Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz
Sweet Mother

Hurray for the Riff Raff release Small Town Heroes, its debut for ATO Records. The album features frontwoman Alynda Lee Segarra - who settled in New Orleans after leaving her native Bronx at age 17- with twelve new, original songs all written or co-written by Segarra, with support from a vivid cast of Crescent City musicians. Hurray for the Riff Raff 'sweeps across eras and genres with grace and grit,' never more so than on 'Small Town Heroes.' On the hedonist country lament 'I Know It's Wrong (But That's Alright)' Segarra sings to a forbidden love "I'll feed you watermelon off the vine," while on 'The Body Electric' she exposes the misogyny of the traditional murder ballad, and warns "Delia's gone, but I'm settling the score." Ultimately though, many of the songs embody that most magical and fated of American cities, New Orleans. Segarra bears witness to a wave of violence that struck the St. Roch neighbourhood in 'St. Roch Blues;' yearns for a night at BJ's Bar in the Bywater in 'Crash on the Highway;' and sings of her own Lower Ninth Ward home in 'End of the Line.'

Various ‎– Le Congo Danse reissue A1 –Orchestre O.K. Jazz* Lumumba Heros National 6:10A2 –Orchestre Bantou* Monsieur, On Va Se Marier 4:36A3 –Orchestre Beguen Band Tshanana 3:20A4 –Paul Ebeny Et L'Orchestre Ambiance Jazz* Malea Ma-Bobe 3:10A5 –Orchestre O.K. Jazz* Ah! Ne Croyez Jamais A Ces Belles Paroles 4:20B1 –Orchestre Cercul Jazz Brazza Tu Capital 4:15B2 –Orchestre Bantou* Mobali Ya Lisano 3:50B3 –Paul Ebeny Et L'Orchestre Ambiance Jazz* Ndo-Ndo 3:15B4 –Orchestre O.K. Jazz* Natali Yonso Pamba 4:50B5 –Orchestre Bantou* Carraguao Alante 4:10

Written after a trip home to Swaziland, now known as eSwatini, Sydney recorded the sound of life there after completing studies of sonic signatures and comparison of traditional instruments around the world. When there, the third generation Brownswood Future Bubbler artist hooked up with local man Ralph who took him on some rich journeys and to meet amazing local musicians, all with the aim of making a body of work that used traditional worldly sounds in authentic new ways.“The creative energy in eSwatini is so healthy and powerful that there's too many projects to list, but one that stood out was Mr Freddy, involving Ralph Smitt and Mwesigwa Kisaakye, a mixing bowl of psychedelic world improv which I helped record at Semitone Records, and later was mixed by myself and Louise Grainger and released via Stay Put, a small collective I am part of who run parties in Bristol and host a fortnightly radio show on Noods Radio. The Intro to the Album played by me and Ralph became the intro to this album as we shared the journey!”The richly atmospheric tracks are spiritual, organic affairs with indigenous percussion, tumbling drums and spoken word samples that are beautifully earthy. Broken beats with drifting sax lines, lazy deep house and jazzy hip hop that oozes soul all feature and make this record a perfectly escapist and immersive listen.