Quantic & Nidia Gongora - Curao (Tru Thoughts)
For 'Curao' ("medicine") musical jack-of-all-trades Will 'Quantic' Holland (The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Combo Barbaro, Flowering Inferno, Ondatropica.
Various Artists - Oté Maloya: The Birth Of Electric Maloya On Réunion Island 1975-1986 (Strut Records)
With 'Oté Maloya', the first international compilation focusing on nineteen seventies electric maloya, Reunion DJ duo La Basse Tropicalen presents a successor for last year's 'Soul Sok Séga'.
Lolomis - Boukane (Buda Musique)
When listening to 'Boukane', the second album by Lolomis, a quartet with roots in both Brussels and Paris, the one moment we were reminded of Zap Mama ('Hababa'), the next of Amina Annabi ('Pourquoi Tu N'es Pas Là?'), and every now and again also of Finnish folk sensation Värttinä ('Margaret').
Elijah Prophet - New Chapter Of My Life (Arise)
About a decade ago we still put forward Elijah Prophet's 'King Of Kings' album as a serious contender for "new roots album of the year!", but after the release of the PowPow production things around the singer from Westmoreland quieted down again.
Lion Heights - Same Situation (Rebel Sound Records)
'Same Situation' is the album debut of Lion Heights, a four-piece band that was founded in Chicago back in 2013, but since have moved on to Austin, Texas.
Ghalia Benali & Mââk - MwSOUL (W.E.R.F.)
For 'MwSOUL', an album she describes as her most spiritual and Sufi-inspired to date, Belgian-Tunisian singer-songwriter Ghalia Benali drew inspiration from the events during the Arab Spring of 2010.
They Must Be Crazy - Mother Nature (Self-published)
'Mother Nature' is the long player debut of They Must Be Crazy, a sixteen-piece Portuguese afrobeat ensemble composed of musicians who already earned their spurs performing with acts like Tabanka Djaz, Sara Tavares, Selma Uamusse, Voodoo Marmalade and Pás de Problème.
Various Artists - Kingston Express presents Kingston Connection EP (Kingston Express/Self-published)
Little more than a year after the release of his 'Good Day' EP, Brummie producer Sticky Joe returns with 'Kingston Connection', another EP.
Jewish Monkeys - High Words (Greedy For Best Music)
Israeli band Jewish Monkeys prefer to describe their sound as: "Yiddisch music meets The Marx Brothers!".
Elemotho - Beautiful World (ARC Music)
Gaalelekwe Mosimane Richardo aka Elemotho is a singer-songwriter from Namibia, a relatively young African nation that only gained its independence in 1990, after first being the German colony of German South-West Africa, and later becoming the South African mandate territory South-West Africa.
Vin Morgan meets Lone Ark - Iroko Showcase Vol. 3: Give Thanks (Iroko Records)
With 'Give Thanks', the third volume in their Iroko showcase series, the French label also finally provided Vin Morgan with a debut album.
Ya Tosiba - Love Party (Asphalt Tango Records)
Ya Tosiba arose from the meeting between Norwegian-Azerbaijani vocalist/songwriter Zuzu Zakaria and Finnish skweee-pioneer Tatu Metsätähti aka Mesak.
Pablo Moses - The Itinuation (Grounded Music/Baco Records)
Seven years after his "comeback album" 'The Rebirth', Pablo Moses returns with 'The Itinuation', for which he joined forces with Groundation front man Harrison Stafford (who also features in title track 'The Itinuation').
Toko Telo - Toy Raha Toy (Anio Records)
Toko Telo, translating as "group of three", could be considered a Malagasy super group, as for this project three heavyweights from the Malagasy music scene joined forces.
Soom T & Budz - Ode To A Karrot (Khanti Records/Pias)
Seven years ago Scottish-Indian Soom T made her long player debut with the Jahtari produced 'Ode 2 A Carrot', a musical ode to herb, and with 'Ode To A Karrot', the singer now presents a sort of of sequel in the form of an album full of remixes and new vocals.
Droop Lion - Ideologies (VPal/Musicast Distribution)
Saint Ann born Droop Lion first made a name for himself as a vocalist with The Gladiators (or what's left of them) with whom he already record 'Back On Tracks' in 2014.
Marla Brown - Survivor EP (Self-published/Golden Brown Music)
Little more than a year after the release of her debut EP 'Deliverance', Marla Brown returns with this six track successor.
The I-Twins - The Master Plan (Fruits Records)
With the release of 'The Master Plan', the second album by Swiss duo The I-Twins, Fruits Records strays from the beaten track, as until now the label only seemed to focus on releases by Jamaican veterans like I-Kong or The Inspirators (Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace, Earl 'Chinna' Smith, Lloyd Parks and Anthony 'Sangie' Davis).
Rod Anton - Ubatuba (Soul Nurse Records/Differ-Ant)
Franco-Portuguese singer Rod Anton returns with 'Ubatuba', named after a village on Brazil's south-eastern coast, where he claims to have lost his heart.
Kondi Band - Salone (Strut Records)
'Salone', the long player debut of American-Sierra Leonean Kondi Band is accompanied of a nice story.