Monsieur Doumani - Grippy Grappa + Sikoses (Self-published)

Musically speaking, yours truly mostly knew Cyprus as the island invariably given the maximum score at the annual Eurovision Song Contest by big brother Greece.

Micah Shemaiah - Original Dread (Descendant Music)

Ignoring 2009's 'Rastaman Meditation', a totally different sounding album he published as Shemaiah, 'Original Dread' is Micah Shemaiah's first full-fledged long player.

City Kay - Daystar (Remove Ya Sound/Musicast Distribution)

Strangely enough it took us three albums to discover City Kay, a London based outfit whose latest effort 'Daystar' is more than convincing.

Teddy Dan - Message From Ethiopia (Jah Works Records)

Teddy Dan was born in Trelawny, Jamaica, but spent most of his life in the United Kingdom and at the beginning of this century migrated to the rasta-enclave Shashamane in Ethiopia.

Nativix - Cultive O Verde (Self-published)

Nativix is the joint project of producer Andrea Piccolo and vocalist Fabricio Biasutti, a Brazilian duo fusing reggae and dub with influences from Brazilian music.

Various Artists - Be Upful & Right (Fox Fuse)

The fact music-wise Trinidad produces more than soca and calypso, we already knew thanks to artists like Queen Omega, Marlon Asher and Jamelody, but apparently the Land of the Hummingbird has a lot more reggae on offer.

Jah Cure - The Cure (VP Records)

'The Cure' hails the return of Jah Cure to VP Records.

Kuku - Ballads & Blasphemy, The Areligious Gospel Of Adebola Kuku (Buda Musique/Socadisc)

Yours truly got to know Nigerian singer-songwriter Kuku thanks to 'Buy Africa', a duet with Baloji on the 'Red Hot + Fela' compilation, and on 'Film Of Life', the most recent long player by Tony Allen, he also made an appearance.

Mathieu Ruben - Crazy (Keyzit/Strategy Record)

'Crazy' is the second studio album (counting only eight tracks rather making it an EP) by Parisian singjay Mathieu Ruben.

Tanto Metro & Devonte - Sly & Robbie present Tanto Metro & Devonte (Taxi/Zojak Worldwide)

Almost 10 years after the release of 'Musically Inclined'Jamaican duo Mark Wolfe and Wayne Passley aka Tanto Metro & Devonte return in style with this album for which they called on legendary riddim twins Sly & Robbie.

The Meow Meows - Friends On Benefits EP (Jump Up! Records)

Just as for their 2013 'Somehow We Met' album, The Meow Meows once again called on producer Prince Fatty for this 'Friends On Benefits' EP.

Treesha - Listen (Undisputed Records)

Even though Treesha's name might not ring a bell yet, chances are you will already have seen this German-Kenyan singer on stage, as after Mamadee's departure, Treesha (real name Patricia Wambui Mwaura) stepped in as one of Gentleman's backing vocalists.

Bobby Hustle - It's The Hustle (Self-published)

'It's The Hustle' is the long player debut of Robert Spenser aka Bobby Hustle, a singjay from Seattle and, even though Italian Bizzarri Records and German Royal Order Music also each signed for a track, the production of the album was largely in the hands of fellow Seattleites Dan Grossman and Michael Gore (Loud City Productions).

Solo & Indré - Solo & Indré (One Root Music)

The past few years, the West-African kora was already paired with the cello (Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal's 'Chamber Music') and the harp (Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita's 'Clychau Dibon'), and with this self-titled album Senegalese-Lithuanian duo Solo Cissokho and Indré Jurgelevičiūtė prove the West African harp also be combined with the kanklès, a Lithuanian zither.

Dubbest - Light Flash (Self-published)

Dubbest has been a household name in Boston ever since 2009 and unites the five school pals Andrew MacKenzie (guitar), Ryan Thaxter (melodica/vocals), Sean Caffrey (bass), Cory Mahoney (guitar) and Kyle Hancock (drums).

Various Artists - Sulle Rive Del Tango: Aniversario (Agualoca Records)

Sulle Rive Del Tango started in 2005 as the initiative of a number of like-minded souls in Naples, first by organizing events and later followed by releasing compilations of their favorite tracks and artists, wanting to pay tribute to the tango genre.

Tu Shung Peng - Wise Stories From Vineyard Town (Arka Productions/Musicast Distribution)

When the Makasound label filed for bankruptcy in 2011, Tu Shung Peng was among the bands that had to go in search of a new distributor.

Various Artists - Bunny 'Striker' Lee & Friends: Next Cut! (Pressure Sounds)

The heat and humidity make Jamaica far from the ideal location to preserve music archives, but despite a long list of setbacks, going from a termite infestation over inundations to even two fires, a great deal of Bunny Lee's musical treasure trove miraculously stood the test of time.

Danakil - Entre Les Lignes Dub (Baco Records)

For this dub version of last year's 'Entre Les Lignes' Danakil once more joined forces with producer Manjul (also responsible for 2012's 'Echos Du Dub').

Lutan Fyah - More Blessings EP (PayDayMusic Productions)

'More Blessings' is the fruit of a longstanding friendship and working relationship between singjay Lutan Fyah and PayDayMusic Productions producer Austin 'Kevin' Green.