If you want to hear some music that’s really original, you could do a lot worse than checking out Ojos De Brujo’s wonderfully syncopated, flamenco-influenced Techarí.
Ojos De Brujo (Eyes of the Wizard) is a Barcelona-based world fusion group, with eight members that play everything from flamenco guitar to tablas to turntables. Guest on the release [...]

Applied Acoustics Systems has released Journeys for String Studio VS-1, the second title in its Sound Bank Series.
Description:
This 128-preset add-on complements the String Studio factory library, and is sound designer Gregory Simpson’s endeavor on sounds that evoke the essence of other times, places, or cultures.
Indeed, this collection is the perfect ticket for travelling from the [...]

Voices Have Eyes, the latest release from Eccodek (aka Canadian producer Andrew McPherson), is an interesting world music/electronica hybrid that puts the emphasis on musicianship, not loops and samples. With the help of a dozen vocalists and musicians from around the world, plus a choir, McPherson creates a rich musical stew.
McPherson makes extensive use of [...]

Belgian composer and synthesist Frank Van Bogaert’s latest CD, One Out of Five, is a greatest hits collection that brings together tracks from his five previous CDs, Colours (1998), Geographic (1999), Docking (2000), Human (2002) and Closer (2004).
Bogaert’s music is in the symphonic electronica tradition of synth artists like Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Deep Forest. [...]

Precisionsound has introduced Dream Whistles for HALion, and Kontakt.
The sound sources for the Dream Whistles SampleSet are five wooden recorders of different sizes; Bass, Alto, Tenor Soprano and Sopranino. “Dream Whistles” are recorded with lots of “air”, natural vibrato and glissando which you can control intuitively via Modulation wheel. This is a library of [...]

Precisionsound has introduced Greek Lira for HALion & NI Kontakt.
The Lira (kemance) is a traditional Greek instrument used in Mediterranean folk music - a small 3 stringed instrument played with a bow and with a quiet limited tonal range.
“We decided to sample the Lira in a way that makes it more like a universal ‘ethno [...]

Asura’s latest CD, Lost Eden, blends dance, trance, ambient and world music elements into a musical gumbo.
Asura is a French electronic group, made up of producer Charles Farewell, flutist Christopher Maze, and bassist/guitarist Alex Ackerman. There are echoes of artists like Peter Gabriel, Tangerine Dream and Banco de Gaia in Asura’s global groove style. The [...]

On Space Lullabies and Other Fantasmagore, Ekova creates an exciting potpourri of world influences. The music is danceable and melodic, but also explores new territory by recombining the elements of world music into something new.
Ekova makes music at the edge of recognition. Vocalist Dierdre Dubois vocalizes on most of their music using her own made-up [...]