"Sarah Allen and company should be commended for crafting an instantly recognizable sound that expands the boundaries of instrumental acoustic music." - Lee Blackstone in RootsWorld. Flook just released a single from their upcoming 2025 album, and it is as artful as expected. Here's a taste of Sanju. Single is out January, 2025. Full album in March.

The French trio Tako Toki create all their music on instruments made from found objects and scrap they collect and make musicial. It's a clever idea that's been done before, but they take it to a different level, moving from the dead serious, to the slyly imitative, to the downright funny, like this homage to the movie sound track and sound effects artist, Raymond Scott. We have a review coming soon, but dig in and enjoy some now. February 2025

Clarinet virtuoso Aurélie Charneux leads a trio of musicians on Cinquième Saison. Joined by Nicolas Puma (double bass) and Simon Leleux (percussion), her compositions explore a 5th season of sounds, improvising to evoke the relationship between humans and nature, the earth and its human adversaries and friends. It can be trance like and soothing, or harsh and demanding.

This is the second album by Libérica, led by bassist Manel Fortià (a favorite around here). It brings together Catalan singers Pere Martínez, Valencian Carles Dénia and Cádiz-born Antonio Lizana, along with trumpeter and vocalist Alba Careta. It's jazz at its heart, and tradtion in its soul. (Read our review of Manel Fortià & Magli Sare's album 2022 release, re·tornar.)

Novalima is a team of DJ-musicians from Lima, Peru who dig deeper into their own roots while staying firmly on the dancefloor. January, 2025

Digital Ngoma is group of musicians from the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte who experiment with traditional beats and electronics. They guarantee "100% made in Mayotte."

Canadian string player (mostly mandola and mandolin) Kevin Breit is joined by singer Ariana Gillis on one of the few covers of a Warren Zevon song that has ever been successful and original. Released in 2021

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp is possibly the best named band in Europe: artful, enigmatic and surprising at every turn. We'll have a review of this soon, but here's a taste of their newest album. While you wait, you can read Martha Willette Lewis' review of their previous album, We're OK. But We're Lost Anyway to get the lowdon on who they are. January, 2025

We just reviewed Lynn Adib's 2024 work with Zeid Hamdan, as the duo Bedouin Burger. Here's a taste of some of her solo work, from her 2018 album Youmma. Posted January 2025

Wishamalii is an adventurous trio based in Helsinki: singer, oud player and composer Nemat Battah (Palestine/Jordan), pianistand composer Kari Ikonen and Ethiopian-born, Finland-based percussionist Abdissa «Mamba» Assefa (Ethipia). Their newest work, Al-Bahr is rooted in classical Arab music but only as a starting point for new compositions. Ikonen has even refined a piano tuning to play the maqam notes at the heart of this music. September, 2024

We'll have a review shortly from this album by Polish cymbaly and accordion player Karolina Wegrzyn, but here's a taste of it, a traditional Carpatho-Rusin song that translates as "Whose scythe cuts well." January 2025

Two Italians and a Belgian come together in Brussels... sounds like the beginning of a joke, I know. But the sounds that come fromthe instruments, voices and hearts of Flavia Clementi (vocals, shruti box, percussion), Federico Bragetti (cello, vocals, percussion) and Thomas Van Bogaert (guitar, vocals, percussion) is serious, joyous and absobs all the influences a city like Brussels seems to embrace. December, 2024

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