Milton Nascimento - Sentinela 1980

This is a reissue of the original 1980 release, the first for Polygram after Milton Nascimento had left EMI. The album had the fundamental support of the melodic percussion of the Minas Gerais group Uakti, along with the usual robust orchestrations. Nascimento had a hit with "Canção da América," but several songs must be mentioned for their strong melodic qualities, like the folklore-tinged "Peixinhos do Mar," "Sueño Con Serpientes" (with Mercedes Sosa), Villa-Lobos' "Cantiga," and "Sentinela" (with singer Nana Caymmi showcasing her strong, personal voice timbre similar to Nascimento's, which serves wonderfully to convey the idea of religious devotion). AMG.

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Térez Montcalm - Here's To You 2011

Térez Montcalm is a Canadian jazz singer and guitarist who broke through to international success in 2007. Born in Quebec, Canada, she grew up bilingually in a family where French and English were spoken interchangeably and where music was important. Her father, a native English speaker originally from Toronto, was a jazz fan who enjoyedElla Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Nat King Cole. The youngest of five children, she had brothers who were into Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa as well as sisters who were into the Beatles and Edith Piaf. In addition to these influences, Montcalm had favorites of her own, above all Eurythmics lead singer Annie Lennox. Exhibiting an extraordinarily strong voice from an early age, she attended music school as a teenager and ultimately made her full-length recording debut in 1994 with the album Risque on BMG. Sung primarily in French and comprised of original material as well as covers of Charles Aznavour, Tom Waits, and others, Risque was well received from a critical standpoint, and in the wake of its release, Montcalm was awarded a Prix Rapsat-Lelièvre in 1995. She released her follow-up album, Parle Pas Si Fort, on Universal in 1997 and subsequently retreated from the marketplace for a while, not releasing her third album, Térez Montcalm, until five years later in 2002. Montcalm changed direction on her fourth album, Voodoo, which arrived in 2006. Comprised almost entirely of cover songs, many of them well known (e.g., Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams"), and sung primarily in English rather than French, Voodoo was produced by former Uzeb jazz-rock guitarist Michel Cusson and released on the Universal subsidiary label GSI Musique. A year after its release, Voodoo broke into the French albums chart and remained there for a total of 30 weeks, going all the way to number 43. AMG.

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Ry Cooder - Election Special 2012

The risk in writing political songs, especially about specific issues and historical periods, is that over time, those that are run of the mill become dated. Not everyone can write timeless tunes like Woody Guthrie,Sam Cooke, John Lennon, and Bob Marley. Given the content of Election Special, Ry Cooder knew the risks going in and welcomed them. Using American traditional musics -- raw blues, folk, and roots rock -- Cooder's songs express what he considers to be, as both an artist and a pissed-off citizen, the high-stakes historical gamble of the 2012 presidential and congressional contest. He wrote and recorded this album as a witness to the era. Other than drums (played by his son Joachim) and some backing vocals, Cooderplays everything here. He uses foreboding acoustic blues in "Mutt Romney Blues" (written from the point of view of the candidate Mitt Romney's dog). The more poignant "Brother Is Gone" is at first blush a seemingly heart-wrenching folk tale fueled by Cooder's mandolin. Yet it slowly and purposely relates a deal-with-the-devil fantasy about conservatives Charles and David Koch. It's among the finest songs he's written. But Cooder rocks up his anger too: "Guantanamo" is a raucous barroom strut. "Cold Cold Feeling" is a deep, slow garage blues that's chilling in its effectiveness. His screed is a link in a chain of political blues tunes that date back to the Delta. "Going to Tampa" is a cut-time string band country tune. It's a farce about the 2012 Republican National Convention as hijacked by the Tea Party. He accuses both of outright racism and social engineering, with scathing humor. The album's finest cut is the dark, Delta-style electric blues of "Kool-Aid," which recalls Junior Kimbrough musically. Guthrie's own spirit is evoked in the antiwar narrative "The 90 and the 9," with its singalong choruses. Election Special closes with a scorching, rocking blues entitled "Take Your Hands Off It." It's a militant anthem that demands that the Constitution and Bill of Rights be returned to their rightful place at the heart of mainstream American life. Sure enough, because of its soapbox style, Election Special is the most overtly political album of Cooder's career. As such, it serves two purposes: one is that it is the most organic record he's issued in almost two decades; and, more importantly, it restores topical protest music to a bona fide place in American cultural life. AMG.

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Les Étoiles du Zaire - Hommage à Emoro 1999

Pépé Kallé and Emoro, Nyboma and Bopol. Names we all love to hear when browsing the web. It means we have found us another piece of the big puzzle. This album on Syllart does not complete our Pépé Kallé sequence but we're getting a bit
closer with every lp. Once more, kick aside your furniture, volumes up and let go, you're well on your way to loose a few pounds, grab that chance.. Thanks to globalgroovers.blogspot.pt

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Public Image Ltd - This Is PiL 2012

Enabled by the expiration of obstructive contracts and a little income from an appearance in a butter ad,John Lydon revived PiL in 2009. Consisting of alums Bruce Smith (1986-1990) and Lu Edmonds (1986-1988), along with bassist Scott Firth, Lydon's band toured steadily from December 2009 through 2011 and released this, its first album since 1992's That What Is Not, in 2012. Those later set lists -- one of which was documented on ALiFE 2009 -- leaned heavily toward PiL's first two albums. Playing that material seems to have affected the sound of This Is PiL, though it is no attempt at replication. It's more like a stylistic evolution -- one that's easier on the average set of ears than the droning dread of the first album's "Theme" or the mangled dub of Metal Box's "Poptones." Firth's liquid throb replaces Jah Wobble's rumbling and penetrating basslines. Edmonds' flexible guitar style carries significantly less violence than Keith Levene's caustic slashing. Smith's rhythms are more intricate and musical than PiL's early thud-discoid "drummer by committee" approach. Lydon, sharp and direct as ever, shows occasional signs of softening, as heard in a handful of wistful lines laced through otherwise forceful songs like "One Drop" and "Human" ("I miss those roses, those English roses"). However, he sticks to his seething wordplay with far greater frequency. This is exemplified by the standout "Terra-Gate," a vivid rant with as much intensity as Metal Box's "Chant" ("Take what you make, what you hate, integrate, into hate, it's too late," etc.). It's one of the PiL's best albums. Just as important, it has as much attitude -- if somewhat tempered and pointed in some new directions -- as anything else Lydon has recorded. And it begins with a belch and ends with a wail. AMG.

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Method of Defiance - Nihon 2009

Though touching on the realm of drum and bass in the 1990s with his Oscillations releases and the compilation Tetragramaton: Submerged - conceived along with Soares - the last few years have seen Laswell step up his work in this area with Soares as a collaborator in concept/A&R for drum & bass artist development. Starting with Brutal Calling, a hard drum 'n' bass release with Ohm Resistance label owner Submerged (Kurt Gluck), a series of releases and live dates have cropped up. Laswell’s new project in this vein is Method of Defiance (the actual Method of Defiance name and the original idea of a futurist, cyborg drum 'n' bass driven group consisting of laptops breakbeat artists, electric instrumentalists and trumpeter Graham Haynes was conceived by Soares). The first release focused on the core of Laswell and Submerged once again, entitled 'The only way to go is down', featuring photos of Soares, with contributions from Toshinori Kondo and drummer Guy Licata. The second release under the moniker, though, was more of a compilation style project, though still focusing on drum 'n' bass. Inamorata stretched the concept out, pairing Laswell’s bass with a different combination of respected jazz and world musicians and drum 'n' bass producers linked to Soares on each track. Artists including Herbie Hancock, John Zorn, Pharoah Sanders, Nils Petter Molvaer, Toshinori Kondo and Buckethead were paired with drum 'n' bass producers including AMIT, Paradox, Submerged, Future Prophecies, Karsh Kale, Evol Intent, SPL, Outrage, Fanu, and Corrupt Souls. To that end, Laswell’s last collaboration with Soares was a full-on recording with Finnish drum 'n' bass maestro Fanu on Ohm Resistance and Karl Records, entitled Lodge, which includes contributions from Molvaer and Bernie Worrell amongst others. After collaborating with Laswell for 15 years, Soares left the crew in 2008. The concept of the group has once again morphed into a full band concept. In 2009, Rare Noise Records released Live in Nihon, which showcased this new direction/grouping. The group now consisted of Laswell, Guy Licata, Dr. Israel, Toshinori Kondo and Bernie Worrell.
Along with frequent live dates around the world with Method of Defiance, Material, Painkiller and the reformed in the late ‘90s Massacre (with This Heat's Charles Hayward now in the drum chair) Laswell still makes numerous trips to Japan each year for various recordings and live dates, including his ongoing Tokyo Rotation[10] mini-festivals at the Shinjuku Pit-Inn, which is now a yearly occurrence. In addition to Tokyo Rotation being an actual mini-festival, the moniker has been used as a sort of umbrella to include general operations revolving around activities in Japan, as witnessed by the usage of Tokyo Rotation Presents in relation to the website's announcement of other gigs outside the Pit Inn shows as well being noted on Method of Defiance's release Nihon..."

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Ludovico Einaudi and Ballaké Sissoko - Diario Mali 2003

Fans of Maurice Jarre, who composed the soundtrack for Doctor Zhivago (1965), must have greeted the 2003 TV remake of the popular film with skepticism. How could anyone, regardless of the new version's quality, match Jarre's haunting score, particularly "Lara's Theme," an unforgettable musical creation? The artist who rose to the challenge is Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi, whose works include chamber and orchestral compositions, music for the stage, film soundtracks, as well as a variety of multimedia works. While Einaudi's music is difficult to describe, owing to the composer's ability to create a sonic world that defies categorization, commentators have praised the engaging, atmospheric quality of his music, a quality particularly evident in compositions that capture evanescent modds and fugitive experiences. Born in Turin, Italy, Einaudi received a degree in composition from Conservatotio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, and subsequently studied with Luciano Berio. Immediately attracting international attention, Einaudi's music was performed at many distinguished venues, including the Teatro alla Scala, the Tanglewood Festival, Lincoln Center, and the UCLA Center for Performing Arts. During the 1980s,Einaudi expanded his compositional idiom, incorporating elements of popular music and art. In 1988, working with Andrea de Carlo, a well-known Italian writer, Einaudi created Time Out, a multimedia work that the ISO Dance Theatre performed in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Among Einaudi's subsequent multimedia works is the critically acclaimed Salgari, a collaborative project that included de Carlo, choreographer Daniel Ezralow, and artist Jerome Sirlin. Despite his success as a multimedia artist,Einaudi has continued cultivating more intimate forms, as exemplified by Le Onde (The Waves) (1996), a cycle of meditations for piano on life and the universe that was inspired by various literary texts, including Virginia Woolf's novel The Waves. AMG.

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The Zawinul Syndicate - Lost Tribes 1992

Now reduced in size to a quintet (dropping the extra percussionist), Zawinul's Syndicate delivers its most overtly political album -- or shall we say, its most anti-political album with its forget-our-differences, one-world tone poems. If Lost Tribes sounds more like a Weather Report album than its Syndicate predecessors, it may be because the CD is loaded with Zawinul's uncanny impersonations of Wayne Shorter on his Pepe synthesizer. Yet the album also cuts down on the pop and straight jazz strains of yore as it explores the sounds and grooves of world music, and Zawinul also resumes using introductory sound collages that produce effects not unlike twisting a short-wave radio dial. The record begins powerfully with the circulating, tense "Patriots" -- depicting, oddly enough, the role of black soldiers in the Persian Gulf War -- and segues into the relaxed, swinging "South Africa," a celebratory sequel to "Black Water" with vocals by Perri. Bass player Gerald Veasley contributes a track called "San Sebastian" which comes very close to pure flamenco. This CD ranks above the other Syndicate Columbias because it is emotionally deeper; Zawinul allows himself to brood and ponder as well as party. AMG. 

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Femi Kuti - Shoki Shoki 1999

Now that he's assumed the mantle of Afro-Beat superstardom from his father, Femi Kuti seems much more assured on his third album, Shoki Shoki. Femi is just as focused on political and social situations asFela Kuti, as displayed on several tracks here ("Blackman Know Yourself," "What Will Tomorrow Bring," "Victim of Life," "Look Around"). Also like his father, he never lets the lyrically conscious material get in the way of pushing irresistible grooves. From the openers "Truth Don Die" and "Beng Beng Beng" -- both of which were passed off to dance remixers including Masters at Work and Black Science Orchestra -- to later tracks like "Sorry Sorry," Femi is a strict bandleader who knows how to get the most out of his charges. In fact, the only real stylistic difference between father and son is the fact that songs by Femiare shorter and poppier than those by Fela. AMG.

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Ellen McIlwaine - Spontaneous Combustion 2000

Rarely has an album title so captured the essence of a performer. Ever restless and eager to expand her musical horizons, this fiery slide guitar star burns with an unquenchable inner flame, which crackles on the electrifying title track. "Mockingbird," one of two duets with Taj Mahal, gets an expected reggae treatment to open, but McIlwaine also raises the roof with some wild Middle Eastern sounds on "Sidu (Grandmother)" and the album-closing "Egyptian Blues (True Mummy Theme)." This, her second straight release on the same German label, is a strong and versatile effort that is well worth a search. AMG.

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Bojan Z - Xenophonia 2006

b. Bojan Zulfikarpasic, 2 February 1968, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Playing piano from early childhood, Zulfikarpasic chose jazz as his genre although he is accomplished in classical music, having studied classical bass playing. He has also played Fender Rhodes since 1981, and earlier played drums in a rock band. At the age of 11 he studied English in the UK and moved to France at 20 where he soon attracted attention with his rich and eclectic repertoire, he has absorbed folk music of eastern Europe, as well as through his commanding performing style. He played in Paris with Trash Corporation, and also as sideman with Nguyên Lê, Julien Lourau, Michel Portal and Henri Texier. Among other musicians with whom Zulfikarpasic has worked and sometimes recorded are guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski, bass players Scott Colley, Steve Swallow and Rémi Vignolo and drummers Joey Baron, Nasheet Waits, Ben Perowsky and Ari Hoenig. Among pianists for whom Zulfikarpasic has declared his admiration are jazzmen Duke Ellington, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly and McCoy Tyner, and also the classicist Alfred Brendel.

Zulfikarpasic composes some of the themes he performs and ably displays his virtuoso technique with taste and discretion. In 1990 he won first prize at the Concours de La Défense as soloist and 12 years later was honoured with the title Chevalier Des Arts Et Des Lettres. In 2006 he became European Jazz Artist Of The Year and in that same year toured internationally, especially finding success in Japan and south-east Asia. He has also played several times at the Sarajevo Jazz Festival. AMG.

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Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks - Tangled Tales 2009

Dan Hicks has hardly changed a thing in the four decades since the first Dan Hicks & His Hot Licksrecord and, in this case, that's a good thing. Why mess with perfection? In the late '60s, after exiting San Francisco's infamous psychedelic folk-rock pioneers the Charlatans, Hicks took bits from Western swing and the regular kind, jug band music, traditional folk, bluegrass, cowboy tunes, Gypsy jazz, and even a bit of bossa nova, added female call-and-response vocals and a healthy dose of droll sarcasm and hipster humor, put it all together in impeccably written tunes and virtuosic playing, and somehow sold this unlikely package to audiences that otherwise preferred rock & roll. He's dropped the Hot Licks at times to perform solo and in other configurations, then after the turn of the century decided to return to that formula with an all new Hot Licks. The latest result is Tangled Tales, an album that could easily have been released alongside those early gems like Where's the Money? and Original Recordings instead of in 2009. Hicks' distinctly original vocal style is absolutely unchanged from back in the day, and the arrangements of the chosen tunes are in line with what he's always done. Five of these songs appeared in different versions on his 1994 album Shootin' Straight with his short-lived group the Acoustic Warriors, but here they are recast as classic Hot Licks numbers. In addition to the original Hicks compositions, the album offers a handful of intriguing covers, including a spirited take on Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and Hicks' interpretation of Horace Silver's "Song for My Father," with lyrics added to the instrumental melody by singer Leon Thomas in the '70s. For the occasion, Hicks invited several diverse guest artists to augment the current band, among them mandolinist David Grisman, harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite, violinist Richard Greene, and blues guitarist Roy Rogers. That they all blend seamlessly into the Hicks template is a tribute to Hicks' impact in a genre that is truly his and his alone. AMG.

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