Album: Les Amazones d'Afrique - Musow Danse

West African feminist collective blend sweet harmonies with gritty electronic sounds

This year marks ten years since Les Amazones d’Afrique first came together in Mali under the guidance of those giants of African pop, Mamani Keȋta, Oumou Sangare and Mariam Doumbia. It also sees the release of their third album, Musow Danse – but things are hardly business as usual, instead building ever higher on their infectious sound.

Albums of the Year 2023: Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure

The pleasure principle as a weapon against all that would drag us down

It was a year of bleak and brutal conflict, ugly and stupid imposition of power, overt Fascism in the mainstream public sphere, decay of infrastructure and apocalyptic weather. So what better than a record of total pleasure? And Janelle Monáe’s fourth album in 13 years really does do exactly what it says on the tin, in every possible ways. Over 14 songs in just 32 minutes, it positively glows with self-confidence, satsifaction, in-the-moment joy, and deeply felt sensualism.

Album: TONN3RR3 x BIKAY3 - It's a Bomb

Hear the forest spirits speak, filtered through electronica

Bony Biyake, whose vocals grace this delicious soup of ancient and modern sounds, from Europe and the Congo, once sang in a soukous band, and then made his name in collaborations with the French musical magician, the late Hector Zazou. Their most famous collaboration was a 1983 album, Noir et Blanc, which still sounds ahead of its time today.

Album: Burna Boy - I Told Them...

★★★★ BURNA BOY - I TOLD THEM... Still on remarkable musical form

More money, more worries? Perhaps - but Burna Boy is still on remarkable musical form

There’s been a lot of flak flying around this album already. It’s mainly been triggered by Burna Boy’s public activities which have included disparaging the wider Afrobeats music scene of West Africa, and some somewhat overcooked expressions of his pan-Africanist philosophy.

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