Prince Allah - Stand Firm EP (Sunvibes Music)
Sunvibes Music, the label that in 2017 presented 'Time Has Come', a new album by Sylford Walker, is now releasing 'Stand Firm', an excellent showcase EP by Prince Alla (spelled Allah here).
Stick Figure - World On Fire (Ruffwood Records)
Even though we've become quite familiar with the American reggae scene, this 'World On Fire', already Stick Figure's seventh album, is our first introduction to this singer-songwriter from Duxbury in Massachusetts, who has been operating from San Diego in California for a long time now, and is extremely popular in his own country.
Jah Cure - Royal Soldier (VP Records)
Just five years after he returned to VP Records with 'The Cure' and with his insults to sound system selectors and deejays and accompanying bragging about his lush lifestyle still fresh in our minds, Siccature Alcock aka Jah Cure still seams ignorant to the meaning of the term modesty.
Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata: Definitive Remastered Edition (Strut Records)
Some albums are so iconic that they need little introduction. Take 'Pata Pata' for example, the international breakthrough album of Mama Africa Miriam Makeba, originally released in 1966 on the American Reprise Records label, for which she was assisted by Harry Bellafonte, and which over the years has been re-released numerous times.
Bibi Ahmed - Adghah (Sounds Of Subterrania)
Nigerian Tuareg guitarist/vocalist Bibi Ahmed is mainly known as the front man of Group Inerane, but for 'Adghah', Gregor Samsa, founder of the German Sounds Of Subterrania label, managed to convince the man to record his first solo effort.
Oum - Daba (MDC/Lof Music)
Yours truly got to know Moroccan revelation Oum, born Oum el Ghaït Benessahraoui, in 2015 thanks to 'Zarabi', her second album. On successor 'Daba', the singer proves she has clearly matured and takes her mix of Arab and Berber influences with elements from soul and jazz to the next level.
Azmari - Ekera EP (Sdban Records/N.E.W.S.)
With their fellow townsmen of Azmari - Amharic for an Ethiopian singer or musician similar to a European bard or a West African griot - the Brussels based band Black Flower have gained a musical sibling!
Inna Vision - Best Yet: Celebrating A Decade Of Vision (Roots Musician Records)
Inna Vision has been in the business for ten years and is celebrating that anniversary with 'Best Yet: Celebrating A Decade Of Vision', a compilation album containing 15 of his greatest hits.
Steel Pulse - Mass Manipulation (Rootfire Cooperative/Wiseman Doctrine)
Fifteen years after their last album, 2004's excellent 'African Holocaust', Steel Pulse finally returned to the studio for 'Mass Manipulation'.
Iyahshine - Unforgettable EP (Reality Shock Records)
With this 6 track 'Unforgettable' EP, Krist Kemist of British label Reality Shock Records provides up-and-coming Jamaican talent Damon Palmer aka Iyashine with a first calling card.
RADIO77 - Future Bass Wave (Echo Beach)
RADIO77 is the brainchild of New York veteran DJ Joey Radio, who, with this project, for which he collaborated with, among others, Dubmatix, successfully attempted to mix dub with new wave influences.
Najavibes - Same Sun (Fruits Records)
Swiss band Najavibes may have been active for over twenty years, but because during that time they were mainly active as a backing band for veterans like Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Cedric 'Congo' Myton, B.B. 'Gaylads' Seaton or Prince Alla, this 'Same Sun' is only their second album to date, released just less than ten years after 2011 debut effort 'Musical Road'.
Max'1 And The Rootsmaker - Nah Give Up EP (Self-published)
With this 6 track 'Nah Give Up', Lille in the north of France based Max'1 And The Rootsmaker presents a first EP.
Nazamba - Nazamba (Dubquake Records)
It seems that for a good portion of dub-poetry you have to be in Switzerland these days. Earlier this year, Fruits Records already presented the excellent 'I've Seen', a new album by Jamaican veteran Oku Onuora, and now Dubquake Records, the label of French producers O.B.F., which also has roots in Geneva, Switzerland, is releasing this self-titled debut by George Scott aka Nazamba, an up-and-coming talent from Clarendon in Jamaica.
Ras Teo meets Lone Ark - Ten Thousand Lions (A-Lone Productions/Rebel Sound Records)
Ras Teo is a reggae artist from Los Angeles who grew up in Sweden. Over the years he's collaborated with heavyweights from the scene like Yami Bolo, Pablo Gad, Sizzla, Prince Alla and Fred Locks. For 'Ten Thousand Lions' Teo joined forces with Spanish producer and multi-instrumentalist Roberto Sanchez for a magnum opus consisting of twelve vocal cuts and as many dubs.
Danças Ocultas - Dentro Desse Mar (Galileo Music Communication)
Portuguese accordion quartet Danças Ocultas is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year and that's the sort of occasion making musicians want to broaden their horizons.
Bobby Hustle - Wolaba Vibes: The Costa Rica Sessions EP (Costa Rebel Studio)
Yours truly got to know Seattle based artist Bobby Hustle thanks to his 2015 'It's The Hustle' album. During a short promotional tour for that album in Costa Rica in 2016, the day after a performance in Puerto Viejo, Bobby was stopped by the local police who subsequently found a considerable amount of marijuana in the singer's car and promptly arrested Hustle.
Gili Yalo - Made In Amharica EP (Dead Sea Recordings)
After the success of his self-titled debut album released last year, for this 'Made In Amharica' EP Gili Yalo joined forces with Niles City Sound, an American production team consisting of Josh Black, Austin Jenkins and Chris Vivion.
Yabby You meets King Tubby - Walls Of Jerusalem (Pressure Sounds)
With 'Walls Of Jerusalem', the Pressure Sounds label revives one of the classics from the catalogue of Vivian Jackson aka Yabby You. Although in this case, revives is probably an understatement, as this album has a long history.
The Skints - Swimming Lessons (Easy Star Records/Mr Bongo)
With a wonderfully naive title like 'Swimming Lessons' it might seem as if The Skints wanted to surprise us with a breezy summer album, and the track list certainly leaves room for lighter subjects, but the British band wouldn't be themselves if their songs weren't full of razor-sharp social critique either.