecekondu", Istanbul and the influence of the metropolis to their music.

Dengue Fever - Cannibal Courtship (2011)

It’s now a decade since brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman founded Dengue Fever, after meeting Cambodian karaoke singer Chhom Nimol at a nightclub in LA’s ‘Little Phnom Penh’ neighbourhood. Over the course of five albums and two EPs, their fusion of Cambodian pop, Californian surf/garage rock and more has blurred the artificial boundaries between world music and pop/trash culture with plenty of style and humour. Opting to produce themselves on this latest studio album happily hasn’t dimmed their offbeat charm; it’s a tuneful, diverse and often witty addition to their discography.
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The Roots - Undun (2011)

The new album from The Roots entitled undun is set to hit the market on December 6th, undun is the story of Redford Stephens and it’s a brief story of his life that has also been accompanied by video clips that have been created to help the story along.
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listen to the Roots Undun album here via NPR

We’re all on a journey
Down the hall of memories
Don’t worry bout what you ain’t got
Leave with a little bit of dignity
Never loved what I had
Always felt like I deserved more
But when I Make it to the other side
That’s when we’ll settle up the score

Barry Adamson - Destination (2012)

http://www.barryadamson.com/

Cubic Zirconia - Black & Blue

Ghostpoet - Cash and Carry Me Home (2010)

Galactic - ya-ka-may (2010)

There’s a lot audacious about Ya- Ka-May, but New Orleans is long overdue for an audacious album. In this case, Galactic has made one that challenges many of the city’s musical conventions while showing a profound affection and belief in the fundamental impulses behind them. That it’s not just bold but engaging makes it doubly successful.
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Andreya Triana - Lost Where I Belong (2010)

Nostalgia 77 - Quiet Dawn

HOWIE B FEAT ROBBIE ROBERTSON Take Your Partner By The Hand

Madvillain - Shadows of Tomorrow

Quartetto Trevi feat. Max Ionata - Pressmission - Night Walk (DejaVù Records 2009)

S-Tone Inc. - Lua e Xangô (feat. Rosalia de Souza, Kal dos Santos, Adi Souza)

Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin' (1958)

Cool Struttin' is a 1958 album by jazz pianist Sonny Clark. Described as an "enduring hard-bop classic" by the New York Times, the album features alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, trumpeter Art Farmer and two members of the Miles Davis Quintet, drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Paul Chambers. According to The Stereo Times, the album enjoys "a nearly cult status among hardcore jazz followers",a reputation all music asserts it deserves "for its soul appeal alone". Originally released on LP in 1958 by Blue Note.(wikipedia)

Mayer Hawthorne - Maybe So Maybe No

The Bamboos - 'On The Sly'

mulatu astatke & the heliocentrics - an epic story