Album: Ba Cissoko, Seno, (Sterns Music)

You wouldn't think that the austere harp-like chime of intertwined koras would sit well with distorted bursts of lead guitar, but this Guinean quartet has a gift for making music that's greater than the sum of its parts.

The burnished laidback vocals of Kimintan Cissoko, in relation to the intricate polyrhythmic riffing, is a further happy juxtaposition. An occasional flirtation with reggae completes the picture. This is a pleasing refinement of the sound they presented on 2006's Electric Griot Land.

Pick of the album: 'Chauffeur Taxi' lightly folds reggae into the mix