Etran Finatawa - The Sahara Sessions (Riverboat Records/World Music Network)

For 'The Sahara Sessions', Etran Finatawa went back to basics as the whole album was recorded in a tent somewhere in the middle of the desert.

André Sampaio & Os AfroMandinga - Desaguou (Brazil Deluxe)

Reggae fanatics will undoubtedly know André Sampaio as a guitarist and songwriter for Ponte De Equilibrio, Brazil's most famous reggae group.

Rajery - Tantsaha (Mitiki)

Supported only by guitar, bass and percussion, with 'Tantsaha' ("farmers"), Rajery, the master of the Malagasy valiha or tubular harp, delivers an intimate album rooted in the rich oral tradition of Madagascar.

Various Artists - Get Up! Stand Up! Highlights From The Human Rights Concerts 1986 - 1998 (Eagle Rock Entertainment)

With artists like Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, U2 and Sting, 'Get Up! Stand Up! Highlights From The Human Rights Concerts 1986 - 1998', a retrospective double album on the Amnesty International benefit concerts, isn't really about world music (though you will find a few nice tracks by Third World, Ruben Blades and Youssou N'Dour in the track list), but looking at the inspiration for the music on these two discs, shouldn't "music for a better world" equal world music? For the thirtysomethings among you this compilation offers a nostalgic look back at the music scene of the nineteen eighties (and to a lesser extent that of the nineteen nineties).

Khalilah Rose - Zion’s Lullaby (Self-published)

With Portland based Khalilah Rose the Jamaican reggae scene gained another strong female voice.

Vibes - Reminisce (Bristol Archive Records)

After the break-up of Cool Runnings, Winston Minott met Popsy Curious during a short collaboration with Black Flames.

Oku Onuora - A Movement (Music Art Network)

'A Movement', Oku Onuora's first album in almost a decade, should be considered one of the big surprises of 2013! Onuora turned his back on the music business in the nineteen nineties, supposedly because it involved too much negativism.

Yasus Afari - Public Secret (Fox Fuse)

In many ways 'Public Secret' is the logical sequel to Yasus Afari's 2012 'Ancient Future' album.

Various Artists - Shoc Wave: A Bristol Story (Bristol Archive Records)

A lot of the music used for the (re-) releases of Bristol Archive Records comes from the catalog of Shoc Wave Records.

General Paolino featuring Mama Celina - South Sudan Street Survivors (Independent Records Ltd)

In his native South Sudan, where during the years of civil war, his songs provided a source of inspiration and solace for the South Sudanese people, blind musician General Paolino enjoys an almost legendary status.

Various Artists - Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & '80s (Soundway Records)

Amateurs of the better African music can rejoice, because as a successor to their dazzling series of Nigeria and Ghana specials, with which Soundway Records focused on West-African afrobeat and highlife, the label now launches 'Kenya Special', a compilation containing Congolese, Tanzanian and Kenyan gems.

Jah Thomas - Stop Yu Loafin (Greensleeves/VP Records)

Recorded at Channel One for the brothers Hookim, 1978's 'Stop Yu Loafin' was Jah Tomas' debut album.

Jahcoustix - Frequency (Irievibrations Records)

It had been since his 2006 debut that we received an album of German Jahcoustix in our mailbox.

Congo Natty - Jungle Revolution (Big Dada)

Who remembers Rebel MC? With his poppy mix of dance, jungle and reggae, the Londoner, born Michael West, scored a few hits in the early nineteen nineties.

Lord Mouse And The Kalypso Katz - Go Calypsonian (Piranha)

That a calypso revival is clearly in the making is proven by the fact just a few weeks after the release of Kobo Town on the Cumbancha label, German Piranha is now also going Caribbean with Lord Mouse And The Kalypso Katz' 'Go Calypsonian'.

Janet Lee Davis - Missing You (Reggae Archive Records)

Lovers rock amateurs can rejoice, as with the reissue of this 1994 Janet Lee Davis classic, Reggae Archive Records signs for the lovers rock re-release of the year! The label also added 10 bonus tracks to the original track list, making this deluxe edition of 'Missing You' a true collector's item.

Various Artists - Fashion In Fine Style: Significant Hits Volume 2 (Reggae Archive Records)

Trying to sum up Fashion Records' history on one disc would do the label a disservice so with this second volume Reggae Archive Records adds a nice sequel to the acclaimed 'Fashion In Fine Style: Significant Hits Volume 1'.

Various Artists - The Bristol Reggae Explosion Live! (Bristol Archive Records)

The title of 'The Bristol Reggae Explosion Live!' might be a tad misleading, because, apart from some older Talisman recordings, this Bristol Archive Records compilation does not contain any live tracks.

Oana Catalina Chitu - Divine (Asphalt Tango Records)

For her debut album 'Bucharest Tango', Oana Catalina Chitu already explored the work of Maria Tanase for a first time, but as the singer would have celebrated her hundredth birthday this year, 'Divine' was entirely conceived as an ode to the Romanian Edith Piaf.

Alpha Blondy - Mystic Power (Wagram)

'Mystic Power' has a somewhat difficult start as the first two tracks on this new album of African reggae hero Alpha Blondy ('Hope', an awful duet with Beenie Man and 'My American Dream' that tells of the traumatic end of Alpha's stay in the United States), are enough to make one squirm.