Best Albums of 2013: Mid-Year Report

Meet your new guitar hero: Omara "Bombino" Moctar, a firebrand from Niger with a soulful, fuzzy sound that expands on traditional roots music. Produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, the album is all about detail, with vibraphone, lapsteel and hand claps placed just right to pierce the psychedelic swirl.

From the RS review: "Bombino's style is raw, spacious, tuneful, deeply hypnotic and remarkably fluid – even when he's shooting rapid-fire notes, the effect is like ripples gently unfurling in a pond."