War is a Wound, Peace is a Scar introduces you to great music that begs for backstory and context.

[xrr rating=4.5/5]Mauritania’s Noura Mint Seymali kicks out the jams in her international debut full-length, Tzenni, a masterpiece that incorporates spidery guitar lines, upbeat percussion and Seymali’s soaring vocals to jaw-dropping effect. While some Afro-pop records come off as worthy but dull, and others try to ape whatever trends are prevalent in the West at the time, Seymali’s offering avoids both …

[xrr rating=4.25/5]Soutak is Aziza Brahim’s first album for the always-interesting Glitterbeat label and it’s a corker. Brahim is currently based in Spain but was born and raised in the Saharawi refugee camps along the border of Algeria and Western Sahara that arose in the wake of Morocco’s 1975 invasion and occupation (an occupation that continues to this day). Her music …

[xrr rating=4.5/5]Lobi Traoré was one of Mali’s many musical treasures. A scorching-hot guitar player nicknamed “Africa’a Jimi Hendrix,” Traoré helped redefine the electric guitar’s role in African music until his death at age 49 in 2010. Although never as famous in the west as, say, Salif Keita, Baaba Maal or Ali Farka Touré (who produced Lobi’s 1995 release Bamako), Lobi …