Having lived the past several years in exile since Angola’s civil war broke out, Waldemar Bastos hasn’t even recorded an album in seven years. Now he’s back, he visited his home country in ’03 to perform at a stadium concert celebrating the ending of years of war, but more importantly and selfishly he’s back to us the music appreciation troupe that have been so craving his voice and inventive music. His knack for writing pop songs with an African and Portugese (where he spent much of his life after being made prisoner by Portuguese colonial secret police for no apparent reason) slant is mind boggling and will leave virgin ears gasping for more. Each song offers an intimate look inside the mind of one of Angola’s long lost great musicians.

- J-Sin