1 January 2014, World Cafe

1 Frigg – Polkka V (Displeasement Polka) (Sibelius Academy Folk Music Recordings)
Album: Polka V

2 JPP – Speedy Slam (RockAdillo)

Album: String Tease

Two short, sharp, fast and furious mass fiddle tunes from Finland.  Frigg which is actually at Finnish/Norwegian band) Polkka V came out in 2013.  JPP basically invented the Finnish fiddling tradition and Speedy Slam is from 15 years earlier  At core of both Frigg or JPP is the same family, the Jarvela – one or two generations apart.

3 Renaud Garcia-Fons – Camino de Felicidad (Enja)

Album: Beyond the Double Bass

Garcia-Fons is a French bassist of Catalonian decent. He’s known for musical explorations across Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Flamenco as well as classical and jazz traditions.  His daughter, Solea Garcia, does some wonderful Flamenco tinged singing on “Camino de Felicidad”.   

4 Esma Redzepova – Abre Babi Sokerdzan (Vlax Records)

Album: Stand Up, People

One of greats of Yugoslavian music in the 70s from one of the best collections of 2013 – “Stand Up, People” – basically Roma music from Tito’s socialist state between 1964 and 1980.  If nothing else, there seems to be some consensus that Tito was actually pretty good at tolerating and supporting the Roma populace.

5 Koby Isrealite – Crayfish Hora (Suite Part 4)

Album: Blues from Elsewhere

Koby Isrealite is an Isreali-born South London multi-instrumentalist – and I mean that – he plays just about everything string, wind, key and skin based – including his favourite, the accordion.  And he’s a played in a bunch of settings too – classical, jazz and speed metal.   His new album, called appropriately “Blues from Elsewhere” is some kind of Balkan, middle-eastern, south Asian rhythm and blues concoction. 

6 Monsieur Doumani – Cypriot Sousta (Monsieur Doumani)

Album: Grippy Grappa

The Cypriot band Monsieur Doumani put out one of the most original albums of 2013 – free wheeling arrangements of traditional songs for the bouzouki-like tzouras often strummed with some fury, and trombone and flute. 

7 Cigdem Aslan – Bir allah (One God) (Asphalt Tango)
Album: Mortissa

Turkish-born, and now London based singer Cigdem Aslan put out a cold-stone instant classic in 2013 – her take on rembetika across the Turkish-Greek divide, sung in both language, backed by some musicians with deep knowledge and subtle ability.

8 Omar Souleyman – Mawal Jamar (Ribbon)

Album: Wenu Wenu

Omar Souleyman is no stranger to this show, thanks to the label Sublime Frequencies.  They took him from basically only playing at weddings around Syria - and he’s been incredibly successful at that, his cassette releases recording those wedding over the last 20 years are numerous and very popular – to playing around the world.  In 2013 he released his first studio album, with his long-time keyboardist Rizan Sa’id at his right hand. 

9 Debruit & Alsarah – Alhalim (Soundway)

Album: Aljawal

Another fascinating album from 2013 is a teaming of French musician and producer, Debruit and Sudan-born and now Brooklyn-based singer Alsareh. They’ve been experimenting and refining their sound over the last two years. 

10 Padraig Rynne, Donal Lunny & Sylvain Barou – Lesnoto Horo (Rib Records)

Album: Triad

For some reason I haven’t seen any hype about an album that three great Irish musicians put out in 2013.  It’s Triad, by Donal Lunny who should need no introduction, Padraig Rynne, a magnificent concertina player, and Sylvain Barou whose been punting Breton music in Ireland for some time now.   

11 Linda Thompson – Paddy’s Lamentation (Topic Records)
Album: Won’t be long now

The classic Irish song, “Paddy’s Lamentation”, which dates to the time of the American civil war, from Linda Thompson fabulous new album.   

12 Lisa Knapp – Hunt the Hare Part II (feat. Alasdair Roberts) (Navigator)

Album: Hidden Seam

Speaking of great English singers, Lisa Knapp, part of the new generation of singer and songwriters inspired by the English song tradition put a pretty great sonically adventurous record in 2013 produced by Gerry Diver (who we’ve heard here before and who happens to be her husband).  “Hunt the Hare” is a duet with the fabulous Scottish musician Alasdair Roberts.  More from him in February.

13 The Young Tradition – Wondrous Love (Fledg’ling)
Album: Oberlin 1968

Live recordings of a concert given by an a capella trio of English traditionalists and rule breakers, The Young Tradition, in 1968 at Oberlin College in Ohio, surfaced recently and were put out on the label Fledg’ling in 2013. 

14 Catrin Finch, Seckou Keita – Robert Ap Huw Meets Nialing Sonko (Astar Artes/Mwldan)
Album: Clychau Dibon

Harp collaborations were something of a trend in 2013 and one of the best was between Welsh harpish and Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player, Seckou Keita who now lives in Nottingham. 

15 Sidi Toure – Ay Takamba – My Takamba (Thrill Jockey)

Album: Alafia

2013 saw a spate of releases from Malian musicians working through the fundamentalist take-over in the north of the country, which for now at least has thankfully been pushed back.  Guitarist and singer Sidi Toure hails from Gao, a city in the northern most part of Mali.  His latest album “Alafia” which means “Peace” is out on the Chicago-based, predominantly post rock label, Thrill Jockey.

16 Bombino – Imuhar (Nonesuch)

Album: Nomad

Bombino, the Tuareg group from Agadez, Niger, put out a fabulous album in 2013, produced by Dan Auerbach in his Nashville studio.  At the centre Omara Moctor who has personal affected by many of the Taureg rebellions in Niger.

17 Lobi Traore – Jama (System Krush)

Album: Bwati Kono (In the Club) Vol 1

One of greats of so-called Mali blues, Lobi Traore.  In Lobi Traore’s case mali blues means a mix of Bambara rhythms and Jimi Hendrix guitar.  Traore died unexpectedly in 2010 and a bunch of live, nightclub recordings are beginning to emerge – they’re actually far fuller sounding and more adventurous than his studio outings.   

18 Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu – Victory (Mr Bongo)

Album: Conflict Nkru!

In 2012 I was pretty enamored with Ghanian highlife and afro-beat veteran, Ebo Taylor’s release “Appia Kwa Bridge”.  In 2013 the label Mr Bongo reissued something from 1980 – Conflict Nkru! – which is a kind of looser, funkier affair than the usual highlife. 

19 Jupiter & Okwess International – Mwana Yokatoli (Out Here Records/Proper)
Album: Hotel Univers

Jupiter & Okwess International from Kinshasa put out their first international release in 2013 – up there with the best of the year.    

20 Le Grand Kalle – Naweli Boboto (Sterns Music)

Album: His Life, His Music

Joseph Kabasele might not be as well known as Franco but he basically invented Congolese rhumba in the 1956. His recordings have been quite difficult to get up until Sterns released a double-disc retrospective.  Le Grand Kalle is the handle he often went by. 

21 Christine Salem – Maloki (Cobalt)

Album: Salem Tradition

Christine Salem is one the most recent, but one of the most creative purveyors of Maloya music from Reunion.  Maloya is rooted in slave music and Christine Selem takes it into other dimensions by cutting it with rhythms from mainland Africa and singing in a bunch of languages – Reunion creole, Malagasy, Comoran and Swahili. 

22 Dora Juarez Kiczkovsky – A la Una yo Naci (Tzadik)
Album: Cantos Para Una Diaspora

Heading to Mexico where Dora Juarez Kiczkovsky lives.  Juarez traces her roots to Eastern Europe, Spain and Argentina and Israel and tries to link all those cultures to the music of Mexico through her interpretation of traditional Sephardic songs.  “A la una yo naci” is sung in Ladino.

23 Siba – Canoa Furada (Leaking canoe) (Mais Um Discos)

Album: Avante

Siba is Sergio Roberto Veloso de Oliveira and was born in Recife into a family of musicians and poets and one of the founders of the manguebeat movement in the 90s which combined traditional Northeastern Brazilian with western pop music – following on from the Tropicalia movement of the 60s and earlier 70s.  Since then he’s sought to expand his music even further. 

24 The Skatalites – Smiling (Spectrum Audio UK)

Album: Top Deck Presents: Ska Instumentals

2013 saw the release of a bunch of totally fantastic collections of classic ska track from the 60s.  The Top Deck label was one of the first ska labels – it was formed in 1960 by two brothers, Philip and Ivan Yap.  Every track on the two cd collection “Top Deck Presents Ska Instrumentals” is worth hearing. 

25 Don Drummond – Green Island (Soul Jazz)

Album: Studio One Ska Fever! (More Ska Sound from Sir Coxsone’s Downbeat)

Trombonist and composer Don Drummond was one of the greats of the ska scene but his career was cut short in 1965 when he was ruled criminally insane after being convicted of killing his longtime girlfriend.  He died in prison in 1969.  His tune “Green Island” is on another magnificent collection of ska – “Studio One Ska Fever”.

26 Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Halfway Right, Halfway Wrong (Sony Legacy)

Album: That’s It!

One of the main keepers of the flame of parade-based jazz from New Orleans, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, in 2013 released their first album of self-penned songs and tunes – “That’s It”.  Jim James from My Morning Jacket, who’s had a long association with the band, co-produced the album, and there a bunch of luminary co-writers too – including Paul Williams. 

27 Nick Lowe – Silent Night (Proper Records)

Album: Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family

Who would have thought Silent Night could sound so groovy.  Nick Lowe’s version is on his new album, which is actually a Christmas album.   

28 Leyla McCalla – Mesi Bondye (Dixiefrog)

Album: Vari-Colored Songs

Staying in the NOLA neck of the wood, Leyla McCalla, a sometime member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, lives New Orleans now.  Her 2013 album is mainly based on Langston Hughes poems, includes some old Creole songs from the area. 

29 Stein Urheim & Mari Kvien Brunvoll – Sound of his motor (Jazzland Recordings)

Album: Daydream Twin

Stein Urheim and Mari Kvien Brunvoll are from Norway.  I really like their album from 2013 – Daydream Twin. That song was called “Sound of his motor”.

30 Chris Wildman – Eagle-man (self-released)

Album: Solo Flight

Loyal listeners will remember Chris Wildman who presented this show a few years ago.  In 2013 he brought out an album of his own compositions for solo piano called “Solo Flight”.  Contract Chris at chris.musicplay@gmail for more details.