Salatiel is quite a superstar in his country, Cameroon. He has, for example, collaborated with Beyonce on a track for the soundtrack of The Lion King. That sort of star. This album is, in general, quite good. The production is very professional, the writing very decent, and it is indeed…

It is difficult to enjoy Pen Ran’s album if you know the story of her life. The music here is joyous, fun, and upbeat, and her voice is incredible, powerful, and piercing. The music still sounds so cool. Retro, but cool. Whilst it is clearly been influenced by many American…

The small country of Burundi does not rank well in several statistics. It is considered the world’s least happy country, the poorest, and the least developed. Mostly rural, and only 13% of the population lives in urban areas. Anyway, you wouldn’t guess any of that if you listened to Star-B’s…

According to Wikipedia, one of the most popular African bands ever. I had never heard of them. But they have played at Wembley. They have collaborated with The Rolling Stones and Ryuichi Sakamoto. They have toured around the US, Singapore, Germany, Canada, and many other countries. They use instruments such…

I had heard of Bulgarian folk music, I even remember seeing a female choir many years ago in concert. However, I hadn’t realised how great it is — or maybe how great this choir and this album are. The harmonies are unique, the music sounds atemporal. Some tracks sound like something you’d expect on Björk’s latest album. You must listen to it with headphones, and volume up — it’s mesmerising. It doesn’t matter I don’t understand the lyrics, it’s just so energetic and beautiful that they could be singing about doing the laundry and I’d still love it. Shame about a couple of instrumentals — they aren’t needed, and they keep you wanting to go back immediately to the choir.

I didn’t know much about Brunei, and the few things I knew weren’t that good (human rights, basically). It’s a tiny country that has very strict laws regarding pretty much everything that is common here in Western Europe. …

Brazil! Who doesn’t love their music? I’m no expert but I could easily come up with twenty Brazilian artists I like and listen to. I decided, though, to pick up this album by Jorge Ben from 1974. I had never heard of him, yet this album was ranked by Rolling Stone as the sixth best Brazilian album ever and it features in many ‘best of’ lists. It is good, it really is. Even with a mediocre understanding of the lyrics — the whole album seems to be about alchemy (!) — the whole thing flows by so quickly, so easily. If you like Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil or Chico Buarque you’ll like this. Perfect for hot summer days.

Wow, what an album. I loved it. This young singer from Botswana really is someone I’ll keep an eye on. There is a bit of everything: jazz, pop, soul, a few electronics here and there, the odd rap bits, some experimental stuff, but it’s all so coherent, so part of a whole. Half sung in her native language, half in English, there’s a bit of Alicia Keys and Oumaru Sangare, but yet there’s something new, fresh, and very polished (the album is very well produced). The acapella opening is gorgeous, and even the opposite spectrum — tracks such as Mind Fuck — retain a strange beauty.

‘Remake’ is the soundtrack to a 2003 film I had never heard of. Adi Lukovac died at the age of 35 in a car accident, and this soundtrack was his last — and apparently, his most famous and best — work. It is always tricky to listen to a soundtrack…