Coco Malabar - Tabla Rasa (A3 Production)
In the nineteen nineties, Brussels based Congolese singer-songwriter Coco Malabar was still a popular face in the Belgian world music scene, but the last few years he seemed to have disappeared. Until now, that is, because with 'Tabla Rasa' Coco is starting with a clean slate!
Les Tambours De Brazza - Kongo (Buda Musique)
Jean-Emile Biayenda has been leading the Congolese percussion orchestra Les Tambours De Brazza, known for the use of their large wooden ngoma drums, ever since its inception in 1991. It had already been five years since we last heard from the band, and for 'Kongo' not only some lineup changes were made, but the vocal parts in the music of Les Tambours came a lot more to the forefront as well.
Reggae Workers Of The World - R.W.W. II (Badasonic Records)
Reggae Workers Of The World or R.W.W. is a collaboration between Slackers keyboard player Vic Ruggiero, Aggrolites vocalist/guitarist Jesse Wagner and Badasonics multi-instrumentalist Nico Leonard.
Kabaka Pyramid - Kontraband (Bebble Rock Music/Ghetto Youths International)
Just as Chronixx's debut album 'Chronology' took quite some time to manifest, Kabaka Pyramid's fans also had to be patient before this 'Kontraband' finally saw the light of day.
Toure Kunda - Lambi Golo (Soulbeats Records)
After a hiatus of ten years, legendary Senegalese duo Toure Kunda makes its comeback with 'Lambi Golo'.
Tetrack - Let's Get Started + Augustus Pablo - Eastman Dub (Greensleeves)
'Let's Get Started' was Tetrack's Augustus Pablo produced long-player debut.
Samba Toure - Wande (Glitterbeat Records)
When Malian singer and master guitarist Samba Toure started working on 'Wande', he had a clear vision of where he wanted to end up with this album, but once the recording sessions were over, little remained of those initial plans.
Alborosie meets The Wailers United - Unbreakable (Greensleeves)
For 'Unbreakable', with which the Shengen Don puts his twenty-five-year reggae career in the spotlight, Alborosie joined forces with The Wailers.
Fatoumata Diawara - Fenfo (Montuno/Wagram)
Since 'Fatou', her solo debut from 2011, Fatoumata Diawara has been working on just about anything but a new solo album.
Omar Perry - New Dawn (Khanti Records/Pias)
It had already been since the 'Be Cool' EP, his 2015 collaboration with Sly & Robbie, that we'd heard something from Omar Perry. 'Be Cool' was only released digitally, and Omar's 20111 'The Journey' album had also failed to cause much of a stir. That's probably why in France, where Perry still enjoys great popularity, as far as this 'New Dawn' is concerned, there's even talk of a comeback album.
Brain Holidays - System Error + System Error Remix Side (Dallas Records)
Brain Holidays is a nine-piece formation founded in Zagreb in 2000, with 'System Error', released in 2017, already presenting its third long player.
Med Dred - Dred Reggae EP (Dub-O-Phonic)
This six-track 'Dred Reggae' EP is a re-release of the 2013 debut EP by Cypriot (dub-) producer Med Dred, a name that also featured on 'XXVIII', Haji Mike's new album.
Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba - Routes (Twelve Eight Records)
'Routes' is the most prestigious project US-based Senegalese kora player Diali Cissokho has set up to date.
Skaparapid - Revolta (Maldito Records)
Skaparapid is a Spanish ska-punk formation founded in 1993 at the Kasal Popular, the headquarters of the Valencian squatters' movement Movimiento Okupa , who, with their anti-militaristic and anti-fascist repertoire and the combination of the male and female voices of Josep, Dani and Carmen, mainly enjoyed popularity in Spain and Latin America.
Vanupié - Gold (Come On Tour/Musicast Distribution)
Vanupié is a French singer-songwriter who was born in Annecy, but grew up in Gif-sur-Yvette between Essonne and Paris. As the son of a guitar playing father, he caught the music virus at an early age and in 2006 Vanupié - a corruption of "va-nu-pieds", a nickname the singer earned for often playing barefoot - started his musical career as a street musician in the Paris Métro, drawing on a repertoire of reggae, soul, pop and electro and resolutely choosing English as his language of choice.
Ras Mc Bean & Soulcraft - Reggae On A Mission (Ammonite Records)
In 2016 we got to know Serbian band Soulcraft as the backing band of vocalist/trombonist Hornsman Coyote. That collaboration seems to have come to an end, so for 'Reggae On A Mission' the Serbs joined forces with Guyanese vocalist Ras Mc Bean.
Bombino - Deran (Partisan Records/V2)
For 2016's 'Azel', Nigerien Toeareg and guitar virtuoso Bombino still took to Woodstock in the US, but for 'Deran he decided to return to the African continent, traveling to Casablanca where he recorded at a studio owned by Mohammed VI, the current king of Morocco.
Koum Tara - Koum Tara (Odradek Records)
Koum Tara is a project around the French composer, arranger and pianist Karim Maurice in which chaabi, classical strings and jazz find each other effortlessly.
Yoha And The Dragon Tribe - Mad World EP (Self-published)
Yoha And The Dragon Tribe is a ten-piece formation from Macon and Dijon around brother and sister Sofiana 'Yoha' Bichet and Anissa Bichet who, according to their own words, are just as much influenced by soul, blues, classical music and Indian influences as they are by reggae.
Banana Zvuk - Split Banana EP (Superfly Studio)
Banana Zvuk are Luka Barbic and Ivan Jurić, a DJ/producer duo from Split in Croatia. Both were already active as hip-hop MCs with local bands like TBF and St!llness, but shared a passion for reggae. 'Split Banana' is the duo's 7-track debut EP, for which they collaborated with a variety of vocalists, ranging from Tenor Fly over The Ragga Twins to Skarra Mucci, Rafael, Blackout JA and Lutan Fyah.