The ebullient Belgian combo see themselves as musical explorers, and have previously travelled around the globe to record with Moroccan, Brazilian and Inuit artists, blending ‘exotic’ elements with their own jazz/funk/punk/reggae roots to create new, original and always very festive music. Tráfico is a collaboration with 4 musicians from the Brazilian Northeast, including veteran cocô singer Dona Cila do Cocô. Brazilian rhythms abound, yet this is really a trip to Thinkofone-land… T.O.O. have previously released albums on their own tiny label, managing along the way to garner a devoted international fan base, and to earn a BBC Award for World Music. “Like Manu Chao, they have their own distinctive sound, but are able to create music built around openness and collaboration” (UK magazine fRoots).
Release date: March 20 - Genre: world
Tuxedomoon ‘Bardo Hotel Soundtrack’
A “Road Movie Of The Mind” by the mythical band which so successfully reformed to put out the superb Cabin In The Sky album in 2004. Last Spring, Tuxedomoon traveled back to San Francisco (where the band was formed in the late ‘70s) in order to start writing material for their next album. But the atmosphere of the place had unexpected effects on them, and drove them to record a series of “spontaneous compositions” (as Mingus would have put it) instead, which soon formed the basis of this side project, intended to be the soundtrack for a film the band is currently shooting with Greek visual artist George Kakanakis. Consisting of inspired instrumentals interspersed with various vignettes and found sounds, the album will be released under the Made To Measure imprint, Crammed’s legendary instrumental/soundtrack series from the 80s/90s, which is symbolically being resurrected just for this occasion….
Release date: March 27 - Genre: alternative
Cibelle ‘The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves’
Like nobody else you can think of, Cibelle makes use of a variety of elements to create unique, imaginative and enchanting pieces of music. Combining rootsy acoustic instrumentation & electronic processing, noise guitars & children’s toys, fascinating textural soundscapes & pure melodies carried by her unmistakable, moving voice, her second album is a masterpiece. 14 songs ranging from limpid, simple gems (such as her rendition of a Tom Waits song) to genuine mini-symphonies bursting with ideas. Produced by Cibelle, Mike Lindsay (from UK folktronica act Tunng) & Apollo Nove, and featuring appearances by Devendra Banhart, Seu Jorge (of ’City Of God‘ and ’The Life Aquatic‘ fame), and CocoRosie human beatboxer Spleen.
Release date: April 4 - Genre: alternative
Wiseintime ‘The Ballad of Den the Men’
A highly inebriating mixture containing equal doses of jazz tangents, folk guitars, electronica and captivating vocals, Wiseintime is the new brainchild of the prodigious Ian Simmonds (the visionary UK artist whose previous, largely-instrumental nu-jazz albums as Juryman were unanimously acclaimed). To create this new project, Ian has moved to the easternmost part of Germany and settled in the small town of Jena (which, appropriately, was both the cradle of the German Romantic movement - Goethe and Schiller lived there - and of precision optics), where he recuited four very young & talented musicians to form the Wiseintime band. “One of Britain’s most vital talents” (Mojo, UK) - “A glimpse into as-yet-unexplored worlds” (Les Inrockuptibles, France).
Release date: April 24 - Genre: alternative
Tartit (tba)
Nothing is more evocative of the fascinating expanses of the Sahara desert than the music of Tartit, a Tuareg band consisting of five women and four men residing in the Timbuktu region (in northern Mali). Unlike the other renowned Tuareg band, Tinariwen, Tartit play quiet, hypnotic music: the women sit down, sing, and play cyclic rhythms on their tinde drums, while the men accompany them on string instruments. uThe men are veiled, the women aren’t. Tuareg society is one of the few throughout Africa in which women are allowed to choose (and divorce) their husbands. Tartit have already toured Europe (a.o. as part of the Desert Blues shows alongside Afel Bocoum & Habib Koité). The album was recorded in the desert by Vincent Kenis on his mobile studio.
Release date: May 15 - Genre: world
Various Artists ‘Roots of Rumba Rock: Congo Classics 1953-55’
The long-deleted, essential collection documenting the early days of Congolese pop is finally being re-issued, this time as a double CD including both of the separate, original volumes. Lovingly put together by (Congotronics man) Vincent Kenis, Roots of RR contains 40 delightful tracks and chronicles the birth of what was to become Africa’s most popular musical style. The origins of Congolese rumba, its strange links with traditional music, with salsa piano styles, French crooners and Belgian brass-bands… the social context, the lifestyle of early Fifties Congolese musicians, all of that and much more is extensively described in the liner notes written by Kenis and based on interviews with musicians from that era.
Release date: May 29 - Genre: world
