International charts

Review: When it was first released a quarter of a century ago, the Buena Vista Social Club album - a conceptual album produced by Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, featuring veteran Cuban musicians recreating music that had been popular on the island nation in the 1940s and '50s - had a huge cultural impact. Not only did it sell like hot cakes around the World, leading to a US tour and documentary film, but it also raised interest in Cuban music, something that has sustained to this day. This 25th Anniversary edition, then, is fully justified. It boasts fully remastered vinyl and CD versions of the original album, each with bonus tracks, as well as partner discs entirely made up of previously unheard songs and alternate takes.

Review: Alhaji Waziri Oshomah is a master of Afro sounds and rhythms that cut deep. He is from the Edo State in southern Nigeria and always as making music and often holds local sermons. His music was highlighted by David Bryne's always-excellent Luaka Bop label in September with World Spirituality Classics 3: The Muslim Highlife Of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah and now comes another bumper collection of his tunes. As the title suggests, Vol 1-5: 1978-1984 pulls together his best work from that six-year period across five 12"s and a special booklet.

Review: Amghar: The Godfather Of Tuareg Music Vol 1 by Abdallah Oumbadougou is a superb trip into the heart of the ever fascinating sound of Tuareg music. Oumbadougou, revered as the godfather of this rich musical tradition, delivers a spellbinding collection of tracks that showcase his mastery of desert blues. Each composition is a testament to the deep cultural heritage and spiritual resonance of Tuareg music. They blend hypnotic rhythms, intricate guitar work and haunting vocals all with a melancholic and seductive feel from the soul-stirring chants of 'Afrikya' to the infectious energy of 'Tabsiq Dalet'. This album transports listeners to the vast landscapes of the Sahara, evoking a profound sense of wanderlust and timeless beauty as it does so.

Review: In the mid-80s, Svitlana Okhrimenko, Oleksandr Kohanovs'kyi, and Tamila Mazur, students at the Reinhold Glier Kyiv Academy of Music, formed the foundation of Cukor Bila Smert. Their blend of music and camaraderie led to the addition of Eugene Taran, who further helped shape the band's vision. Dubbed Sugar - White Death, their ironic moniker challenged media sensationalism and amidst endless musical exploration, they crafted two albums in 1988 and 1989. The band's unique "sugar calypso sound" emerged, a blend of Kohanovs'kyi's music and lyrics by Okhrimenko and Taran. A significant studio session in 1990 yielded tracks featured on the Mannered Music compilation which sparked international interest. Their journey concluded in 1993 with the release of "Selo" by Koka Records, and now some of the best bits make it onto this new collection.

Review: The third and most especial edition in the latest selection of versions of the reissued LP by Alonso Toro, Paul Desenne, and Pedro Vasquez - Alzheimer. Coming hot on the heels of an original, as-it-was reissue as well as a gemmy Ricardo Villalobos rerub, this deluxe edition comes in a beautiful yellow and lilac LP box, and features the latter's two remixes as well as an exclusive Wetsuit Je Me Souviens version. A curio of the Venezuelan vanguard, the album was recorded between January 1997-99, and hears the fabled trio of musicians "forget everything" that came before, enlisting the recorded help of every member of the animal kingdom - from mammals to insects - and shooting squarely for a whole new sound-world-order in the process. Sonically flowing between heritage Latin music and minimal electronica, the purpose is to confuse and the effect is indeed confounding, though no less dazzling.