Our 3 recommended albums of 2018
handpicked essential listening from the past year, taken out of our Top 20.
Once a month the Bounty Radio podcast highlights new, innovative World Music 2.0. Once a year I compile the 20 albums of the past year. I’ll provide you some background info on our top 3! Discover the full list in our latest episode (on Mixcloud) or follow our Spotify playlist ‘Global Sounds’
1. Khalab — Black Noise 2084
An exploration of what black music can or will be.
Now here we have an album that broke all records when it comes to border crossing future world music. Khalab is an Italian producer known for his dense and tribal electronic music.
Black Noise 2084 is a tapestry of busy polyphonic rhythms with various spectacular collaborations. Most noticeable are tracks with collaborators like Moses Boyd, Shabaka Hutchings and that other Italian producer: Clap Clap.
The album is an exploration of what Black music can or will be — and in doing so the Italian producer leaving all the cliches behind. Khalab used recordings from the archives of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels as samples on the album. The producer draws inspiration from African music traditions but builds — with his own hands — something completely new and highly original. A very convincing Number 1.
Black Noise 2084 is released on On The Corner Records and comes with the stunning signature artwork by Victoria Topping.
2. Chancha Via Circuito — Bienaventuranza
The pioneer of folktronica returns.
Chancha Via Circuito is an producer and composer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. His last album Amansara from 2014 gained international recognition for his hard hitting and deep take on digital cumbia with mystic folk inspiration. On Bienaventuranza, Chancha experiments with 2 new directions in his music. The first one is an even more folky roots sound with lots of charango and flutes. But there is also the heavier direction with darker and more solid beats than his usual productions. Like the awesome track Baru with a beat that could have been made in bristol.
Bienaventuranza (which means something like Bliss) is released on Wonderwheel Recordings.
3. Malphino — Visit Malphino
Timeless pacific music from a lost island.
I love concept albums. And this one is a great example. This UK-based collective delivers the cinematic score to an imagined tropical island called Malphino. They create a sultry instrumental vintage Cumbia sound, driven by the accordion and pedal guitar. But the real surprise on this album are the subtle music influences from the other side of the pacific, Polynesia and the Philippines. A combination that sound so easy and effortless you’d almost forget the genius of it.
Visit Malphino by Malphino is released on LEX records.
