Reviews

Don't be fooled, with the up-tempo music genre from Jamaica Skazka Orchestra has little to do.

With their third long player Tarragona based band Bongo Botrako wins the prize for album cover of the year: the cardboard box containing the CD, folds open to form a single impressive elongated graffiti artwork by the hand of Cuban illustrator Robertiko Ramos.

Goose bumps, it's a sensation a seasoned album critic doesn't often experience anymore, but 'New Name', the title track of the eponymous album by Jah9 absolutely did the trick.

If you've ever listened carefully to Balkan music, you must have noticed how closely related the used rhythms are to ska and reggae.

'Rebel Rock' is actually the story of sound system pioneer Ephraim Barrett aka Count Shelly, who took over the Third World label from Sid Bucknor in 1975 and proceeded to record albums with, amongst others, Leroy Smart, Cornel Campbell, Dennis Alcapone and Johnny Clarke.

Oratnitza (the band's name refers to a Bulgarian fire ritual that traditionally takes place around carnival time), a collective of former street musicians, mixes Bulgarian folk with elements of modern genres like dubstep and drum & bass.

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence, Freddie McGregor celebrates his own half a century as a performer.

'Steppin' Forward' is the album debut of The Banyans, a group of young French musicians from Toulouse who got their inspiration from reggae tenors like Burning Spear, The Gladiators and Bob Marley (for the curious among you: a "banyan" is an epiphyte fig species).

Four years after the release of his 'Green Fa Life' album on Makasound, Kiddus I returns with 'Topsy Turvy World'.

'Rebirth' is the second album by Layori, a singer-songwriter with Nigerian roots.