Ode & Ballade by Skye Consort & Emma Bjorling brings stories of medieval saints and sacred wells, fair maidens outsmarting presumptuous knights, beautiful or boisterous drinking songs, thieves meeting their fate, heartbreaking love songs, groovy dance tunes, and celebrations of the return of Spring. The album combines elements from world music and classical traditions to narrate poems, tales, legends, and sonnets from Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, France and more.

SNOW RAVEN - SUOR was born in one of the most remote and cold inhabited places in the world - the Republic of Sakha - Yakutia (arctic Siberia). She was three years old when she started to learn the language of birds and animals. Her voice takes its breath from traditional Sakha culture and is truly an instrument. She is the OG of “arctic beatbox” - the reindeer breath and the founder of OLOX ecosystem: Of Many Believes Common Truth.

It's been 17 years since Ladysmith Black Mambazo's gorgeous vocal harmonies poured the foundation for Paul Simon's landmark 1986 album Graceland, an album that catapulted the South African a cappella gospel group into the international consciousness and led to worldwide stardom, a Grammy, film soundtracks, and candy commercials. Fans of the group's intricately arranged vocal landscapes will be pleased to know that all that ensuing attention hasn't diluted the group's appeal. Raise Your Spirit Higher, is as strong as anything the group has recorded in its now 30-year career. Ladysmith has always defined itself by merging Christian gospel music with a native South African musical tradition called isicathamiya, which was developed by mine workers who sang to entertain themselves after their grueling work.

In the early 1980s, a particular alchemy between new musical technologies and significant social, cultural, and political transformations in Ghana gave rise to a new style of highlife. Drum machines and synthesisers appeared alongside lilting guitar lines and punchy horns, and the emerging Ghanaian diaspora began incorporating US disco and boogie, R&B, European new wave, and Caribbean zouk and soca into their music.

Let go. Fall in. Follow the spiral, and find your centre. Move and whirl, headbang and hair whip, into a place that is out there and deep within, an altered state where minds open, boundaries fall away and trust - in values, principles, ourselves - is rediscovered, made real.

"VARI" is Varijashree Venugopal’s first original music album, produced by Grammy Award-winning artist Michael League, acclaimed for his work with Snarky Puppy. This album is an enriching exploration of the global soundscape, where Indian classical music meets a diverse array of musical traditions, all brought together by the rhythmic tapestry of Indian percussion. It is a sonic journey with a singular mission: to unite cultures through the universal language of music.

Artist Sina Vodjani (known through his recordings for the Buddha Bar, among other productions) travelled for many weeks through his native country of Iran, following in the tracks of the Persian prophet Zarathustra - often under the most adverse of conditions. He met up with priests and local musicians in Iran and captured the audio and visual impressions using microphones, video equipment and camera.

Miriam Makeba's sixth and final RCA Victor album largely abandoned the South African focus of her earlier recordings (particularly her most recent release, the joint LP An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba, which was devoted to songs in South African tribal languages) for a collection of mainstream pop on which she was backed by an orchestra conducted by Sid Bass.

Aba Diop & The Yermande Family and the various constellations of performer groups all have in common the sabar drum, its rhythms, and a captivating live performance at the heart of the music.

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré’s "Beautiful Africa" has been released on April 2013. The record was produced by English musician John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Sparklehorse) and recorded at Toybox Studios in Bristol, UK. Its lyrics are sung in the Malian–born Traoré’s native languages of French and Bambara, as well as some English.

Palesa Nomthandazo Phumelele Modiga, professionally known as Zoë Modiga is a South African singer and songwriter. Modiga first gained recognition as contestant on The Voice South Africa 2016.

For more than 30 years, South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo has infused its township sound of Isicathamiya with rich gospel harmonies. LBM's unique sound was brought to American audiences thanks to Paul Simon's landmark Graceland, and the group has toured and recorded tirelessly since. Long Walk To Freedom is a new retrospective in which the group rerecords new versions of songs from throughout its career with help from such guests as Emmylou Harris, Sarah McLachlan, Taj Mahal, and Zap Mama as well as several popular countrymen. As with the Simon album, the North American guests' voices fit hand-in-glove with the group's warm harmonies.

The spirited New York City-based ensemble East of the River debuts on AVIE with Ija Mia: Music of the Sephardic Diaspora.

Makatumbe regularly goes on treasure hunts for musical gems. The traditional-sounding melodies found or invented are packaged into modern dance grooves and peppered with many of our own sound ideas. The unusual line-up makes you sit up and take notice: vocal acrobatics à la beatbox, raggamuffin and overtone singing meet accordion and clarinet, drums and bass form the driving and grooving basic structure. On stage the band presents a very wide spectrum: from cumbia, reggae (sound) and hip-hop to Balkanesque and oriental to techno. What unites the band's sound is the explosive energy of the musicians. No dance stays still. At the finale of the creole festival 2017, Makatumbe won both the award for outstanding musical diversity and the audience award with his colorful palette and sparkling enthusiasm.

All 37 songs from Europe's favourite TV show contest together on this official compilation. This 68th edition of the competition will take place in Malmö, Sweden, in May.