The Rough Guide to the Best African Music You've Never Heard

In The Rough Guide to the Best Music You've Never Heard, a book published in 2009, this author explored some of the great sounds that have slipped beneath the radar of mainstream recognition over the years. Its orientation was primarily Anglo-American and there was little space to cover African musicians. Happily, World Music Network's Phil Stanton has filled the gap with this excellent compilation of artists whose names may be unknown even to Songlines’ erudite readers. Half a dozen tracks are taken from previous WMN releases – which is fair enough when they include Ethiopia's cracking Krar Collective and the wonderfully strange, trance-like percussion of the South Sudanese troupe Wayo.

For the rest, Stanton has tapped deep into the undiscovered well of African musical talent to bring to our attention such fine acts as Mali traditionalists Djama Djigui, Mozambican dance band Sigauque Project and Paris-based Fela disciples Anergy Afrobeat, plus a dip into archival obscurity to rescue the splendid Baobab-like lilt of 1970s Senegalese band Le Sahel. A second bonus disc presents a dozen tracks by Sotho Sounds, the rustic-but-funky troupe of Lesotho shepherds whose album Junk Funk first appeared on World Music Network in 2012.