Guardian Music — (Sterns)This is the second outstanding Youssou N'Dour album released this year. First came I Bring What I Love, with its live reworking of songs from across his career. Now follows this two-CD set chronicling "the Birth of Mbalax 1979-81" and the his... more info

Guardian Music — Barbican, LondonThis was the sixth outing by the ever-changing lineup of that admirable ­marketing project, the African Soul Rebels, and it was rescued by a ­dominant performance by the one real star on stage, Malian diva Oumou Sangare. Once ag... more info

8/1 — olmadı pitchfork, olmadı500. The Big Pink - Velvet499. N.E.R.D. - Run to the Sun [Electronic version]498. Unwound - Scarlette497. Woods - Rain On496. Akufen - Deck the House (Herbert's Stop Like This Mix)495. Weezer - Island in the Sun494. Blon... more info

Time Out, London — Legendary masters of poly-rhythmic Afro-Cuban / Senegalese sounds make a welcome return more info

Rolling Stone — You’ve read Rolling Stone’s lists of the top albums and singles of the year — but how did our critics rank their personal favorites? Here’s Christian Hoard’s year-end lists: Albums Magnetic Fields, Distortion Randy Newman, Harps and Angels ... more info

All About Jazz — Wu Fei's debut record "A Distant Youth" (released in Oct. 2007, Forrest Hill Records) has been ranked 88th out of 913 nominees on World Music Chart Europe 2008 Critics Pick! A Full list of top 150 critics pick on World Music Chart Europe WMCE YEAR 20... more info

Totally Fuzzy — John said... Orchestra Baobab - pirates choice Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers 88 chuck berry - the EP collection that petrol emotion - babble Corey Harris - Downhome... [Visit the blog for the full post] more info