Ikhlas

We doubt you'd disagree, when we say that Betsayda Machado is quite literally the life of the party or Parrando, a traditional Venezuelan genre. In fact, she is widely considered "the voice of Venezuela." Hailing from the small town of El Clavo in the Barlovento province, Betsayda was practically raised by the local percussion and voice ensemble La Parranda El Clavo, whom she still plays with to this day.

"For nearly 30 years they've performed at town [...]

On July 20th, 1985, sometime 'round midnight, the late and legendary Pakistani vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and his party took to the stage at WOMAD Festival in Mersea Island, Essex and delivered a performance for the ages. Now, 34 years later, Real World Records (a record label founded by WOMAD and Peter Gabriel in 1989) has released the carefully restored and digitised original recordings to celebrate its very own 30th anniversary. And what a release this [...]

While somehow, if you think about it, 1971 doesn't seem that far back, we're sorry to break it to you, but we're talking almost 50 years ago. Yes, time keeps on ticking away, but luckily some things, including music, prevail. 1971 was the year enigmatic Brazilian vocal sensation Dila recorded her first and only album. That same year, shortly after the album was released, she allegedly died in a car crash and so, the woman behind that powerful voice remains a [...]

One year after his ethereal album "Don't Hold Onto the Clouds", Israeli songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, orchestra leader, digital mixologist, and filmmaker Ophir Kutiel, aka Kutiman, is back with a new five-track EP. Drawing from multiple musical points of reference, Kutiman embarks on another series of "intergalactic explorations of the lesser travelled spaces existing between all things funky, jazzy and psychedelic." 

"Lines From Different [...]

En route to their forthcoming third album "Catastrophic Life", our very own Jewish Monkeys are back in Germany for a short but sweet weekend layover and two live shows. 

Boasting a new look as well as their recently released current single "All the Great Things", ze boyz will take to the stage today, July 20th, at the 100% organic and possibly also quite kosher "Bio erleben" festival in the northern Bavarian city of Nuremberg. And, what's more, you will be able [...]

This summer, Ghent-based Belgian record label, soundsystem and digging collective Radio Martiko returns with a host of highly collectible 7” reissues that will make like-minded seekers of “global eclectic supersounds” go, oh yeah!

Our favourite release of the batch is a green 45rpm gem containing two rare stunners, one from the Indonesian island of Java and one from Morocco’s Casablanca. Both tracks were dug up by Radio Martiko’s Fred Kramer, who [...]

One could call this a timely meeting of Istanbul's avant-garde: "Prolific crate digger, sampling whiz and producer extraordinaire" Grup Ses joins forces with Cologne-based electric saz phenom Elektro Hafız for a mind-bending potpourri of styles. Recently released on Debora Ipekel's Zel Zele Records, "Varyete" is the title to their collaborative new full-length and a dazzling display of variety is just what the two deliver, "from deep Anatolian psychedelic [...]

Sitting in Istanbul on a sweltering Tuesday morning, we can't help wishing we were on a tropical island, lying in a hammock, sipping something cold, anything cold, before walking over to the clear blue ocean and simply diving in. This is pretty much the daydream we just had, when listening to the latest 12" release on Swiss imprint Rocafort Records. 

Presenting two sun-drenched tracks by Barcelona trio Kokoro Disco-San (aka Lalo López, Miguelito Superstar and [...]

Like many others out there, we are constantly on the lookout for extraordinary music from around the globe. And so, when we heard that "Istanbul's don of the clarinet" Cüneyt Sepetçi was returning to Berlin to play another show and read that he will be supported by "legendary Turkish crate digger" Çerikunda, we couldn't help but wonder: Who is this Çerikunda?

Hailing from Istanbul, Emir Özer graduated from the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts as a [...]

After more than a decade in the business, Paris/Berlin-based imprint InFiné rightfully describes itself as "a harbour for adventurous, resolutely independent" and dancefloor-oriented music of all styles. Just recently it released "Digital Kabar", an essential compilation of electronic maloya, the  genre native to the French island of La Réunion. 

"At once sacred and secular; sometimes calculated but often improvised; formerly clandestine but now manifest: the [...]

While the Women's World Cup in France has meanwhile entered the quarter-final round, this year's Africa Cup of Nations kicked off last Friday in Egypt. Among the 24 teams competing for the cup and making its first-ever bid is Northwest Africa's Islamic Republic of Mauritania. This in itself deserves mention, but what really got us going was a newly released video by Mauritanian rapper Taleb Latimore to support his country's national team, aka "les [...]

"The future of music happened decades ago," reads the catchy claim of Samy Ben Redjeb's Frankfurt-based imprint Analog Africa, specialising in unusual African music from the '70s, basically stuff you never even knew existed, but has nonetheless had a strong impact in certain regions of the world. As such, many of the Analog Africa releases are not just about the music, but also come with detailed liner notes and equally unusual stories. 

Last Friday, the label [...]