Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino
Focu d'amore
Regarded as Italy's leading and longest-standing traditional music ensemble, they come from the Salento, the heel of the Italian boot, in Puglia. The seven piece band and dancer are the leading a new wave of young performers that are re-inventing southern Italy's pizzica traditions for a modern audience, not by fusing it into a familiar dance beat, but by makig the old rhythms and melodies explode with contemporary energy for a new audience.

Doa
A fronda dos cervos
More than thirty years after their debut the legendary progressive folk and traditional music ensemble presents a new album devoted entirely to medieval Galician lyrics. Three of the founders of the original group: Xoán Piñón, Xaquín Blanco and Bernardo Martinez form the band. Each is a talented and versatile artists with extensive experience in the fields of experimental music, photography, painting, drama and poetry. A new member has been added to the group for this occasion, the hurdy gurdy player Oscar Fernández, one of the most important figures of the new folk scene and founder of the groups Os Cempés and Bonovo. Lastly, the prestigious soprano, Susana de Lorenzo, rounds out the group with her impressive singing technique full of emotion and varied harmonies. Listen

Corou De Berra
Maschi Femmine And Cantanti
The traditional vocal ensemble from France tackles more modern material by Italian poet/composer Fabrizio de André, although still delivered in a roots style. fRoots says: 'Courou de Berra sing with great precision and their dense harmonies approach a cappella, with the largely string-based accompaniment being little more than decoration. The vocals dominate the recording and are relieved only by the shortest of instrumental passages, which at times can be overpowering, but their voices make a glorious sound.'

Philip Blackburn
Habanera, A Soundwalk Through Old Havana, Cuba
What better way to get to know the intimate details of a culture than through your ears and your shoes? Environmental sound artist Philip Blackburn ambled through Old Havana, a city full of sounds. Blackburn's path takes us past alleys, buildings and streets where you can hear Fidel waffling on and on, cigar black-marketers, flamenco dancers, kids playing, Santeria and Catholic chanting, and the nightly canon fire. Wear headphones for the full binaural effect and turn out the lights (the CD cover glows in the dark) and walk with Blackburn through Havana 2004.

Various
The Raga Guide: a survey of 74 Hindustani ragas
Joep Bor's definitive guite to the raga, a 4 CD set with an accompanying 196 page book.

Andrew Cronshaw
The Unbroken Surface of Snow
British musician and composer Andrew Cronshaw is joined by a global enseble of Tigran Aleksanyan, Ian Blake, Sanna Kurki-Suonio.

Leilia
Consentimento
The first cantareiras, the teachers, the feminine force - with pristine voices mixed contemporary music, comes a unique sound with musical production and attention for details. More than 20 years working for the recovery of our musical tradition. ConSentimento is a tribute to all that women who made and continue to make creation the reality through preservation and transmission of the Galician oral tradition. With many thanks to Eva Castiñeiras, a singer, pandereteira, and a woman like so many anonymous women who seed our land with art, culture and beauty.

L'ham de Foc
Cor de Porc
The third recording by this Spanish band finds them deeply immersed in the music of Greece, the Balkans and the Adriatic.

Cheikh Ahmed Zaitouni
Andalusian Music from Tangier
Cheikh Ahmed Zaitouni is a master musician in the al-Andalus style. Here he and his ensemble from Tangier perform one of the eleven vocal and instrumental suites of the Moroccan âla, the nuba 'Al-Hijaz al-kabîr'.

TREF
Dampf
The Belgian accordion trio becomes a quartet: Bruno Le Tron, Didier Laloy and Wim Claeys on the diatonic accordion and Frédéric Malempré on percussion. These 4 musicians hold an open conversation with traditional rhythms, jazzy harmonies, touching melodies and rocking grooves. Accordion trio n' drums extraordinaire!

The Peeni Waali All Stars
Shab Tab
The return of the return of the amazing Peeni Walli concept with Alan Kushan (santur, vox and all lyrics) and Fizzè (piccolo, flutes, Hammond B 3 organ, accordion, percussion, tones and shades) is as unexpected as we expected. With a full ensemble of horns, guitars, kitchen utensils, hackbrett and alphorn, they have crafted another unique aural experience. I can't adequately describe it. Go listen!

Kardes Turkuler
Dogu
Kardes Türküler (Ballads of Fraternity) is the second productlon of the Music Group of Bogaziçi Performing Arts Ensemble (BPAE).

Kwartet Jorgi
Muzyka na trabke gitare i flet
On Sale: Music for trumpet, guitar and flute, by one of Poland's most repsected modern music ensembles.