The Rough Guide To The Best World Music You've Never Heard

Wherever you travel on this planet, you can bet your bottom dollar that someone nearby is making music. Depending on your geographical co-ordinates you could hear young students scratching violins behind neat suburban front doors, the angsty thrashing of teen guitar bands lurking in the arches of grotty railways, the wistful warbling of a singer-songwriter shading under a tropical tree, the thump and thunder of a drum troupe storming a bombastic carnival parade. The list goes on, music is worldwide and music is unstoppable.

At World Music Network we are lucky enough to be sent remarkable demos from every corner of the globe. Who knows what unheard treats each postal delivery or email ping will reveal. Passionate about creating a platform for musicians worldwide to share their music, we created Battle of the Bands - an online competition for new music that provides winners with press coverage and industry exposure. This album is our compilation of the very best tracks from that crop. Electrifying in their eclecticism, united in their excellence: these tracks reveal just how much top quality music is being made out there right at this very minute. Dig in and dig deep, as we unearth these choice tracks for your veritable listening pleasure.

The Rough Guide To The Best World Music You've Never Heardopens with 'Pani Mottu' from Sicilian rock band Big Mimma. Chanting chorus, hypnotic oscillating bass, gutsy guitar and rumbling drums reference everything from heavy rock to African percussion and Brazilian guitar style. Other European entries include 'Mam Ja Meza' by Polish troubadours Chłopcy Kontra Basia. This tight jazz-funk track tells the story of a married woman seriously considering poisoning her intolerable husband with a deadly viper. Sutari are another Polish band making waves: 'Chłopacy (Boys)' features delicate plucked strings, close-harmony vocals and the sounds of a revving motorbike. 'Ikh Hob Dikh Tsufil Lib' is by Mostly Kosher, an American-based Jewish revival band that explore European klezmer and plaintive Yiddish melodies with a thick modern twist. Migala's track 'Rotta A Levante' mixes South-Italian tradition with added Irish and Balkan flavours. Oratnitza fuse their Bulgarian folkloric feel with hip-hop, dubstep and more rhythm-led dance dialogues. 'Mari Mariiko' is a fast and furious number with an infectious beat, fluttering flute and deeply sung vocals.

Hitching over to the African continent, Gabriella Ghermandi's scintillating track 'Aste Tewodros' is an Italian-Ethiopian voyage that stylishly sails from Eastern African jazz to European swing feel with no problem at all. Naba TT began her career as backing singer for her older sister Rokia Traoré. Naba's solo song 'Talibé' sings of the plight of young street children studying under corrupt marabouts(Islamic spiritual teachers). 'Sekou Amadou' comes from another Malian talent Anansy Cissé: his souped-up guitar oozes an agitated attitude that seeps into the sound. Heading west from Mali, we find ourselves in Senegal, home place of the griot Solo Cissokho whose mellifluous kora sparkles on 'Damma Gerve'. On said track, Solo is also joined by Lithuanian kankl√Ñ‚Äîsplayer Indre Jurgeleviči√Ö¬´t√Ñ‚Äî crafting an unusually evocative string texture. Heading north to Morocco, gnawa&;shy groover Simo Lagnawi summons the forest spirit Sandiye on his trance-inducing track 'Sandika'.

Heading up the South American vibes, LA band Salt Petal blur the boundaries of Argentinian folk, Brazilian tropicalia and indie rock on party tune 'Por La Luna'. Closing track 'Raag Charukeshi - Teental' is a meditative peaceful contribution from British-Indian Classical fusion duo Giuliano Modarelli &;amp Kamaljeet Ahluwalia.