Irresistible kora-led Manding melodies, surging and hypnotic; original songs rooted in the musical traditions of Senegal and Mali.

Gaitas music, for flutes and alegre, llamador and tambora drums.

Festive folk music from the country’s Caribbean region, with four basic forms — the son, paseo, merengue and puya — played with three traditional instruments: the caja vallenata drum, wooden guacharaca scraper, and three-line, German-style button accordion. Here are some of its most celebrated performers, including Francisco ‘Pacho’ Rada, Nicolas ‘Colacho’ Mendoza and Victor Camarillo.

Nine killer selections from his first four LPs, stuffed with smash hits. Proper salsa; loads of trombone. Featuring the brilliant, legendary singer Hector Lavoe.
‘Crime Pays’ is Colon being ironic about the successful marketing of his archly bad-boy persona during this period.

Yeli singing, from northern Congo. Meandering, polyphonic counterpoint, with a sophisticated interlacing of sounds and motifs, and complex yodelling techniques.
‘When something grave occurs, when someone fall sick, when the hunt is bad, or when death strikes, it must be that the forest herself is asleep and unable to watch over her children… We have to wake her up. And we do this with singing…’

Also sub-titled ‘Kinshasa/Brazzaville 1969-1982’.
‘These new sounds emerged at a time when the Congolese record industry – previously dominated by European major labels – was experiencing a period of decline due to rising production costs.The void was filled by dozens of entrepreneurs willing to take chances on smaller scale releases. It was the beginning of a golden age for Congolese independent record labels, and the best of them – Cover N°1, Mondenge, Editions Moninga, Super Contact – preserved the work of some of the region’s finest artists, while launching a generation of younger musicians into the spotlight.
‘Congo Funk! is the story of these sounds and labels, but also it is the story of two cities, separated by water but united by an indestructible groove. The fourteen songs on this album showcase the many facets of the Congolese capitals, and highlight the bands and artists, famous and obscure, who pushed Rumba to new heights and ultimately influenced the musical landscape of the entire continent and beyond.’

The lyra viol in heart-tugging, rug-cutting songs from the eastern Mediterranean, brilliantly performed by Stelios Petrakis.

Featuring vintage sides by Po Sein (one of the giants of early Burmese music and theatre), vocal and harp music from 1929, ‘modern songs with electric guitar’, and unique Burmese pop songs with piano.

Smoking mid-seventies Latin from Carlos Ruiz’ Ebirac label, headquartered back then in a bustling Puerto Rican community centre on the west side of the city.

Seventies Caribbean soul and funk — one ear tuned in to nearby Miami, with reggae and jazz in the mix too — from Frank Penn’s Freeport operation.

Farsi love songs, including a tribute to Norma Winstone, from the German-Iranian singer Cymin Samawatie.

Lullabies, carnival, work, wedding, shepherds’, bandits’ — music for singing, flutes, bagpipes, guimbards, fiddles and cymbalums.

Jarvis Cocker’s thrilled to bits — ‘Here, at last, is the the soundtrack to maybe THE underground film of all time in all its crazy daisy glory’. A mental cut & paste of Czech orchestras, folk, jazz and experimental sounds.