Top 10 World Music Albums, July 2009

This month has brought a flood of new music. Maybe it's the summer-release thing, but that makes it doubly difficult to properly weigh all the contenders for the chart. A number of CDs were close to making it onto the list but arrived late, didn't receive a rousing response to airplay, or just seemed to want to season for a bit longer before being judged.

This is a tremendously strong group of albums, any of which I would recommend to the adventurous listener. Holding on from June are Moana & the Tribe, Madera Limpia, Staff Benda Bilili, Baka Beyond, and our #1 Oumou Sangare. New this month you'll see Ba Cissoko (album review here), the return of Jamaican drummer Larry McDonald (album review here), the Balkan mashups of [dunkelbunt] (album review here), an achingly gorgeous album from Cape Verde's Lura (album review here), and the music of a couple crazy musicians going by the name TriBeCaStan (watch for a review soon).

SoundRoots / Spin The Globe Top 10 Global Albums, July 2009
(click on album title for sound samples / more info)

1. Oumou Sangare: Seya
2. Ba Cissoko: Seno
3. Madera Limpia: La Corona
4. Larry McDonald: Drumquestra
5. [dunkelbunt]: Raindrops and Elephants
6. Martin Cradick & the Baka at Gbine: Baka Beyond the Forest
7. Lura: Eclipse
8. Staff Benda Bilili: Tres Tres Fort
9. Moana & the Tribe: Wha
10. TriBeCaStan: Strange Cousin

Thanks for the input on the proposed ska episode of Spin The Globe, by the way. The show (playlist here) was exceedingly popular! If you have suggestions for other themes you'd like to hear, let me know.