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Sample Track 1:
"Bahamut" from Bahamut (Barbès Records)
Sample Track 2:
"Lost Fox Train" from Bahamut (Barbès Records)
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Top 20 Albums of the Year

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Montreal Gazette, Top 20 Albums of the Year >>

Gazette music critics name their top 20 favourite CDs of the year in genres including pop, rock, roots, jazz, world and classical, as well as a few picks for concerts of the year.

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Charlie Fidelman – world music
1. Maurice El Medioni Meets Roberto Rodriguez: Descarga Oriental – The New York Sessions (Piranha/Fusion III). Affinities of exile connected a Jewish Algerian master pianist with a Latin super-drummer for a jam session of light-fingered melodies. Outstanding

2. Cheikh Lô: Lamp Fall (World Circuit). Brilliant album of upbeat rhythms, assembled in layers and inspired by a sojourn in Brazil – mbalax, reggae, jazz, flamenco, Cuban guajiras.

3. Tartit: Abacabok (Harmonia Mundi/Fusion III). Desert songs and hypnotic nomadic blues from Tuareg roots group blending beautiful female voices with traditional drums, electric and acoustic string instruments.

4. Ali Farka Toure: Savane (World Circuit). The last (maybe the best) album from the great African bluesman Ali Farka Touré showcasing ancient Malian music in a contemporary blues setting.  

5. Lekan Babalola: Songs of Icon (Mr. Bongo/Fusion III). Originals and remixes from a talented renaissance man, with fabulous drum workouts and fast-paced dance-floor numbers.

6. Juan Carlos Cáceres: Murga Argentina (Manana). Cáceres lends his raspy vocals in homage  to Argentina’s black past for a sandy adaptation of tango, milonga, carnival and candombe rhythms

7. Marta Topferova: Flor Nocturna (World Village/Harmonia Mundi/Fusion III). Slavic melancholy infuses Andean-based melodies and Topferova’s stripped-down, dusky vocals tend to sneak under the skin.

8. Sigil: Nuru Kane (Riverboat/Worldisc). Impressive, dexterous twists from Senegalese guitarist and singer (in Wolof and French), melding Sufi traditions and trance music.

9. Gianmaria Testa: Da Questa Parte del Mare (Chante du Monde/Harmonia Mundi/Fusion III). Gritty-voiced Testa can spin personal philosophies into tango-inflected, jazz and folk tunes.

10. Hazmat Modine: Bahamut (Barbès). Wade Schuman’s lineup of tuba, harmonica, cimbalom players, the occasional Russian throat-singers and other ‘Hazmatians’ play exuberant and campy tunes inspired by American roots music.

11. Sara Tavares: Balancê  (Times Square Records/Fusion III). Cape Verdean balladeer has found an identity in the rhythm of African diaspora and it’s balanced between  light-hearted swing and melancholy lullabies.

12. Bole2Harlem: Bole2Harlem, Vol. I (Sounds of the Mushroom). Self-titled debut has 13 Ethiopian tracks of hip beats concocted in the Big Apple for a rocking hybrid sound. Addis Ababa meets Harlem.

13. Marcel Khalife: Taqasim (Nagam Records). Intense, emotional melodies from  Lebanese oud virtuoso in homage to Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, that takes music beyond words.

14. Gotan Project: Lunatico (XL). Dark and twisted, brave and exotic. Revenge of the tango continues with an impeccable exploration of tango’s long roots.

15. Moussu T e lei Jovents: Forever Polida (Manivette Records/Fusion III). Bonjour Marseille, who knew your rock ’n’ roll and banjo-flecked blues would feel so familiar even though sung in Occitan and French?

16. West African Gold (World Music Network/Fusion III). Choice sampler of post-colonial West Africa’s musical “golden era” has a cocktail jazz sound and an orchestral Latin dance flavour.

17. Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra: Boulevard de l’Indépendance (World Circuit). Killer grooves from  Diabate’s extraordinary assembly of musicians.

18. Tengir-Too: Mountain Music From Kyrgysztan (Smithsonian Folkways). Best-packaged album with map, DVD,  bilingual lyrics, photos, plus 66 minutes of serene, plucked-string music from the Kyrgyz mountains.

19. Samite: Embalasasa (Triloka Records). To heal the scars of child soldiers, Ugandan musician Samite created gentle music – thumb piano, percussion –  that’s like an antidote for modern-day ills.

20. Think of One: Trafico (Crammed Discs). Belgian troubadours-cum-musical explorers swept into Brazil for their own brash and brassy take on the country’s popular tunes. 12/22/06 >> go there
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