An Aural Portal to Here: Preferred Albums, January 1-February 28, 2026

This month: I’ve begun my very basic asterisky rating system, now that most of the following records have had a chance to sink in, plus I’m continuing to share my lists of carelessly forgotten, underappreciated, or simply “new to me” records from January-November 2025 (December’s children are being counted as ‘26ers since they barely had a chance to be aurally dandled), my return to older records (stimulated by a great oral history of Texas punk rock—see below—Mardi Gras, the Miles Davis Centennial, and PBS’ nice Sun Ra documentary), my bibliobiography (lotsa music books therein)—and a Record of the Month.

Notable Top 10: 1) The two best jazz records I’ve heard this year, from Work Money Death and Dave Adewumi (that one hasn’t yet been released for public consumption). Hot on their heels is one by Chad Fowler and Art Edmaiston that was recorded in Memphis and which makes yet another case for the southern roots of free jazz. 2) A refreshed Van Morrison. 3) Charli XCX refusing to be dismissed. 4) More evidence that, if bassist/composer Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is involved with your project, you will greatly benefit. 5)A legendary P-Funk guitarist thrilling you solo. 6) A six-hour box set of trio interpretations of Morton Feldman compositions (classical music—eek!) (recommended to me by my reliable source at Burning Ambulance) that can calm your afternoon. 7) One rap record to soothe the Golden Agers’ breasts, another one that breaks through my resistance to live rap records. 8) A terrific Floridian singer-songwriter inspiring us over-sixties to finally learn to play and start writing. 9) South African Nandipha808’s can’t-stop-won’t-stop YouTube mixtape. 10) Some Colombian cumbia from the Analog Africa vault!

If you enjoy what I’m doing here, please check out my IG feed ( displaying a quadrant of records that each day thrill my earhole), my Substack newsletter (it purports to deal with my long career as an educator but I squeeze music in whenever possible—as I did in the classroom), and my education blog, “The Overeem Farewell Tour, , a deeper educational dive that includes both a daily diary from my last year as a full-time public school teacher and a Spring ’20 to Spring ’21 COVID “cloister commentary.”

To the lists!

SPOTLIGHT ALBUM OF THE MONTH

KEY: 
= Archival release
***Very Good!           ****Really Good!      ****C’est Magnifique
Bolded entries are new to the list! 

NEW ALBUMS

Dave Adewumi: The Flame Beneath the Silence (Giant Step Arts) **** (out March 27)

Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic (In Finé)

Charli XCX: “Wuthering Heights” (Charli XCX Inc. / Atlantic) ***

Cimota: [ˈkɪmɔtɑː] (Sonic Transmissions) ***

Claire Dickson: Balance (New Amsterdam) (out March 27) ***

Dry Cleaning: Secret Love (4AD)

Art Edmaiston & Chad Fowler: Memphis Mandala (Mahakala Music) ****

fakemink: The Boy who cried Terrified . (EtnaVeraVela EP)

Fanfare Ciocarlia: Devil’s Tale (Asphalt Tango)

femcels: I Have to Get Hotter (self-released) ***

GBSR Duo & Taylor McLennan: Morton Feldman–Trios (Another Timbre) ****

Al Green: To Love Somebody (Fat Possum EP)

Grupo Um: Nineteen Seventy-Seven (Far Out Recordings)

Michael Hampton: Into the Public Domain (self-released) DECEMBER ‘25

Javon Jackson: Jackson Plays Dylan (Solid Jackson/Palmetto)

Mark Lomax II: The Unity Suite (CFG Media) JANUARY’S SPOTLIGHT ALBUM ****

Lord Jah Monte Ogbon: As of Now (Lex) ***

Mandy, Indiana: URGH (Sacred Bones)

Joyce Manor: I Used to Go to This Bar (Epitaph)

The Messthenics & James Brandon Lewis: Deface the Currency (Impulse!) ****

Van Morrison: Someone Tried to Sell Me a Bridge (Exile Productions) ***

Nandipha808: No Vocal Album (self-released) DECEMBER ’25 ****

The Outskirts: Orbital (Aerophonic) (out April 7th)

Grant Peeples: Code to Live By (self-released) DECEMBER ’25 ****

#Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical: Galaxia Tropical (Analog Africa) ***

Tomeka Reid: dance! skip! hop! (Out of Your Head Records) ****

Ren: Vincent’s Tale (self-released…I think) 

Ren: Sick Boi Live at Dead Wax (self-released) ***

Ratboy: Singin’ to an Empty Chair (New West) ****

Steve Roach: Sentient Being (Soundquest) ***

Talibah Safiya: Eternal (self-released…I think) ****

SAULT: Chapter 1 (Forever Living Originals) ***

Noé Sécula & Jorge Rossy: A Sphere Between Other Obsessions (Fresh Sounds) ***

#Alan Silva Celestrial Communication Ensemble: 2000-06-24 Amherst (Eremite) ****

Slutworld: Slut Intent (self-released EP)

Harriet Tubman & Georgia Muldrow: Electrical Field of Love (Pi Recordings)

Twisted Teens: Blame the Clown (Jazz Life) ***

Work Money Death: A Portal to Here (ATA) ****

2025: Gone But Too Cool for Me To Have Forgotten

#Kelan Phil Cohran & Legacy: African Skies (Listening Position)

Blanco teta: La Debacle de las Divas (Les Disques Bongo Joe) (pictured above)

Kathleen Edwards: Billionaire (Dualtone) Thanks for your patience, Kenny Wright!

Tav Falco: Desire on Ice (Org Music) 

Rois: Mo Lean (self-released)

Vintage Albums I Deeply Enjoyed this Month

Louis Armstrong: Louis & The Big Bands

Big Boys: no matter how long the line is in the cafeteria there’s always a seat

Nick Brignola: On a Different Level

Butthole Surfers: PCPPEP

Joe King Carrasco and The Crowns: s/t + Synapse Gap

Ornette Coleman: Beauty is a Rare Thing

The Cramps: URGH! The Complete Show

Miles Davis: The Complete Concert 1964 + Highlight from the Plugged Nickel + Get Up With It

The Dicks: These People

Fela: The Best of the Black President 2 

Sinead O’Connor: The Lion and The Cobra + I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got + “Famine”/”All Apologies” CD Single + Throw Down Your Arms (killer reggae, seriously)

Pylon: Chomp

Sun Ra: The Nubians of Plutonia + The Singles + Cosmo Sun Connection

Hey! I Read, Too-and So Should You!

Martin Amis: Money (Penguin)

Pat Blashill: Someday All the Adults Will Die—The Birth of Texas Punk (University of Texas Press)

Judy Cheeks: Love and Honor—The Life of Reverend Julius Cheeks

Liadan Ni Chuinn: Every One is Still Here—Stories (Stinging Fly Press) (these short stories are astounding)

Byron Coley, Mats Gustafsson, and Thurston Moore: NOW JAZZ NOW—100 Free Jazz and Improvisation Albums (1960-1980) (Ecstatic Peace Library)

Jozsef Debreczeni (trans. Paul Olchvary): Cold Crematorium—Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz (St. Martin’s Press)

Alysson McCabe: Why Sinead O’Connor Matters (University of Texas Press)

Flannery O’Connor: The Violent Bear It Away (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux)

Orlando Reade: What in Me is Dark—The Revolutionary Afterlife of “Paradise Lost” (Astra House)

John Szwed: So What—The Life of Miles Davis (Simon & Schuster)

Paul Youngquist: A Pure Solar World—Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism (University of Texas Press)

LET’S STAMP (and maybe something GOOD will happen)!–Some of the Best New (and Newly Excavated Music) from 2022

Odd-servations:

  1. Up for a cool oud-fuelled album? I thought so. Jussi Reijonen’s Three Seconds I Kolme Toista (Challenge Records International) is just the thing for you. Reijonen (also on stunning guitars) is joined on his sophomore recording by players from Turkey, Jordan, Japan, Palestine, and America, on instrumentation ranging from violin to cello to microtonal piano, and creates a potent, moody brew that eludes genre and features fresh textures that connect back to the leader’s broad travels. “Something different” is a much-abused description, but this is that.
  2. I have missed Gogol Bordello. Lucky enough to have seen their live and mad rabble-rousing twice, I’ve wondered over the past couple of years just what they’d been up to. On first listen, I thought their new Solidaritine was a tad lacking in dynamics; on the second, third, fourth, and fifth listens I haven’t cared much. At all. Our rabble needs rousing, and sometimes dynamics can stall the ol’ rabble motor.
  3. I had to explain to several of my current students (I teach at the country’s second-oldest women’s college) that I was not pandering to their taste in admitting that I love the new Harry Styles album (he’s an acute singer–not just a cute one–I like the settings, and yes, it is dynamic) and like the new Taylor Swift album. The latter would be only the third one I’ve ever seriously listened to. The first was her first, which a fierce 10th grade student burned for me back in the burnin’ days and insisted I listen to; the second was the day before Midnights came out, at the behest of a fierce college sophomore who noted, after I mentioned in class that Mickey Guyton was working in the space Taylor made, that Taylor was in a whole different space and I needed to listen to Folklore, which I kind of loved until it went on too long (it–and the LONG version of Midnights–seemed like a marathon phone call from a friend with problems I wasn’t qualified to answer). But, hey, I listened to a couple artists I’d have been too snooty to before.
  4. Special shout out to the White Wino, who pushed me to check out the new Elaine Elias album, which is simply lush, rolling bossa nova sung and played with expertise and ease.
  5. I can always count on Jeffrey Lewis to write a song that hits me right where I’m living at the time. My oldest cat is still hangin’ in there, but Lewis’ writing on his new record’s title cut is all too specific.
  6. Anybody know Cecilia, Louisiana’s Dickie Landry? Sharp-as-a-tack horn player with the Cajun Traveling Wilburys–Little Band of Gold–before that co-conspirator with the likes of Laurie Anderson and a frequent New Orleans bandleader, but most notably a genius musician who has never seen a challenge he didn’t like. Fans of Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together might want to make a bee-line to the 84-year-old’s new music-and-spoken-word album with Lawrence Weiner (#118 below).
  7. Speaking of numbers? I would not trust my current numbering system as reliable rankings even as far as my own favorites are concerned. A simply overwhelming amount of music is roaring out, and this is just a hobby for me, ya hear? A HOBBY!
  8. This month, I happened upon an article about a group I’d never heard of, Les Rallizes Denudes, and record label Temporal Drift’s superb effort to bring them to our attention (out digitally but not as a physical copy). If you love “I Heard Her Call My Name” and the Velvets’ dynamics–there’s that word again–in particular, I strongly recommend you at least sample the group’s Oz Days recordings.
  9. If you’re a Ran Blake fan (his The Short Life of Barbara Monk is one of the most heartbreaking jazz records ever recorded), don’t miss his tender, wistful, autumnal Tompkins Square record, perfectly titled Driftwoods. Give the man props while he’s livin’, as a very wise man who is no longer with us once said.
  10. Joyce Moreno! Joyce Moreno! Joyce Moreno! See Brazil Beat to find out what’s right with me–and Joyce!

Note: New additions to the list are in bold.

RELEASES OF NEWLY-MADE MUSIC

Jerry Lee Lewis…so long.

  1. 75 Dollar Bill: Social Music at Troost, Volume 3–Other People’s Music (Black Editions Group)
  2. Rosalia: MOTOMAMI (Columbia)
  3. Willie Nelson: A Beautiful Time (Sony)
  4. Beyoncé: Renaissance (Parkwood Entertainment)
  5. Tanya TagaqTongues (Six Shooter) 
  6. Ricky Ford: The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford—Paul’s Scene (Whaling City Sounds)
  7. Stro Elliot & James Brown: Black & Loud—James Brown Reimagined (Polydor)
  8. Gogol Bordello: Solidaritine (Das Grand Kapital)
  9. Tommy Womack: I Thought I Was Fine (Schoolkids Records)
  10. Wadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets (TUM)
  11. Wet Leg: Wet Leg (Domino)
  12. Anitta: Versions of Me (Deluxe) (Warner)
  13. Ka: Languish Arts (Iron Works)
  14. The Mountain Goats: Bleed Out (Merge)
  15. Sudan ArchivesNatural Brown Prom Queen (Stones Throw)
  16. Lady Wray: Piece of Me (Big Crown)
  17. Harry Styles: Harry’s House (Columbia)
  18. Bob Vylan: Bob Vylan Presents The Price of Life (Ghost Theatre)
  19. Horace Andy: Midnight Rocker (On-U Sound)
  20. Superchunk: Wild Loneliness (Merge)
  21. Gonora Sounds: Hard Times Never Kill (Phantom Limb)
  22. Amanda Shires: Take It Like a Man (ATO)
  23. black midi: Hellfire (Rough Trade)
  24. Heroes Are Gang Leaders: LeAutoRoiGraphy (577 Records)
  25. ensemble 0: Music Nuvulosa (Sub Rosa)
  26. Ches Smith: Interpret It Well (Pyroclastic)
  27. The Ogun Meji DuoFreedom Suite (self-released)
  28. PhelimuncasiAma Gogela (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  29. 700 Bliss: Nothing to Declare (Hyperdub)
  30. The Chats: Get Fucked (Cooking Vinyl)
  31. Jinx Lennon: Pet Rent (Septic Tiger)
  32. Steve Lacy: Gemini Rights (RCA)
  33. Freakons: Freakons (Fluff & Gravy)
  34. Mary Gauthier: Dark Enough to See the Stars (Thirty Tigers)
  35. Etran de L’AirAgadez (Sahel Sounds)
  36. Homeboy Sandman: I Can’t Sell These (self-released)
  37. Bitchin’ Bajas: Bajascillators (Drag City)
  38. Miranda Lambert: Palomino (Vanner)
  39. Horsegirl: “Billy” / “History Lesson, Part II” (Matador)
  40. Mark Lomax Trio: Plays Mingus (CFG Multimedia)
  41. Florian ArbenzConversation #5—Elemental; Conversations #6 and 7
  42. Moor Mother: Jazz Codes (Anti-)
  43. Mdou Moctar: Niger EP Volume 1 (Matador)
  44. Various Artists: Lespri Ka—New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe (Time Capsule Sounds) 
  45. Billy Woods: Aethiope(Backwoodz Studios)
  46. Mark Lomax II: Prismatic Refractions, Volume I (self-released)
  47. James Brandon Lewis: MSM Molecular Systematic Music—Live (Intakt)
  48. Daniel Villareal: Panama ’77 (International Anthem)
  49. Kehlani: blue water road (TSNMI/Atlantic)
  50. Elaine Elias: Quietude (Candid)
  51. Horace Andy: Midnight Scorchers (On-U Sound)
  52. Ka: Woeful Studies (Iron Works)
  53. Lucrecia Dalt: Ay! (RVNG International)
  54. Amber Mark:Three Dimensions Deep (PMR / Interscope) 
  55. Morgan Wade: Reckless (Deluxe) (Ladylike) 
  56. Zoh Amba: O, Sun (Tzadik)
  57. Jussi Reijonen: Three Seconds I Kolme Toista (Challenge Records International)
  58. Ran Blake: Driftwoods (Tompkins Square)
  59. Whit Dickey: Root Perspectives (Tao Forms)
  60. Dan Ex MachinaAll is Ours, Nothing is Theirs (self-released)
  61. Anna von HausswoolffLive at Montreaux Jazz Festival (Southern Lord) 
  62. Felipe Salles: Tiyo’s Songs of Life (Tapestry)
  63. Steve Lehman: Xaybu—The Unseen(Pi Recordings)
  64. Tom ZéLingua Brasiliera (Selo Sesc)
  65. M.I.A.: Mata (Island)
  66. Taylor Swift: Midnights (non-expanded) (Republic)
  67. Nancy Mounir: Nozhet El Nofous (Terrorbird)
  68. Rick Rosato: Homage (self-released)
  69. The Beths: Expert in a Dying Field (Carpark)
  70. Alvvays: Blue Rev (Polyvinyl / Transgressive)
  71. Oumou Sangare: Timbuktu (World Circuit Limited)
  72. Various Artists: Hidden Waters—Strange and Sublime Sounds from Rio de Janiero (Sounds and Colours)
  73. Sun Ra Arkestra (featuring Marshall Allen): Living Sky (Strut / Omni Sound)
  74. SeaJun Kwon: Micro Nap (Endectomorph Music)
  75. Gilla Band: Most Normal (Rough Trade)
  76. Brian Eno: FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE (Verve / UMC)
  77. Nduduzo Makhathini: In the Spirit of Ntu (Universal)
  78. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity:Elastic Wave (ECM)
  79. Miguel Zeñon: Musica de las Americas (Miel Music)
  80. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: Lift Every Voice (Division 81 Records)
  81. Tyshawn Sorey: The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism (Pi)
  82. Priscilla BlockWelcome to the Block Party (InDent)
  83. The Comet is Coming: Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam (Impulse)
  84. Serengeti: Kaleidoscope III (Audiocon)
  85. Kendrick Lamar: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (pgLang/Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath/Interscope)
  86. Makaya McCraven: In These Times (International Anthem)
  87. Charm Taylor: She Is The Future (Sinking City)
  88. OGJB: Ode to O (TUM) (Note: Band name – O = Oliver Lake, G = Graham Haynes, J = Joe Fonda, B = Barry Altschul / Title – O = Ornette) 
  89. Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, and Enrico Rava: Two Blues for Cecil (TUM) 
  90. Luke Stewart’s Silt TrioThe Bottom (Cuneiform) 
  91. Tyler Mitchell: Dancing Shadows (featuring Marshall Allen) (Mahakala Music)
  92. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 2—Joy Boy (New Amsterdam)
  93. Crow Billiken (aka R.A.P. Ferreira): If I don’t have red I use blue (self-released)
  94. The Paranoid Style: For Executive Meeting(Bar/None)
  95. Carl Stone: Wat Dong Moon Lek (Unseen Worlds)
  96. Joy Guidry:Radical Acceptance (Whited Sepulchre)
  97. Meridian Brothers and El Grupo & Renacimiento (Ansonia)
  98. Marxist Love Disco Ensemble: MLDE(Mr. Bongo)
  99. Jeffrey Lewis: When That Really Old Cat Dies (self-released)
  100. Mitski: Laurel Hell (Dead Oceans)
  101. Jockstrap: Jockstrap (Rough Trade)
  102. Breath of Air: Breath of Air (Burning Ambulance Music)
  103. Immanuel Wilkins: The 7th Hand (Blue Note) 
  104. David Murray Brave New World Trio: Seriana Promethea (Intakt)
  105. Fulu MizikiNgbaka (EP)
  106. David Virelles: Nuna (Pi / El Tivoli)
  107. Javon Jackson & Nikki Giovanni: The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni (Solid Jackson) 
  108. Leikeli47: Shape Up (Hardcover/RCA)
  109. Witchcraft BooksVolume 1—The Sundisk (Iapetus Records)
  110. Hurray for The Riff Raff: Life on Earth (Nonesuch)
  111. Rokia Koné and Jacknife Lee: Bamanan (3DFamily)
  112. Tomas Fujiwara: Triple Double (Firehouse 12)
  113. DJ Black Low: Uwami (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
  114. Ibibio Sound Machine:Electricity (Merge)
  115. Zoh Amba: O Life, O Light, Volume 1(577 Records)
  116. Burton/McPherson Trio: The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village (Giant Step Arts)
  117. Kahil El’Zabar Quartet: A Time for Healing (Spirit Muse)
  118. Pastor Champion: I Just Want to Be a Good Man (Luaka Bop)
  119. Dickie Landry & Lawrence Weiner: Having Been Built on Sand (Unseen Worlds)
  120. Nduduzo Makhathini: In the Spirit of Ntu (Blue Note)
  121. Pusha T: It’s Almost Dry (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)
  122. Elza SoaresElza Ao Vivo No Municipal (Deck)
  123. Nilufer Yanya: Painless (ATO)
  124. Open Mike Eagle: a tape called component system with the auto reverse (Auto Reverse)
  125. Tommy McLain: I Ran Down Every Dream (Yep Roc)
  126. Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda: Thread of Light (Fundacja Słuchaj)
  127. Charli XCX: Crash (Atlantic)
  128. Pete Malinverni: On the Town—Pete Malinverni Plays Leonard Bernstein (Planet Arts) 
  129. JID: The Forever Story (Dreamville)
  130. Dedicated Men of Zion: The Devil Don’t Like It (Bible & Tire)
  131. Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Mesmerism (Pi Recordings)
  132. Space AfrikaHonest Labour (Dais)
  133. Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer (DeeWee)
  134. Earl Sweatshirt: Sick! (Tan Cressida / Warner) 
  135. Big Thief: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (4AD)
  136. Ashley McBryde: Presents…Lindeville (Warner Nashville)
  137. Jeff Arnal and Curt Cloninger: Drum Major Instinct (Mahakala Music)
  138. Tee Grizzley: Half Tee Half Beast (self-released)
  139. Hoodoo Gurus: Chariot of The Gods (Big Time Photographic Recordings)
  140. Natsuki TamuraSummer Tree (Libra)
  141. (D)ivo: Perelman, Berne, Malaby, Carter (Mahakala Music)
  142. Daniel Carter et al.: Telepatica (577 Records)
  143. Ghais Guevara: There Will Be No Super-Slave (self-released)
  144. Pierre Kwenders: Jose Louis and the Paradox of Love (Arts & Crafts)
  145. Manel Fortia: Despertar (Segell Microscopi/Altafonte)
  146. Ray Wylie Hubbard: Co-Starring Too (Big Machine)
  147. Various Artists: if you fart make it sound good (WA Records)
  148. Marta Sanchez: SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) (Whirlwind)
  149. Sonnyjim & The Purist: White Girl Wasted (Duape)
  150. Earthgang: Ghetto Gods (Dreamville/Interscope)
  151. Mavis Staples & Levon Helm: Carry Me Home (Anti-)
  152. Panda Bear & Sonic Boom: Reset (Domino)
  153. Blue Reality Quartet: Ella’s Island (Mahakala Music)
  154. Sarah Ruth and Monte Espina: quatro estaciones (Full Spectrum)

ARCHIVAL DIGS

  1. Los Golden Boys: Cumbia de Juventud (Mississippi Records)
  2. Albert Ayler: Revelations—The Complete ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings (Elemental)
  3. Cecil Taylor:The Complete Legendary Live Return Concert at the Town Hall (Oblivion)
  4. Tommy Womack: 30 Years Shot to Hell! An Anthology (Schoolkids Records)
  5. Various Artists: Lovers Rock—The Soulful Sound of Romantic Reggae (Trojan)
  6. Albert Ayler: La Cave Live 1966 (Ezz-Thetics) 
  7. Various Artists: Cumbia Sabrosa—Tropical Sound System Bangers From The Discos Fuentes Vaults 1961-1981 (Rocafort Records)
  8. Biluka y Los Canibales: Leaf-Playing in Quito (1960-1965) (Honest Jon’s)
  9. Various Artists: OZ DAYS LIVE ’72​-​’73 Kichijoji–The 50th Anniversary Collection (featuring Les Rallizes Dénudés)  (Temporal Drift)
  10. Various Artists: A Chat About the Beauty of the Moon at Night–Hawaiian Steel Guitar Masters 1913-1921 (Magnificent Sounds)
  11. The Rolling Stones: Live at the El Mocambo (Interscope)
  12. Son House: Forever on My Mind (Easy Eye Sound)
  13. Lavender Country: Blackberry Rose and Other Songs & Sorrows (Don Giovanni)
  14. Mal Waldron: Searching in Grenoble—The 1978 Solo Piano Concert (Tompkins Square)
  15. Horace Tapscott Quintet: The Quintet (Mr. Bongo)
  16. Horace Tapscott Quintet: Legacies for Our Grandchildren (Dark Tree)
  17. Various Artists: The D-Vine Spirituals—Sacred Soul (Bible & Tire)
  18. Kabaka International Guitar Band: Kabaka International Guitar Band (Palenque Records)
  19. The Pyramids: AOMAWA—The 1970s Recordings (Strut)
  20. Hermeto Pascoal: Hermeto (Far Out Recordings)
  21. Sun Ra: Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt (Strut)
  22. Asha Puthi: The Essential Asha Puthi (Mr. Bongo)
  23. Malik’s Emerging Force Art Trio: Time and Condition (moved-by-sound)
  24. Volta Jazz: Air Volta (Numero)
  25. Blondie: Against the Odds—1974-1982 (3-CD Rarities Version) (UMe / Numero Group)
  26. Joyce Moreno: Natureza (Far Out Recordings)
  27. Various Artists: From Lion Mountain—Traditional Music of Yeha, Ethiopia (Dust-to-Digital)
  28. Charles Stepney: Step-on-Step(International Anthem)
  29. Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come is Now (ESP-Disk)
  30. John Ondolo: Hypnotic Guitar of John Ondolo (Mississippi Records)
  31. Luciano Luciani y sus Mulatos: Mulata, vamos a la Salsa (Vampisoul)
  32. Cecil Taylor: Respiration (Fundacja Stuchaj)
  33. Norma Tanega: Studio and Demo Recordings, 1964-1971 (Anthology)
  34. Irma Thomas: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976 (Good Time)
  35. Afrika Negra: Antologia, Volume 1 (Bongo Joe)
  36. Various Artists: Summer of Soul (Legacy)
  37. The Heartbreakers: LAMF—The ’77 Found Mixes (Jungle)
  38. Various Artists: Let’s Stamp—1950s Folk Dance Recordings from Bulgarian and Yugoslavian 78 Discs (Canary Recordings)