Album of the week : Princes Amongst Men compiled by Garth Cartwright.

Big Mamas, Bagpipes, Brass and Foxy Minxes, its strange how the broadcasts seem to put themselves together these days. We glide into the show gracefully with three magnificent women's voices all new releases. Followed by another cut from Inka Mbing's album, so taken am I with it. Then its off to Spain for some Galician pipe playing from Xose Manuel Budino, picking up the pipes that kick start Reem Kelani's Sprinting Gazelle. Before we go to the Balkans for some brass there's a bit English folk style brass from Bellowhead's new album before we head of into Bulgaria and our chat with Garth Cartwright about our album of the week.

We also preview the Ramadan nights festival and hook up with Reem on the phone to talk about her sell out concert and to find out who she's looking forward to seeing at the Barbican. Finally, DJ Debbie joins us to give us the London lowdown.

I received the Princes Amongst Men back in the summer but held it back a bit until its UK release but I did play Sofia Marinova and regular listeners will know the track completely floored me. Not being fluent in the Bulgarian language I haven't been able to find out much about her so
I was pleased to be able to meet up with Garth when I was last in London. Trying to find a quiet place to conduct a radio interview in London was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, after a coffee stop we hit on the idea of the National Gallery - remind me to take some WD40 for their squeeky doors...

He's also given us a couple of images from his travels. Garth recounts what drew him to the Balkans, some of his memorable moments and picks three cuts from the cd for us to enjoy.

A scene from the streets of Guca during the brass festival

A scene from one of the Mahala's

Hope you hear something you enjoy.

Podcasts

Download the Podcast. Or listen online:

Download Podcast, part 2. or listen online:

Playlist