SEPTEMBER 15 2007

Habib Koite "Afriki" (CUMBANCHA / Mali) After a six year absence from the recording studio, Malian guitarist Habib Koité and his band Bamada return with a stunning new album. Afriki finds the group in fine form, and features an appealing set of songs that reflect Habib's unique approach to the diverse styles of Malian music. -AMAZON.COM
Toots & The Maytals "Light Your Light" (CONCORD / Jamaica) Frederick "Toots" Hibbert founded the Maytals in the early 1960s in Kingston, Jamaica with Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias and Raleigh Gordon. Together, they crafted some of the most important and influential songs in the history of reggae.

Mickey Hart & Zakir Hussain "Global Drum Project" (SHOUT FACTORY / Various) Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart's innovative Planet Drum CD convened some of the world's finest drum talent for a collaboration that won the very first GRAMMY for world music -- bringing together Nigerian drum legend Babatunde Olatunji, Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, Nigerian talking drum ace Sikiru Adepoju, and Puerto Rico's master conguero Giovanni Hidalgo, among others. The 1991 album spent an unprecedented 26 weeks at #1 on the Billboard world music chart, and continues to sell as a perennial favorite. Fifteen years later, the musical partnership of Hart and Hussain -- which began with their groundbreaking 1970s world fusion experiment Diga Rhythm Band -- resumes, with a fresh collaboration of tranced-out grooves, elegant electronic programming and hypnotic tuned percussion... -AMAZON.COM

Konono #1 "Live At Couleur Cafe" (CRAMMED / Congo) Konono N°1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. The group achieved international renown beginning in 2005, with its DIY aesthetic appealing to many fans of rock and electronic music.

Ticklah "Ticklah vs Akelrod" (EASY STAR / USA) Ticklah, aka Victor Axelrod is a present or past member of three of Brooklyn’s finest musical exports — Afrobeat orchestra Antibalas, The Easy Star All-Stars (Dub Side of the Moon, Radiodred) and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. An ardent supporter of the tradition laid down by King Tubby and Lee Perry, Axelrod clearly honors their less championed musicianship in addition to their much lionized engineering skills and production values.

Los Mono "Somos Los Que Estamos" (SONIC/ Chili) A Chilean super-group, Los Mono is the collaborative effort from some of the top musicians/producers of Chile. Not only is 'Somos Los Que Estamos' a full on high-energy blast from start to finish, the album is an adventure with a moral message; promoting creativity, originality, positivism, and self-responsibility.