Back catalogue: International

Review: Spain's Zanja Records is a new label dedicated to the promotion of Cuban music and culture. Its inaugural EP The Zanja All Stars: Cuban Jam Session Vol 1 features singers El Indio, Maria Victoria, El Nene, and Ondy, under the musical direction of Julito Padron. All are top Cuban talents who perform "Descargas, Montunos, Instrumental Jazz, and Son" with authenticity and great charm. These percussive, shuffling grooves are alive with wandering basslines and expressive vocals that take you to the heart of the country in an instant. Big horns and jazzy keys, orchestral grandeur and street-wise realness all make them brilliantly irresistible.

Review: Isle Of Jura's latest on-point release is a new edition of Zann's sought-after 1990 set "Strange Ways/Inside Jungle", a self-released album of experimental, left-of-centre musical fusions produced in the band's basement studio in Dortmund. The record's genius lies in the band's mixture of Eno/Byrne style ambient motifs, delay-laden electronic beats, densely layered African and South American percussion sounds and chiming instruments from South East Asia. There are some suitably trippy tricks employed here and there - backwards vocals, layered field recordings and so on - but also snaking sax lines and cheery synthesizer melodies. In other words, it's an inspired, hard-to-pigeonhole album that just gets better with each successive listen.

Review: The Zawose Queens' debut album Maisha is a captivating blend of traditional Gogo music from Tanzania with modern electronic elements, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the Zawose family while pushing boundaries. Produced by Oli Barton-Wood and Tom Excell, the album features 11 original tracks that seamlessly fuse ancestral rhythms with contemporary production techniques. Drawing on their deep roots in Gogo music, Leah and Pendo Zawose deliver powerful vocals and masterful instrumentation, accompanied by the percussive rhythms of the muheme drums and the resonant sounds of the illimba thumb piano. Songs like 'Lule Lule' and 'Kusekala Kwa Nyungu' capture the essence of go go tradition, while tracks like 'Fahari Yetu' and 'Sauti Ya Mama' celebrate themes of heritage and maternal love. Maisha is not just an album; it's a statement of empowerment for women artists in East Africa and beyond. The Zawose Queens have boldly stepped into the spotlight, reclaiming their place in the musical landscape and inspiring others to follow suit.

Review: Latin funk music's best and brightest recollector-reissuers Vampi Soul continue to do what they do best with this latest reissue of the debut self-titled album by Zulu. One of the last great albums of the first wave of Peruvian rock,and originally released in 1974, Zulu was infamous for its linking of psych-tinged rock with Afro-Latin American beats and folk pop. The enigmatic Zulu (real name Miguel Angel Ruiz Orbegoso) was best known during his lifetime as a member of the bands Traffic Sound and Los Nuevos Shain, but his only solo album commands a unique aura as a numinous rarity, immediately pre-dating his latter-career immersion in the religious community. Reissued for the first time with the collaboration of Zulu, including extensive liner notes and one extra track, the likes of 'Si en el cielo yo viviera', 'Laberintos' and 'Candela' are pastoral gems of folk-cumbia and salsa, playing back with a level of sensitivity and texture that could only be born of a worthy spirit.