Michael C. Wittmann
University of Maryland
Physics Department
College Park, MD 20742-4111
tel: (301) 405-5983
wittmann@physics.umd.edu
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| . | Ade, King Sunny | E Dide | Mesa | Africa West Juju | The king of juju, a most excellent style of music... |
| . | Ali Khan | Taswir | City of Tribes | Qawwali electronic | |
| . | Baca, Susana | Susana Baca | Luaka Bop | Latino Peru | |
| . | Bio Ritmo | Salsa Galactica | Permanent | Latino salsa mambo | |
| . | Bulgarian Women's Choir | Melody, Rhythm, and Harmony | Mesa | EuropeBulgaria | |
| . | Chandra, Sheila | A BoneCroneDrone | Real World | Asia spriritual ambient | |
| . | Chisti, M. Saeed | Quari - Sage Mirn. Vol. 2 | Interra | Qawwali | All one long track with no breaks, but some pretty stunning qawwali music anyway (beyond the annoyance of radio play formatting problemJ. |
| . | Clave y Guanguanco | Songs & Dances | Xenophile | Latino Cuban trad. | |
| . | Conjunto CÚspedes | Una Sola Casa | Green Linnet | Latino Cuba | |
| . | Conjunto CÚspedes | Vivito Coleando | Xenophile | Latino Cuba | |
| . | Corazon Gitano | Paseo Latino | RCA | Latino flamenco | |
| . | Diabate,Toumani | Djelika | Hannibal | Africa West Mali | |
| . | Dibango, Manu | Wakafrika | Giant | Africa West Senegal jazzpop | Heavily produced, an amazing guest list. and a fine album by one of the first so-called world music guys. |
| . | Djur Djura | Voice of Silence | Luaka Bop | Arabic | |
| . | Dr. Didg | Out of the Woods | Hannibal | Australia aborigine | |
| . | Evora, Cesaria | self-titled | Nonesuch | Africa Cape Verde | Think smoky island sailors bar in the middle ot the Atlantic where hurricanes form, a large old smoking lady singing about lost goodbyes |
| . | Flamenco Total | self-titled | ARC | Europe Flamenco | |
| . | Flamenco, Gypsy Rumba | self-titled | ARC | Europe Flamenco | |
| . | Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band | Fire | Flying Bulgar | Klezmer | |
| . | Flynn, Frank Emilio, y sus amigos | Baban'sino | Milan Latino | Latino jazz mambo rumba etc. | |
| . | Garcia Brothers | Songs of My People | Music..World | N.American Hopi Indian | I originally saw this type of Native Indian chanting and dancing at a Hop: pueblo in New Mexico in 1993. The music here is great, but it can't possibly convey the feeling of the dust rising in the air, the many different bodies, the pueblo, the other sounds, the celebration... but it can get close. |
| . | Gipsy Kings | Terra Gitana | Nonesuch | Latino Flamenco Pop | |
| . | Gipsy Kings | The Best of the Gipsy Kings | Nonesuch | Latino Flamenco Pop | |
| . | Gomez, Claudia | Tiera Dentro | Xenophile | Latino ballads Columbia | |
| . | Gumede, Sipho | Ubuntu-Humanity | B&W | Africa pop soft | |
| . | Hakmoun, Hassan | The Fire Within, | Music...World | Arabic Morocco | Gnawa music from Morocco. Involves a lot of bass slapping, ecstatic singing, and rhythmic clapping. Hakmoun is a bassist, so that's where the emphasis is here. He's taken a very long gnawa piece and split it into separate tracks to make it more radio friendly. |
| . | Herrera, Eddy | Los Hombres Calientes | Milan Latino | Latino merengue dance | |
| . | Inkhay | Soul of the Andes | Latitudes | Latino Peru indigenous | |
| . | Jajouka (Master Musicians of) | The Pipes of Pan at Jajouka | Point | Arabic Morocco | |
| . | Jiminez, Flaco | Buena Suerta, Senorita | Arista Texas | Latino accordion TexMex | |
| . | JPP | Kaustinen Rhapsody | Xenophile | Europe Finland | |
| . | Kalaniemi, Maria | iho | Rykodisc | Europe Finland accordion | |
| . | Kamusasadi, VumVum | MusAngola | Tropical | Africa pop | Lusaphone (i.e. Portugeuse colonial realm) music from Angola |
| . | Kassav | Tekit izi | Tristar Music | Africa pop | |
| . | Khaled | self-titled | Cohiba | Arabic pop club | |
| . | Khan, Ali Akbar | Legacy | Triloka | India traditional | |
| . | Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali | Intoxicated spirit | Shanachie | Qawwali | |
| . | Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali w. Michael Brook | Night Song | Real World | Qawwali pop new age | |
| . | Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali w. Roger White | Bandit Queen | Milan | Qawwali soundtrack | |
| . | King Chango | self-titled | Luaka Bop | Brazil ska Latino rock | |
| . | Kirvani | Tarun Bhattacharya | Music of the World | India soft melodic | |
| . | Klezmania | Klezmer for the New Millenium | Shanachie | Klezmer | |
| . | Klezmatics | Jews with Horns | Xenophile | Europe klezmer | |
| . | Klezmatics | Possessed | Xenophile | Klezmer | |
| . | Konte, Kuyateh, Suso | Jaliology | Xenophile | Africa West kora | |
| . | Krishna das | One Track Heart | Triloka | India spiritual new age | |
| . | Kuti, Femi | Femi Kuti (self-titled) | Tabu | Africa West Senegal jazz pop | |
| . | Lara & Reyes | Guitarras Hermanas | Higher Octave | Flamenco pop guitar | |
| . | Liebert, Ottmar, with Luna Negra | Opium | Epic | Latino Flamenco Pop new age | |
| . | Los Reyes | Gipsy Christmas | Ibsa | Flamenco pop guitar | |
| . | Ma, Yo Yo | Soul of the Tango, Music of A. Piazzolla | Sony | Latino tango classical | |
| . | Maal, Baaba | Firin' in Fouta | Mango | Africa West Senegal pop | Pop music with Meal's fabulous voice. |
| . | Madala | Kon'Ko Man | B&W | Africa pop | |
| . | Madredeus | o espirito da paz | metro blue | Europe Spanish soft | |
| . | Mapfumo, Thomas | Chimurenga Forever | hEMIsphere | Africa Zimbabwe pop rock | Greatest hits type compilation from Zimbabwe's best known musician. |
| . | Marimba Ava Murewa | Musava Ano (in these times) | ZimBob | Africa Zimbabwe mbira marimba | Westerner goes to Zimbabwe, falls in love with it, stays, writes cheezy music to commemorate the occasion. |
| . | Miranda, Marlui | Todos Os Sons | Blue Jackel | Brazil indigenous pop | |
| . | Mkono | Primal Future | Livewild | Africa percussion | |
| . | Mola, Tony | Bragada | Blue Jackel | Brazil pop rock forro | |
| . | More, Benny | The Voice and Work of Benny More | Milan Latino | Latino Cuban dance big band | |
| . | Mouth Music | Shorelife | Ryko | Europe Gaelic African | |
| . | Mursal, Maryam | The Journey | RealWorld | Africa Somalia | Danish backing band to her strong vocals. highly electronic pop, but sounds good. |
| . | Music From the Coffee Lands | Music From the Coffee Lands | Putumayo | mix Africa Latino | |
| . | Ninos con Bombas | De Tiempo en el Momento de la Explosion | Grita! | Europe punk rock | |
| . | Obeng, Kwaku Kwaakye | Awakening | Yikes | Africa percussion | |
| . | Olov Johansson | Storsvarten | North Side | Europe Scandinavia | |
| . | Pachora | Pachora | Knitting Factory Works | mix jazz Balkan klezmer | |
| . | Paulo Moura e Os Batutas | Pixinguinha | Blue Jackel | Brazil jazz | |
| . | Reptile Palace Orchestra | Hwy X | Omnium | Europe Balkan | |
| . | Shepik, Brad, and the Commuters | The Loan | Songlines | mix Balkan klezmer Turkish | |
| . | Sounds True | Anthology of Sacred World Music Vol. 1 | Sounds True | mix spiritual trance | |
| . | VARIOUS | Cuban Gold 3: El Mambo me Priva! | Qbadisc | Latino mambo Cuba | |
| . | VARIOUS | Cuban Gold 4, Fuego! Candela! | Qbadisc | Latino cuba | |
| . | Various | Deep Polka | Smithsonian Folkways | Europe polka | |
| . | VARIOUS | Invocations | Music of the World | mix spiritual trance | |
| . | VARIOUS | Islands | Putumayo | mix Latino Lusaphone Hawaii | |
| . | VARIOUS | Xourcise your mind 2, nordic grooves | Xource | mix | |
| . | Velez, Glen | Rhythms of the Chakras | Sounds True | drumming trance spiritual | |
| . | Wimme | Wimme | noside | Europe Finland electronic | |
| 96.02.06 | Musgana | Lubican | Green Linnet | Europe Celtic Spanish | |
| 96.12. 6 | Musgana | Las Seis Tentaciones | Green Linnet | Europe Celtic Spanish | |
| 96.12. 6 | Nunes, Clara | Com Vida | hEMIsphere | Brazil duets ballads | |
| 96.12. 6 | Obiedo, Ray | Zulaya | Windham Hill | Latino jazz | |
| 96.12. 6 | Olodum | Ao Vivo em Montreaux | east west | Brazil percussion | |
| 96.12. 6 | Outernational Meltdown | Jazzin Universally | B&W | Africa S.African jazz-pop | |
| 96.12. 6 | Outerrnational Meltdown | Free at Last | B+W music | S.Africa jazz pop | |
| 96.12. 6 | Parov, Nikola | Kilim | Hannibal | Irish folk | |
| 96.12. 6 | Piazzolla, Astor | El Nuevo Tango de Buenos Aires | Milan Latino | Latino tango Argentina | |
| 96.12. 6 | Piazzolla, Astor | Luna | hEMIsphere | Latino tango avant-garde | |
| 96.12. 6 | Possession African Dub | Off World One | Rykodisc | Africa electronic ambient | |
| 96.12. 6 | Ramani, Dr. N and Trichy Sankaran | Lotus Signatures | Music...World | India traditional | |
| 96.12. 6 | Rapa Nui Soundtrack (S. Copeland) | Rapa Nui soundtrack | Rykodisc | Asia Polynesia | |
| 96.12. 6 | Rios, Orlando Punitlla | Spirit Rhythms, Sacred Drumming & Chants from Cuba | Music...World | Latino drumming spiritual | |
| 96.12. 6 | Sabri Brothers | Ya Mustapha | Xenophile | Qawwali | |
| 96.12. 6 | Santos, John, & Machete Ensemble | Machete | Xenophile | Latino Afro-Cuban jazz | |
| 96.12. 6 | Sebastyen, Marta | Kismet | Hannibal | Europe Hungary mix of styles | |
| 96.12. 6 | Sebastyen, Marta | The Best of Marta Sebastyen | Hannibal | Europe Hungary Bulgaria folk | |
| 96.12. 6 | Shankar | Raga Aberi | Music..World | India raga | |
| 96.12. 6 | Shehan, Steve and Baly Othmani | Assarouf | Worldly Triloka | Arabic | |
| 96.12. 6 | Shona Spirit | self-titled | Music...World | Africa Zimbabwe | |
| 96.12. 6 | Soul Bossa Trio | self-titled | Ubiquity | Latino bossa nova mambo | |
| 96.12. 6 | Strunz & Farah | Heat of the Sun | Selva | Latino Flamenco guitar | passionate fiery flamenco, or something like that. |
| 96.12. 6 | Sumac, Yma | Sampler Exotica | Right Stuff | Latino soundtrack camp | |
| 96.12. 6 | Sundanese Degun-Mojang Priangan | Music of West Java | Interra | Asia Java | |
| 96.12. 6 | Swedish Sax Septet | Riff-Ola | Music...World | Europe folk jazz | |
| 96.12. 6 | Tarika | Bibiango | Xenophile | Africa Madagascar pop | |
| 96.12. 6 | Tbamboo Gamelan of Sangburni | Smoking Cloves | Interra | Asia Gamelan | |
| 96.12. 6 | Tekbilek, Omar Faruk | Mystical Garden | celestial harmonies | Islamic Turkish new age | |
| 96.12. 6 | Teknicolour | Take 5(in the jungle) single | Telarc | dancehall jazz jungle | |
| 96.12. 6 | Tenores di Bitti | Ammentos | Qbadisc | Europe a capella polyphonic | |
| 96.12. 6 | Toro, Yomo | Los Manos de Oro | Xenophile | Latino Puerto Rico quatro | |
| 96.12. 6 | Translational Underground | Psychic Karaoke | Nation | electronic world | |
| 96.12. 6 | Tubuai Choir | Polynesian Odyssey | Shamachie | Asia Polynesia | |
| 96.12. 6 | Turkish Bellydance | self-titled | ARC | Islamic Turkish bellydance | |
| 96.12. 6 | Ukrainians | Vorony | Xenophile | Europe folk rock Ukraine | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | Adventures in Afropea 3: Telling Stories to the Sea | Luaka Bop | mix Brazil Africa Carribean | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | African Gospel, Spirit of | ARC | Africa spiritual gospel | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | AfroLusAmerica | Tropical | Brazil Africa | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | Afro-Peruvian Calssics:The Soul of Black Peru | Luaka Bop | Latino Peru african | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | Batumata:The Sound of the Favelas | Mr. Bongo | Brazil Samba | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | Big Noise! Funky Tropicalsmo! | Hannibal | mix club arabic african | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | Conspiricao Baiana | Tropical Music | Brazil samba reggae mix | |
| 96.12. 6 | VARIOUS | Dead Man Walking: The Score | Columbia | mix Qawwali spiritual Armenian | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Echoes of the Forest | Ellipsis Arts | Africa Pygmy | More pygmy material, a collection of field recordings, amazing content. Rhythm, chant, and found sounds for your ears that are cmbient to theirs. |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Evita's Tango | Milan Latino | Latino Tango Argentina | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Exotic Sounds from Many Worlds | Milan | mix soundtrack | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Havana Club: The Fever of the Salsa Dance | Milan Latino | Latino salsa | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Hawaiian Slack Key Masters: The Language of Dreams | Dancing Cat | N.America Hawaii | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Morocco, Crossroads of Time | Ellipsis Arts | Arabic Moroccon | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Music for a Changing World | Xenophile | mix mellow-ish int'l | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | NovaBossa | Verve | Brazil bossa nova jaz | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Palacio de la Salsa | Milan Latino | Latino Salsa | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Planet Soup compliation, I- Gazpacho | ellipsis arts | mix odd pairings | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Planet Soup compliation, II - Tiga Nadje | ellipsis arts | mix odd pairings | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Planet Soup compliation, III - Mulligatawny | ellipsis arts | mix odd pairings | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Puerto Rico Tropical | Latitudes | Latino Puerto Rico | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Songs from the Cold Seas | Columbia | Europe Arctic electronic | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | The Best of Both Worlds (2 CD) | Rykodisc | mix Africa Latin Euro | Good intro to regional music styles. Soukous, pygmy drumming on water, Brazilian forro, West African guitar, and tons more. |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | The Spirit Cries | Rykodisc | S.America Indiginous Tribal | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Trance 1 | Ellipsis Arts | mix mystic spiritual | |
| 97.02.25 | VARIOUS | Trance 2 | Ellipsis Arts | mix spritual trance | |
| 97.05.10 | VARIOUS | Trance Planet, I | Triloka | mix int'l trance meditative | |
| 97.05.10 | VARIOUS | Trance Planet, II | Triloka | mix RPM style mellow | |
| 97.05.10 | VARIOUS | Trance Planet, III | Triloka | mix new age spiritual | |
| 97.05.10 | VARIOUS | Trinidad Hot Times | Tropical Music | mix calypso rapso ragga chutney | |
| 97.05.10 | VARIOUS | World Music in the Netherlands | Radio Netherlands | mix Afirca Latino Asian | |
| 97.05.10 | Varttina | Aitara | Xenophile | Europe Finland | |
| 97.05.10 | Varttina | Seleniko | Xenophile | Europe Finland | |
| 97.05.10 | Vieux Diop (Vio Jo) | Vio Jo | Triloka | Africa traditional pop | |
| 97.05.10 | Wassy, Bricy | N'ga Funk | B&W | Africa pop jazz | Has worked with Outernational Meltdown, I think... |
| 97.05.10 | Wobble, Jah | Heaven and Earth | Island | mix jazz dub | |
| 97.05.10 | Yosefa | The Desert Speaks | hEMIsphere | Arabic pop Israeli | |
| 97.05.10 | Yungchen Lhamo | Tibet, Tibet | Real World | Asia Tibet spiritual | |
| 97.05.10 | Zap Mama | Seven | Africa Euro pop funk mix | ||
| 97.05.10 | Zawose, Hukwe | Chibite | Real World | Africa Tanzania thumb piano | |
| 97.05.10 | Ze, Tom | Brazil 5, the Hips of Tradition | Luaka Bop | Brazil pop rock singer-songwriter | |
| 97.11.20 | Diop, Wasis | Toxu | Worldly Triloka | Africa pop | Pretty cool pop-funk music with a nice groove. Some lyrics in English, some in French. most of the album is really calm. Play tracks: 1, 5 is like Bobby Mcferrin silliness, I guess, 6 is pretty cool, 11 is nice with a calm accordion, but almost too calm. |
| 97.11.20 | Maal, Baaba | Nomad Son | Palm | Africa West Senegal pop | |
| 97.11.20 | Malavoi | Sh¶ ShÚ | Tinder | Caribbean French light | Related to Kassau in culture and style I they are as mellow and easy-listening. too. I.m not the biggest fan of the sound, but you might be. Good tracks: 2, 5 seems a mix of Celia Cruz and French chansons pop..., 8, 10 somehow feels Brazilian. |
| 97.11.20 | Misia | Garras dos Sentidos | Detour | Europe Portugal fado | It's wrong historically to say this, but musically you mix the flamenco vocal and the Cape Verdean morna (of Cesaria Evora fame) and you get the fado. Simple guitar and passionate vocals. Play tracks: all are good, though very mellow and calm. |
| 97.11.20 | Nyolo, Sally | multiculti | Tinder | Africa pop | Really cool material by former Zap Mama vocalist. As always, English lyrics bug me, but they are rare. Songs NOT to play are 3, 7, All the rest are heavily syncopated with vocal flair. Really good. |
| 97.11.20 | Ranglin. Ernest | In search of the lost riddim | Palm | Africa West pop | Old school reggae man meets Baaba Maal's Senegalese band and a great hybrid is formed. Really impressive genre shift for the guy. |
| 97.11.20 | Rimestad, Hege | White Arrow | North Side | Europe Celtic Scandinavia | Not exactly my style, what with too much Celtic flavor, but others might enjoy it. |
| 97.11.20 | Varis. Tapani | Jews Harp | North Side | Europe Finland folk | A mouth harp (historically, the source of the term when applied to the harmonica in blues), played in a relatively calm fashion. |
| 97.11.20 | Zolfonun, Jalal | Kord Bayat | Music...World | Arabic Iran traditional | |
| 98.02.11 | Cubanismo and Jesus Alemany | Malembe | Hannibal | Latino Mambo etc. | |
| 98.02.11 | Mudeka, Patience | Tafadzwa | ZimBob | Africa Zimbabwe | |
| 98.02.18 | Activos (Los) | Hasta Los Huesos | Tinder | Flamenco drumming | A percussive view of flamenco. No guitar, all the rhythm buried in the drums alone (or cinder blocks, door frames, whatever). |
| 98.02.25 | Amigos Invisibles (Los) | The new sound of the venezuelan gozadera | Luaka Bop | Latino merengue dance | |
| 98.02.25 | Bastos, Waldemar | Pretaluz (blacklight) | Luaka Bop | Africa pop | From Angola, I think. Calm and at times really pretty. |
| 98.03.09 | Bey, Chief (and Ile Omo Olofi) | Children of the House of God | Maple shade | Africa spiritual gospel | |
| 98.04.02 | Conjunto Cespedes | Flores | Green Linnet | Latino Cuba | |
| 98.04.08 | Darriau, Matt (and Paradox Trio) | Flying at a Slant | Knitting Factory Works | Klezmer and more... | |
| 98.04.08 | Dr. Didg | Serotonality | Hannibal | Australia aborigine | |
| 98.04.08 | Ea! | Oripand- | Tinder | Flamenco drumming | |
| 98.04.08 | Fantcha | Carolinha | Tinder | Africa Cape Verde | Not quite like Cesaria Evora, more pop oriented, I guess. |
| 98.04.08 | Gil, Gilberto | Ao Vivo (live) | Mesa | Brazil pop rock singer-songwriter | Good Brazilion pop with heavy rhythmic feel, you can hear echoes of all sorts of drumming history behind the songs while keeping a really good melody on top of it in a way only Brazilians can do. |
| 98.04.08 | Hanopol, Mike | Tribu Kemistri | Yikes | mix electronic | Not terribly world music like, but some tracks actually do a good job of building international elements into otherwise electronic elements. At times, reminds me more of Scarab in RPM than any international music. |
| 98.04.08 | Hedningarna | Kaksi | North Side | Europe Finland | |
| 98.04.08 | Hudson, David | Gungal | Black Sun | Australia aborigine | |
| 98.04.08 | Johansson, Olov | Storsvarten | North Side | Europe Scandinavia | |
| 98.04.08 | Khan. Ustad Vilayat | Sitar | India Archive Music | India traditional | |
| 98.04.08 | Soweto String Quartet | Zebra Crossing | RCA Victor | Africa chamber music folk | It's just plain weird to hear a chamber music version of Sooth African township jive styles, but somehow it sometimes works. Some tracks are muzak covers of Paul Simon or Sting and sound silly, others are better. Some barely use the strings, but all in all a pretty interesting mix. Not as good or adventerous as the Kronos Quartet's Pieces of Africa. |
| 98.04.08 | Super Seven (Los) | self-titled | RCA | Latino traditional folk | Los Lobos guys and more play relatively traditional material. with a cool feel. Latino folk and accordion and rock and all. |
| 98.04.08 | TUU and Nick Parkin | Terma | fathom | ambient folk flute | Very mellow, very ambient, reminds me of those Finns on Wimme's album. Focus of the album is on Buddhism |
| 98.04.08. | Lhasa | La Llorona | Atlantic | Latino chansons | Reminds me more of the Italian Paolo Conte than any Latino musician. These aren't really ballads. y'know? Pretty cool sound, and just the right mix of lounge-y shmaltz and good emotional singer-songwriter feel. Does a Latin a chanson make sense? Good tracks: 3, 7, 11, |
| 98.04.24 | Evora, Cesaria | Miss Perfumado | Nonesuch | Africa Cape Verde | Debut album, rereleased. Mornas with the best... |
| 98.04.24 | Moura, Paolo | Pixinguinha | Blue Jackel | Brazil jazz | |
| 98.04.24 | Planet Drum | Supralingua | Rykodisc | mix drumming | Nice and friendly cross-cultural pollination of musical styles. Nothing jumps out and grabs me, but there's some great folks on here (Zakir Hussain, for example) and chanting and all. |
| 98.05.26 | Sierra Maestre | Tibiri Tabara | World Circuit/ Nonesuch | Latino Afro-Cuban jazz | |
| 98.06.30 | Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects | Shabeesation | Ryko | Arabic club dub | Often too lame for words with bad electronica, but at times really good |
| 98.06.30 | Akipa, Bryan | The Flute Player | Makache | N.American Plains Indian | |
| 98.06.30 | Alpha Yaya Diallo | Aduna the world | Tinder | Africa pop | |
| 98.06.30 | Bio Ritmo | Rumba Baby Rumba! | Triloka | Latino salsa mambo | |
| 98.06.30 | Bose, Miguel | 11 maneras de ponerse un sombrero | Warner Latino | Europe French pop chanson | |
| 98.06.30 | Hedningarna | Tra | North Side | Europe Finland | |
| 98.06.30 | Orchestre National de Barbes | en concert | Tinder | Arabic Europe pop rock | |
| 98.06.30 | Uz Jsme Doma | Fairy-tales from Needland | Skoda | Europe punk rock | |
| 98.06.30 | VARIOUS | Nordic Roots | North Side | mix Europe Arcitic | |
| 98.06.30 | VARIOUS | Trance Planet volume 4 | Triloka | mix | |
| 98.07.14 | Alonso, Pachito | Una Salsa en Paris | Milan Latino | Latino Salsa | |
| 98.07.14 | Arnaz, Desi | Babalu | RCA | Latino Big Band | |
| 98.07.14 | Baka Beyond | Spirit of the Forest | Hannibal | Africa Euro Pygmy | |
| 98.07.14 | Baka Tribe | Heart of the Forest | Hannibal | Africa Pygmy | The group behind the pygmy elements of Baka Beyond's material. Much better in its original form. |
| 98.07.14 | Balinese Gamelon Gong | Music from the Island of the Gods | Interra | Asia Bali | |
| 98.07.14 | Bally Sagoo | Tum Bin Jaya | India club | Drum'n' bass, house, and techno re mixes of one song. | |
| 98.07.14 | Batish, Ashwain | Sitar Power II | Batish | India pop | Indian sitar frenzy. |
| 98.07.14 | Cubanismo and Jesus Alemany | Cubanismo! | Hannibal | Latino Mambo etc. | |
| 98.07.14 | Cubanismo! | Malembe | Root Jazz | Latino Cuba | |
| 98.08.03 | Baxter, Les | Que Mango | Scamp | Latino camp | |
| 98.08.03 | Bayaka | The extraordinary music of the Babanzele pygmies | ellipsis arts | Africa pygmy | |
| 98.09.16 | Boukan Ginen | Jou a Rive | Xenophile | Carribean Haiti | |
| 98.09.16 | Boukman Eksperyans | Freedom (Pran Pou Pran'l) | Mango | Carribean Haiti | |
| 98.09.16 | Braganca, Paulo | Amai | Luaka Bop | Brazil pop ballad | |
| 98.09.16 | Brandwein, Naftule | The King of the Klezmer Clarinet | Hannibal | Klezmer | |
| 98.09.16 | Brave Combo | Polka for a Gloomy World | Rounder | Europe polka TexMex | |
| 98.09.16 | Hakmoun, Hassan | Life Around the World | Alula | Arabic Morocco | Not such direct Moroccan gnawa music as before, but most definitely the same feel. The bass playing is great, the guest musicians work really well, and the overall Arabic/Islamic/ecstatic feel is simply wonderful. Good tracks: all, I love 9. |
| 98.09.16 | Martinez, Rolo | Dara Bailar mi Son | Ahi Name | Latino Cuba | The singer from Cubanismo sends out an album of slow emotional Cuban songs. A bit too, well, trite for my ears, but the lover of Cuban gems will find some here. Good tracks: 1, 3, 7 |
| 98.09.16 | Narell, Andy | Behind the Bridge | Hannibal | Caribbean drumming | We're talking lounge music meets the steel drums, with a healthy dose of light jazz chord sequences and that all around nice feel about the world. I don't know if this pushes me more toward Martin Denny or suicide, you figure out the same question for yourself, then we'll talk. |
| 98.09.17 | Anders, Robin Adnan | Omaiyo | Rykodisc | Islamic new age | Deep. meaningful stories in the liner notes don't need to be read for the music to be at times cool. Rather drone/trance oriented tracks that go for 6 or 7 minutes. The best are 3, 6, 8 (15 min long!), and 9, which seems to use an amplified Jews harp. |
| 98.09.17 | Ghania, Maleem Mahmoud (with Pharoah Sanders) | Trance of Seven Colors | Axiom | Arabic Moroccon | Gnawa music meets ecstatic jazz in a totally powerful meld. |
| 98.09.17 | Khan, Badar Ali | Lost in Qawwali | Triloka | Qawwali | |
| 98.09.17 | Stoltzman, Richard | Danze Latina | RCA Victor | Latino dance | Calm Latin dance music, not the wild and crazy mambo or salsa styles but calmer and quieter. |
| 98.09.17 | VARIOUS | Cairo to Casablanca | Putumayo | Arabic | As usual, Putumayo puts out an album that is just that little bit below engaging. This time around, it's northern African (i.e. Arabic) music that is nearly right. Too cheezy pop, somehow, without enough to grab the ears. Avoid the track by the otherwise excellent Hassan Hakmoun. Good tracks are 7, 8. |
| 98.09.22 | Khan, Badar Ali | Lost in Qawwali II | Triloka | Qawwali | |
| 98.09.22 | Klezmatics with Chava Alberstein | The Well | Xenophile | Klezmer | |
| 98.09.22 | Krishna Das | Pilgrim Heart | Worldly Triloka | India spiritual new age | Another one? The first Krishna Das album was a bit trite, this second one continues in that vein by going through New Age-y versions of Hare Krishna songs. Having just been at a cousin's Hare Krishna wedding, I can say that the music there was much much better than what's on this album. |
| 98.09.22 | Rodrigues, Virginia | Sol Negro | Hannibal | Brazil ballads soft | Soft Afrolusaphone music. Afrolusamerica is a term for the former Portugeuse colonial world, including Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, and more. |
| 98.09.22 | Rodriguez, Adriano and Edesio Alejandro | soul of Cuba | Bembe | Latino Cuba | Take traditional Cuban music and pop in some deep funk (heavy drums, bass on the One, as far as that's possible in Cuban music). For the most part, surprisingly, it works. |
| 98.09.22 | VARIOUS | Electro acoustic music from Latin America | 0 0 discs | modern composition | Not really world music, so don't be fooled by the Letino name of the album. This is crazed modern composition, flits and flights, free sounds and attacks and screeches and throbs and all that. Lots of fun to listen to, challenging at times, not as good as some other material in the Modern Comp section... |
| 98.09.23 | VARIOUS | Celtic Tides, a Musical Odyssey | Putumayo | Celtic | If you like Celtic music, be aware that the putumayo label consistently makes albums that are just below consistently good. I happen not to like or listen to Celtic music, so I couldn't say... |
| 98.09.30 | Alexiou, Haris | With Blessings | Mondo Melodie | Europe Greece | |
| 98.09.30 | Baka Beyond | Journey Between | Hannibal | Africa Euro Pygmy | |
| 98.09.30 | Boukman Eksperyans | Revolution | Tuff Gong | Carribean Haiti | |
| 98.09.30 | Conte, Paolo | The very best of... | Nonesuch | Europe Italy cabaret | |
| 98.09.30 | Joyce | Astronauta - Song of Elis | Blue Jackel | Brazil ballads soft | Calm ballads by a single-name Brazilian singer. As with all Brazilian music, it has its moments, but as with all calm ballad-like music, some of those moments suck. |
| 98.09.30 | Loituma | Things of Beauty | North Side | Europe Finland | |
| 98.09.30 | Los de Abajo | self-titled | Luaka Bop | Latino rock | Excellent Latino rock to get feet moving and grooving. |
| 98.09.30 | Santos, Sergio | Mulato | Blue Jackel | Brazil ballads soft | Very soft, very mellow, Brazilian with a nice touch but at the same time just a bit too schmaltzy for my taste. |
| 98.09.30 | VARIOUS | Deep Polka: dance music from the midwest | Smithsonian Folkways | Polka (all types) | Polka music in all variations, Czech, Polish, Slovenian, you name it... Very good and danceable stuff... |
| 98.10.11 | Arte Mixto | Virginia | Ahi Nama Music | Latino Cuba | Different instrvments show up to play more or less traditional Cuban music. Violins and different vocal styles are what stand out. Somehow, it reminds me of the way a Us modern folk group would play rock music. |
| 98.10.11 | Chao, Manu | Clandestino | Ark 21 | Latino mix | The former lead singer of the funk- punk- hip- hop- salsa- rock group Meno Negra returns with an album that feels much more traditional or at least less punk frenetic (even if the attitude is the same). Odd samples pop up (a Galaga sound from 1983, yes!), its just plain cool. The tracks all flow into each other, 3 or 4 languages crop up... Tracks 3 and 7 are in English while the rest are French or Spanish. |
| 98.10.11 | Cubanismo! | Reencarnation | Rykodisc | Latino Cuba | More wonderful Cuban flare and amazing musicianship. The group is as good as ever. Jesus Alemany still throws in some flaming trumpet. Styles of music include mambo, guarache, descarga, guajira, and more. Enjoy this whole slab of joy. Every song kicks. |
| 98.10.11 | Gipsy Kings | Cantos de Amor | Nonesuch | Flamenco pop guitar | If you don't know what Gipsy Kings sound like, you haven't heard enough Peruvian groups with pan flutes covering their material. |
| 98.10.11 | Maraca | Sonando! | Ahi Nama Music | Latino Cuba | A former member of Irakere (of Chucho Valdes fame) takes his Cuban flute playing to his own band and creates some pretty wicked stuff. |
| 98.10.11 | Novo (Los) | Animo Gente Mie | Ahi Nama Music | Latino Cuba ballads | Calm Cuban ballads. Nice and melodic, nice calm feel, but simply nice doesn't necessarily grab me. |
| 98.10.11 | Segundo, Compay | Lo Mejor de la Vida | Nonesuch | Latino Cuba son | Excellest son music from Cuba, just a simple flow with simple guitar and simple (yeah, right) melodies. The artist is 90 years old, but his fingers are still doing totally amazing things. |
| 98.10.11 | Valdes, Chucho and Irakere | Babalu Aye | Bembe | Latino Cuba | Some more Salsa Cubano for the station, mixed with a bonus track that is 14 min long and has Lazaro Ros doing some spiritual drumming and call-&-response vocals. Much of the album has a cheezy feel to it, too much bad synth and all, but if's good. Play #2 and #5 if salsa is your thing, #7 for the drumming. |
| 98.11.18 | VARIOUS | Hamdulillah, vol. 2, Fes Festival of world sacred music | Sounds True | Arabic Morocco | Excellent Moroccan! |
| 98.12.02 | Kurki-Suonio, Sanna | Musta | North Side | Europe Sweden electronic | Folk or electronic background to traditional Scandinavian music. Reminds me of Wimme or the Songs from the Cold Seas compilation. Tracks to play: 2 is folk dance with only a few cheeze moments, 3 has a Laurie Anderson 0 Superman ha ha background, 5 has strong vocals, 8 is groovy |
| 98.12.02 | Mola, Tony and Bragada | Quebra Mola | Blue Jackel | Brazil pop rock forro | Brazilian pop fun. With tuba and accordion. Very cool! Good tracks: 1, 2, both fast, 3 a type of reggae, 4 is tuba forro, 6 is tuba bahia |
| 98.12.02 | Orquesta Gitano | Salsa Gitana | Little Gypsy | Latino Salsa | fine salsa with a few other really good Latino styles tossed in. A very tight group, one of the better Latino albums in a long time... |
| 98.12.02 | Tekbilek, Omar Faruk | Crescent Moon | celestial harmonies | Arabic Morocco spiritual | Less new age-y than the previous album, thank god, but the beginnings and ends of songs still have the wrong tones to them. Its the middle parts (where he kicks into Arabic over drive) that are good. |
| 98.12.02 | VARIOUS | Global Voices | Music...World | Mix vocal sacred indigenous | Stunning vocal only recordings, some cheeze folk, but mostly spiritual or traditional material. Good tracks: 2 is Indian tagata-ta type stuff, 3 is Tuvan throat singing, |
| 98.12.09 | Gil, Gilberto | 0 Sol de Oslo | Blue Jackel | Brazil pop rock singer - songwriter | Much more experimental and weird than his popular oriented Ao Vivo album. which means some tracks really need to be avoided. The good ones mix and meld Trilok Gurtu's tabla perfectly with Gil's and Marlui Miranda's goofiness. Good tracks: 1, 8, 10, 11. |
| 98.12.09 | Piazzolla, Astor | Tango: Zero Hour | Nonesuch | Latino tango Argentina | Avant-garde tango from its inventor and master. The music is simply stunning, totally challenging on the ears while it feels, well, like just a tango. It is n.t. All tracks are good. |
| 98.12.09 | VARIOUS | Casa da Mae Joana | Blue Jackel | Brazil | |
| 98.12.09 | VARIOUS | Music and Architecture, the sound inside | celestial harmonies | mix sacred spiritual | Echo and spiritual stuff abound on an album of music recorded in large echo-y spiritual buildings. Lots of solo performers and choirs. Appeals to the chant side of people? |
| 98.12.09 | VARIOUS | Music of Indonesia 16: Music from the Southeast: Sumbawa, Sumba, Timor | Smithsonian Folkways | Asia Indonesia | Simple and raw in that indigenous way, don't you know. Microtones in the vocals, sometimes simple (single instrument) accompaniment, very cool stuff. |
| 98.12.09 | VARIOUS | Music of Indonesia 17: Kalimantan: Dayak Ritual and Festival music | Smithsonian Folkways | Asia Indonesia | |
| 98.12.21 | Kuti, Fela Anikulapo | Music is the Weapon of the Future | Africa West funk pop | Groove central, 70's recordings by the Afro-pop god and his sloppy sax sound. Damn good! | |
| 99.02.03 | Brothers Kanilau | Mele Oli, chants from Ancient Hawai'i | Sounds True | N.America Hawaii | Just what the title says, chants from Hawaii. Very Cool material, mostly short tracks, but all sounding remarkably good. |
| 99.02.03 | Energipsy | Tamborea | Alula | flamenco | Duh, it's flamenco, which means you hate it or love it. Avoid tracks 3, 9, 12, 13, the rest are up to you. |
| 99.02.03 | Ondar | Back Tuva Future | Warner | Asia Tuve | Tuvan throat singing, overtones and all. Very cool. Also show up on Kronos Quartet CDs and various Comp CDs we have. just that this album is way too pop oriented, and some of it is really lame. |
| 99.02.03 | Sanchez, Poncho | Afro-Cuban Fantasy | Concord Picante | Latino Cuba jazz | Easy and calm Afro-Cuban jazz, nothing with too much flair or fire, but good Cuban rhythm. |
| 99.02.03 | Seldin, Ronnie Nyogetsu and Gideon Freudmann | Sound of Distant Deer | Gadfly | Asia spiritual Buddhist | Spiritual (mostly) material with Buddhist flute and some sort of abstract cello. Sparse sounds, the cello actually fits in most of the time, and tracks 1, 2, and 7 are the best. |
| 99.02.03 | Shakira | Donde esten los ladrones? | Sony Latin | Latino modern rock | Sounds like a Lutine Alannis about half the time, the rest she's doing ballads and odd dub influenced tracks. |
| 99.02.03 | Sweet Honey in the Rock | twenty-five | Ryko | N.America spiritual | Mostly gospel or spiritual to this all female vocal group. Not really world music, though #2 is an African chant. Track 4 is an old favorite spiritual of mine, 5 a Bob Marley tune, 11 is plain old good in the genre. |
| 99.02.03 | Taro | Taro Hakese | Sony | mix violin electronic | Shmalzy violin meets vague and odd electronic elements, like d'n'b and house. Tracks 3 and 5 avoid the luscious violin sound the best. |
| 99.02.03 | Trio Petrekatt | Adam | Mondo Melodie | Europe Sweden folk | Folk music, polkas, and more, all played on cello and 2 keyed violins. Very cool sound, a bit calm, but unlike anything else we've got. |
| 99.02.03 | VARIOUS | Pinereno, from the Tobacco Road of Cuba | Alula | Latino Cuba | Good soft nearly purely traditional Cuban music. Mellow and cool. Excellent Latino rhythm, rarely schmaltz. |
| 99.02.03 | VARIOUS | Tuva, Among the Spirits | Smithsonian Folkways | Asia Tuva | Mix of field recordings of honest to god field noises, Tuvan throat singing, and Tuvan singers recreating the field noises (birds, etc) Very damn cool to hear more than one tone Come from a single person's throat. |
| 99.02.03 | Villegas, Luis | Cafe Ole | Domo | flamenco | The new flamenco sound which you either love, or you want to slaughter those fucking Andean pen-pipe playing dudes and their gazillionth uersion of the Gypsy Kings... You pick. Tracks 2, 8, and 11 are best. |
| 99.03.09 | Brahem, Anouar and John Surman and Dave Holland | Thiner | ECM | Arabic jazz | |
| 99.03.09 | Sister Carol | Lyrically Potent | Heartbeat | reggae | |
| 99.03.09 | VARIOUS | 4x4 | Mesa | ||
| 99.03.09 | VARIOUS | Caribbean Carnival: Soca Party | Coral Sounds | mix Caribbean soca | |
| 99.03.09 | VARIOUS | Ruffneck: if it ain't rough | Jamdown | reggae | |
| 99.03.09 | VARIOUS | Strictly Reggae | Jamdown | reggae | |
| 99.03.09 | VARIOUS | Triple Spin | VP | ||
| 99.03.10 | Casta | I Am Gypsy | Alula | flamenco | |
| 99.03.10 | Frifot | SummerSong | North Side | Europe Sweden folk | |
| 99.03.10 | Guha, Subhra | s.t. (vocal) | India Archive Music | India traditional | |
| 99.03.10 | Hedningarna | Karelia Visa | North Side | Europe Finland folk progressive | |
| 99.03.10 | Innocent Crew | Impossible Train | VP | reggae? | |
| 99.03.10 | Khan, Rashid | s.t. (vocal) | India Archive Music | India traditional | |
| 99.03.10 | Lesh, Nancy | s.t. (cello) | India Archive Music | India traditional | |
| 99.03.10 | Mapfumo, Thomas | Chimurenga 98 | Anonymous | Africa Zimbabwe pop | Excellent wandering guitar lines, great baritone vocals, a bit calmer than his old material. |
| 99.03.10 | Tarika | D | Xenophile | Africa Madagascar pop | |
| 99.03.14 | Khan, Shujaat | Waiting for Love | India Archive Music | India traditional | |
| 99.04.02 | Wimme | gierran | North Side | Europe Finland ambient | folk style singing meets up with ambient electronica for areally interesting sound. neat stuff. |
| 99.04.21 | Natacha Atlas | gedida | mantra / beggars banquet | Arabic Egypt club remix | Tracks 1,2,4, and possibly 8 are good, the rest are a bit odd and really not what I want to hear every day... |
| 99.04.21 | VARIOUS | Bossa Cuca Nova | Six Degrees | Brazil electronic bossa nova remix | totally amazing piece of music here, just the coolest stuff. perfect remixes and rebuilds that hold on to the original while never losing the feel of the new |
| 99.05.05 | DJ Cheb i Sabbah | Shri Durga | Six Degrees Records | India remix traditional | |
| 99.05.05 | El-Funuon | Zaghareed | Sounds True | Arabic Palestinian traditional | |
| 99.05.05 | Gjallarhorn | Ranarop - Call of the Sea Witch | Finlandia | Europe Finland Sweden | |
| 99.05.05 | JPP | History | North Side | Europe Finland | |
| 99.05.05 | Loituma | In the Moonlight | North Side | Europe Finland | |
| 99.05.05 | Sublette, Ned | Cowboy Rumba | Palm Pictures | Latino country western | |
| 99.05.05 | Torres, Barbarito | Havana Cafe | Havana Caliente | Latino Cuba traditional | |
| 99.05.05 | VARIOUS | Brasileiro | Putumayo | Brazil bossa nova pop | |
| 99.05.05 | VARIOUS | Gypsy Road | Alula | mix gypsy East Europe | |
| 99.05.05 | Villegas, Luis | Cafe OlÚ | Domo | flamenco modern | |
| 99.05.12 | Tin Hat Trio | memory is an elephant | Angel | vaguely East European? | 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11 |
| 99.05.12 | VARIOUS | Atrium: a Space within Space | Atrium | Europe Finland Scandinavia | |
| 99.05.12 | VARIOUS | Cuba | Putumayo | Latino Cuba mix | |
| 99.05.12 | VARIOUS | Traveler 99 | Six Degrees Records | mix Asia electronic India | |
| 99.07.09 | Mano Negra | Best of Mano Negra | Ark 21 | Europe Spanish African Arab rock punk funk | Mann Chao's original band, a total hybrid of every style that ever came their way. English lyrics on 2, 5, 10, 11, but all songs are good. Some funk, some rock, some punk, some of everything. I like 1, 4, 7, 8, 9 is dubby, 11 is on Chao's solo album, 12. |
| 99.07.09 | VARIOUS | Cuba Si! Pure Cuban Flavor | Rhino | Latino Cuba | Awesome, fast, fiery, wonderful. Good tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 13 (compare to Benny More version) |
| 99.07.09 | Veloso, Caetano | Livro | Nonesuch | Brazil tropicalia | Mix of 60's strings, traditional drumming styles, odd sounds, and his smooth singing. Good tracks: 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 (rap?) |
| 99.08.12 | Agricantus | Best of Agricantus | World Class | world pop Arabic Italian mix | Italian group that plays heavily processed and loud progressive world music (there's no other way to describe this), and it sounds pretty good. Go figure. |
| 99.08.12 | Barrett, Aston 'Familyman' | Cobra Style | Heartbeat | Reggae | |
| 99.08.12 | Barrett, Aston 'Familyman' | Familyman in Dub | Heartbeat | Reggae | |
| 99.08.12 | Bila, Vera, and Kale | Kale Kalore | Tinder | Europe gypsy Czech pop | Gypsy music out of the Czech Republic, outside of Prague. It's totally friendly oriented, folk pop sounding, and an easy listen. Transitions well between Latino music and European music, which wasn't what I expected. |
| 99.08.12 | Bulgarian Voices, Moscow Art Trio, Huun-Huur-Tu | Mountain Tale | Zebra Acoustic | Europe Tuva mix vocal | A bit too soft and uninteresting to me, songs almost all written by a guy from the Moscow Art Trio, but some gorgeous tracks. For the groups in here, a remarkable lack of interesting vocals of the abstract sort. |
| 99.08.12 | Cajun All Stars | Chez Les Cajuns | Narada | Cajun | It's Cajun music, it's good, it's wicked, it's wacky, it's wonderful. |
| 99.08.12 | Continentals | Plain Brown Wrapper | homedmade disc | polka | Local DC polka and waltz band, sounds damn fine. They play a lot of German folk festivals, and do a good job of it, from what I read. |
| 99.08.12 | El Din, Hamza | A Wish | Sounds True | Arabic spiritual | Track 5 has the coolest rhythmic work, otherwise it's a relatively calm album that has lots of people showing up to honor his work by working with him. |
| 99.08.12 | Ferrer, Ibrahim | self-titled | World CIrcuit | Latino Cuba | Buena Vista Social Club member |
| 99.08.12 | Garmarna | Vengeance | Northside | Europe Nordic hard progressive | Norwegian (?) group that plays loud heavy processed music that sounds pretty damn good when cranked up. The vocals are a bit Irish sounding, like much of Nordic music is in the chord sequence, but the tone and the general feel is something totally unique and great. |
| 99.08.12 | Heritage, Morgan | don't haffi dread | VP | Reggae | |
| 99.08.12 | Inti-illimani | Amar de Nuevo | Xenophile | Latino | |
| 99.08.12 | Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali | SwanSong | Narada | qawwali pop live | Live recording, a bit too pop oriented for me, lacking some of the vocal pyrotechnics that his traditional music have. |
| 99.08.12 | Koite, Habib, and Bamada | Muso Ko | Alula | Africa | |
| 99.08.12 | Montano, Michael, and Xtatik | Any Minute Now | VP | Reggae | |
| 99.08.12 | Ochoa, Eliades y el Cuartelo Patria | Sublime Illusion | Higher Octave World | Latino Cuba | in Buena Vista Social Club. |
| 99.08.12 | Perry, Lee 'Scratch' | FIre in Dub | ras | Reggae Dub | |
| 99.08.12 | Tekbilek, Omar Faruk | One Truth | World Class | Arabic new age-y mostly | As usual, too damn mellow and calm, but track 5 has a great rhythm that builds up after the interesting violin introduction. |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | A Mediterranean Odyssey: Athens to Andalucia | Putumayo | Europe Greek French Italian | Remarkably enough, this doesn't suck, and 4 or 5 tracks are really awesome. French accordion music with a west African kora thrown in, good Greek melodies, things like that. Find the starred tracks. |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Africa | Putumayo | Africa | |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Africa Fete 99 | Palm Pictures Rykodisc | Africa pop | Taj Mahal, Toumani Diabate, Baaba Maal, Oliver Mtukudzi, Kaouding CIssoko, Callake SIssoko |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Americanos: Latino Life in the United States, a Musical Celebration | Atlantic | Latino | Pretty awesome list of musicians involved, well worth a listen to hear what they're up to. We have albums by a couple of them, so follow up on what you like. |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Caribe! Caribe! | Putumayo | Carribean mix | |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Choose Your Partners, Contra Dance and Square Dance Music of New Hampshire | Smithsonian Folkways | America Contra Dance Sqaure Dance | Yet another Smithsonian album that gets to the heart of folk music being about folks and what they do. Square dance and contra dance aren't my thing, but the music is relatively interesting. |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Mademoiselle, Voulez-vois Danser? | Smithsonian Folkways | Franco-American New England | A continuing series from Smithsonian that focuses on true folk music, music that folks incorporate into their lives, or have included over the years. Truly fine listening. |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | North Africa | World Class | Arabic | |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Red Hot and Lisbon: Onda Sonora | Bar None | Brazil Portuguese club mix | Excellent random mix of tons of different material. Caetano Veloso, Funk'n'Lata, tons of folks, excellent music, lots of variety, and basically almost no bad songs. |
| 99.08.12 | VARIOUS | Taquachito Nights, Conjunto Music from South Texas | Smithsonian Folkways | Latino Conjunto Polka | Some good old bar room dancing type of music, where we have Flaco Jimenez and Conjunto Cespedes to play similar types of music on other albums. |
| 99.08.12 | Zafiros, Los | Bossa Cubana | World CIrcuit Nonesuch | Latino Cuba classic soul | Classic Cuban band, this album got rave reviews just about everywhere for damn good reason. Listen to it. |
| 99.08.12 | Ze, Tom | Postmodern Platos | Warner | Brazil remix | A remix album of his material from his last album. The remixes don't always pull out the best parts of the songs, but that doesn't stop one of the heroes of Brazilian tropicalia from showing his weird and awesome abilities. Favorite tracks come toward the end. |
| 99.09.14 | Bukkene Bruse | The Stone Chair | North Side | Europe Nordic folk | |
| 99.09.14 | Rizwan-Muzzam Qawwali | Sacrifice of Love | Real World | Qawwali | Stunning qawwali material from newphews of Nusrate Fateh Ali Khan's (the family tree is in the liner notes, cool). All songs last 15 minutes or so, 3 is the weakest, but all are worth playing. Stunning ecstatic spiritual islamic music. |
| 99.09.14 | Sorten Muld | Mark II | North Side | Europe Nordic electronic pop | Mix of folk traditions in a more electronic realm, the Nordic folks love this lately. Track 3 is vageuly reminiscent of Bjork's Human Behavior. As always, there's a connection between Nordic music and Irish chords, don't know why my ears hear it that way, but they do. Good: 3,7,8 |
| 99.09.14 | Uakti (pronounce: wah'-ke-chee) | Aguas da Amazonia | Point Music | new classical on Brazilian influence | Music composed by Philip Glass for a ballet, played on a variety of Brazilian instruments and with strong influence from the Amazon basin. Unashamedly beautiful music, luscious, with only slight minimalist trappings (not enough, in my taste) and more romantic elements floating above. Excellent example of early 90's glass, and a rare instance of music NOT played by the Philip Glass ensemble. Good: all, I like 2,3,9,10 |
| 99.09.15 | Bocoum, Afel | Alkibar | World Circuit / Nonesuch | Africa West Mali folk | Traditional Malian sounds from an Ali Farke Toure protege, stunning sounds within simple arrangements and mellow sounds. Most excellent percussion work behind fabulous guitar work, Toure guests on two songs (check out his Ry Cooder duet on Ryko's Best of Both Worlds comp for similar sounds). Good songs: every single one, no kidding. Maybe not 3 or 10, but those are merely good, not great. |
| 99.09.15 | Oumou Sangare | moussoulou | World Circuit / Nonesuch | Africa West pop | Excellent, relatively calm material, great vocals and grooves. Songs are all around 5 min long, good listening. Good: all, scan for style about 1 min in. |
| 99.09.15 | VARIOUS | Balkans Without Borders | Omnium Recordings | Europe Balkan rock pop folk polka klezmer | Amazing combination of music from the Balkans, sales of which help the Doctors Without Borders organization. Stunning material, all with that Slavic/Greek/Bulgarian/ and so on mix of sounds. Great material!! Good songs: 1, 2, 3 (polka!), 4 (surf?), 8 (weird folk techno?), 9 (Balkan punk), 11 (house saber dance), 17 (trad.), 18 (trad. great rhythm) |
| 99.09.16 | BÉsk | BÉsk | NorthSide | Europe Nordic acoustic traditional | Could almost fit into a jazz show, with a trio of saxophone, flute, and fiddle. Nice, happy songs that don'e last too long. Nordic folk music through different instruments, basically, and it sounds pretty good. Good songs: 2, |
| 99.09.16 | Cissoko, Kaouding | Kora Revolution | Palm Pictures | Africa West traditional | The kora player for Baaba Maal, he's played with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Ernest Ranglin recently, too. The kora is a 21 string harp-like instrument with a really distinctive sound you hear all over West African music, and this album does it justice. It's mellow, like all kora albums are, but songs like 3 get a deep groove going, anyway. The call-response format there is typical, the slow trance feeling just great. I like the (for western ears) raw vocals throughout the album, too. Bada Seck is on a few tunes, Baaba Maal on 3 and 11. Good: 3, 5, 6 (slow start, gets much better), 9 |
| 99.09.16 | Rosenberg 7 | R7 | North Side | Europe Nordic folk | Take slightly Varttina like vocals and put them on top of a string trio: four female vocalists and cello, fiddle, viola. Sounds relatively calm but wanders between harsh and truly lovely (in a non-ironic way). Pick any song, they are all nice. |
| 99.09.23 | Hong-mei, Yu | string Glamour | Wind Records | China traditional | Playing the Erhu, a Chinese string instrument that you know from restaurants. Nice stuff. Good: 3, 6, 9 |
| 99.09.23 | Musafir | Dhola Maru | Sounds True | India qawwali traditional | Northern Indian and qawwali elements, very cool and intense. Good: 1 is qawwali, 4 starts slow, then kicks, 5 has or same rhythm as pygmy water drums, 6 long but good, 9, |
| 99.09.24 | Hirota, Joji | The Gate | Real World | Japan strings calm | Japanese influences in otherwise calm string quintet playing with the occasional percussion built in. Chamber music, really. Good: 3 and 7 (TaiKo drumming), 4 (vocals! simply pretty), 9 (meditation ambient) |
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Michael C. Wittmann
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