Around the World - Show Notes
8 May 2026
What’s on this week
LISTEN TO AROUND THE WORLD ON MIXCLOUD
Music by: Amsterdam Klezmer Band, Antoine Dougbé, Beatrice Deer, Berima Amo, Cheikh Ibra Fam, Dani Larkin, Elias Bachoura, Fatoumata Diawara, Fenya Rai, Inude & Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Kareyce Fotso, Kasbah Rockers & Amin Wayne, Las Hermanas Caronni, Lívia Mattos, Lucas Santtana, Manu Chao & Willie Nelson, Minyo Crusaders & Frente Cumbiero, Nuevos Rios, Oum, Saly Kouyaté, Souad Massi, Spokanki, Tamikrest, The Unthanks, and Trèvol.
This week’s Featured Album: Suistamon Sähkö’s Lunta tupaan
Suistamon Sähkö: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Suistamon Sähkö’s new album Lunta tupaan pushes their trademark etnotekno into sharper, more urgent focus, drawing on deep Karelian roots while sounding unmistakably contemporary.
Suistamon Sähkö come from the Finnish–Karelian borderlands, a region whose musical traditions—accordion-driven dance tunes, village chants, and rugged rhythmic patterns—form the bedrock of their sound. From that foundation, the group build something far wilder: a collision of ethno‑techno, hip‑hop, rave energy, and Soviet‑era accordion grit, a style they’ve honed across Finnish and international stages.
The band’s line‑up brings together musicians steeped in both folk research and experimental electronics. Anne‑Mari Kivimäki, an accordionist with deep research ties to Karelian traditions, anchors the group’s melodic core. Eero Grundström (and at times Antti Puumalainen) supplies the synths and beats, that push the music into club territory. Vocalists and dancers Reetta‑Kaisa Iles and Tuomas Juntunen add a theatrical, percussive physicality, turning performances into kinetic rituals.
Lunta tupaan, released in 2026, is the band’s fourth full‑length album, following their 2021 breakthrough Varokaa! Hengenvaara. It continues their exploration of what they call etnotamppausta—a chest‑thumping, rhythm‑forward approach that asks how to remain human, warm, and connected in difficult times. The songs grapple with questions of resilience and community, wrapped in the group’s signature mix of accordion shredding, electronic pulse, and chant‑like vocals.
The album arrives after years of rising international attention, including appearances at WOMEX, Folk Alliance International, Tallinn Music Week, and globalFEST’s Tiny Desk series. Their music videos—more than a dozen—have also earned acclaim, with “Kutsu” winning the top prize at the Oulu Music Video Festival.
Band’s website: suistamonsahko.fi
AI researched - human edited
Notes on some of the other music on this week’s show
Tamikrest – Assikel
Sixth studio album from the Saharan Tuareg band, released 15 May 2026, recorded live to analogue tape to capture raw interplay and atmosphere. Source: tamikrest.bandcamp.com Forced Exposure
Minyo Crusaders & Frente Cumbiero – From Japan With Love
Released 26 June 2026, the album reimagines traditional Japanese min’yō folk songs through Latin, African, and Caribbean rhythmic frameworks. Source: Blue Note Records That Eric Alper
Kareyce Fotso – Gwà (feat. Blick Bassy & Romain Jovion)
Released 18 April 2026, Gwà is an album centred on women’s stories, addressing violence, resilience, and liberation. Co‑produced and co‑composed with Blick Bassy, with Romain Jovion contributing synthesizer, bass, drums, and sound design. Source: kareycefotso.bandcamp.com
Cheikh Ibra Fam – Adouna
Adouna is described as a deeply personal album shaped by themes of knowledge, faith, unity, migration, love, and transformation, recorded across Réunion Island, Senegal, France, and Canada. Source: Grateful Web groove-africa.com
Amsterdam Klezmer Band – Diaspora
Released 20 March 2026, Diaspora marks the band’s return to acoustic roots, recorded almost entirely in one take at Amsterdam’s Singelkerk on 26 November 2025. amsterdamklezmerband.bandcamp.com
Dani Larkin – Next of Kin
Co‑produced with Ruth O’Mahony Brady (credits include Sam Smith, Feist, Gorillaz, The Frames), the album explores life’s milestones from birth to death in a three‑part narrative structure. Rough Trade resident
Lucas Santtana – Brasiliano
The album features an extensive list of collaborators, including Gilberto Gil, Oxmo Puccino, Chico César, Piers Faccini, Os Paralamas do Sucesso, and others. Sung in eight different languages, the record treats language as both a musical instrument and a political tool, exploring identity, heritage, and cultural memory. Source: lucassant.bandcamp.com
Elias Bachoura – Biharayto
Biharayto is the debut solo album by Syrian‑Dutch oud player Elias Bachoura, released in 2024 and rooted in Levantine classical and folk traditions. The title comes from the Syriac/Aramaic word for “springtime”, reflecting themes of renewal and cultural continuity. The album was released on the Xango Music label, which has been central in promoting contemporary Middle Eastern and diasporic artists across Europe.
Spokanki – Mamega (Single)
Spokanki is a Polish‑Belarusian vocal trio known for re‑imagining Eastern European village polyphony with minimalist, modern arrangements. The track foregrounds three‑part close harmony, recorded with minimal processing to preserve the raw vocal timbre. Spokanki emerged from the Polish folk‑revival scene, with members connected to grassroots singing circles and ethnographic fieldwork.
The Unthanks – Songs from the Shipyards (Diversions Vol. 3)
Released in 2012, this album is built from music originally created for Richard Fenwick’s film Songs from the Shipyards, commissioned by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. The project explores the history of shipbuilding on the Tyne, Wear, and Tees, using archive
Souad Massi – Zagate
Zagate was released in 2026 on Backing Track Production, positioned as the most outspoken and liberated album of Massi’s career. The title comes from the French expression “ça se gâte”, used in Algeria to mean “things are getting worse”, reflecting the album’s political and emotional themes. Source: mag.highresaudio.com resident
Nuevos Ríos – Nuevos Ríos
Released 27 March 2026 on ZZK Records, the album marks a collaboration between Nidia Góngora (Canalón de Timbiquí) and the Toulouse‑based trio Reco Reco. Source: PopMatters The project blends Afro‑Colombian Pacific traditions with electronic and amplified elements, developed through improvised sessions in Timbiquí, Colombia. Source: PopMatters Crash Records
Trèvol – Lo Pardal (Single)
Lo Pardal is the first single from the second studio album by the Catalan folk group Trèvol, titled Folk d’extraradi, which is scheduled for release in May 2026. The track features the folk group El Pony Pisador, who contributed bagpipes, fiddle, and a large choral sound to the vocal sections.
Las Hermanas Caronni, El espacio del tiempo
Las Hermanas Caronni are twin sisters Laura and Gianna Caronni, Argentinian-born and long based in France, known for their intimate blend of chamber music, Argentine folk, tango, and European impressionism. Their work is rooted in their multicultural heritage and shaped by cello, clarinet, and close vocal harmony.
Beatrice Deer – Inuit Legend
Inuit Legend (2022) blends Inuktitut lyrics, alt‑pop, and traditional Inuit throat‑singing, reflecting Deer’s dual identity as a Montreal‑based Nunavik artist. The album retells Inuit myths and ancestral stories, positioning them within modern arrangements and personal narratives. Deer is known as the “Inuindie” pioneer, fusing Indigenous vocal traditions with indie‑rock and synth‑pop.
Oum – DIALDDAR
DIALDDAR is the 2026 album by Moroccan singer Oum, released on Lusafrica, and recorded between Marrakech and Paris. The title combines Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and Hassaniya, reflecting Oum’s interest in linguistic and cultural bridges across North Africa and the Sahara. Musically it blends gnawa rhythms, desert blues, jazz instrumentation, and Afro‑Arab vocal phrasing, continuing her pan‑Saharan aesthetic.
Berima Amo – Rhythms of Love
Rhythms of Love is a 2026 release by Ghanaian percussionist and vocalist Berima Amo, known for blending highlife, Afro‑fusion, and traditional Akan rhythms. The album foregrounds hand percussion, palm‑wine guitar lines, and call‑and‑response vocals rooted in Ghanaian communal music.
Fenya Rai – 10 anys de Fenya
10 anys de Fenya marks the 10th anniversary of the Catalan folk‑fusion group Fenya Rai, released in 2025. The album revisits their repertoire with new arrangements of rumba catalana, Balkan brass, and Mediterranean folk, reflecting their live‑band energy.
Saly Kouyaté – Mali Kelen
Mali Kelen is the 2026 album by Malian singer and guitarist Saly Kouyaté, known for blending Bambara tradition with contemporary Sahelian pop. The title translates as “One Mali”, reflecting themes of unity, social cohesion, and cultural pride. The album features ngoni, balafon, and electric guitar, creating a bridge between griot heritage and modern Mandé arrangements.
Antoine Dougbé – Antoine Dougbé et L’Orchestre Poly‑Rythmo de Cotonou (Analog Africa No. 44)
This release is part of Analog Africa’s archival series, spotlighting Antoine Dougbé, a key figure in Benin’s agbadja‑funk movement of the 1970s. The compilation draws from sessions with Orchestre Poly‑Rythmo de Cotonou, known for their blend of vodun rhythms, funk, soul, and highlife.
Where and when to hear Around the World
Friday:
Akaroa World Radio New Zealand - 2:00 pm local time
NAR-GROUP Germany – 2:00 pm local time
Mosel Radio Germany – 2:00 pm local time
NAR-Alf Germany – 2:00 pm local time
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time
Essential Radio Scotland - 10:00 midnight
Saturday:
Best City Radio (Belfast, Northern Ireland) - 6:00 am local time
Power 101FM Malawi - 11:00 local time
Flirt FM (Galway’s Community of Interest & Student Station) 101.3 - 10:45 am local time Ireland
Stirling Community Radio - 2:00 pm local time Scotland
RCFM (Radio City FM) Duisburg, Germany - 3:00 local time
World FM New Zealand - 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time
Sunday:
Power 101FM Malawi - 12:00 local time
NFRS Osaka Japan - 12:00 noon local time
973FM in Singapore - 11:00 pm local time
Circl8 Chester England - 12:00 noon local time
DCRFM (Dover Community Radio England - 7:00pm local time
Prodigal Sun Radio - 8:00 pm local time
Slice Audio Northern Ireland - 10:00 pm local time
Holywood Radio - Northern Ireland - 10:00 pm local time
Monday:
Armagh City Radio - 12:00 midnight local time (01:00 pm CET)
SparkFlame Radio - 00:00 am GMT (01:00 CET)
Circl8 Chester England - 12:00 noon local time
Stirling Community Radio Scotland - 10:00 pm local time
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time
BR2 Pure Gold Radio – Costa Blanca, Spain - 10:00 pm local time
World FM New Zealand - 10:00 am local time
Akaroa World Radio New Zealand - 10:00 pm local time
Tuesday:
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time
Wednesday:
World FM New Zealand - 4:00 am local time
Slice Audio Northern Ireland - 4:00 am local time
Best City Radio Northern Ireland - 10:00 pm local time
Radio Skye Scotland - 10:00 pm local time
Thursday:
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time