Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

(Triple Door) Backed by Sub Pop, the Jon Kertzer—run world-music imprint Next Ambiance debuted with Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba's recently released I Speak Fula. The disc abounds with sprightly, spidery melodies and intricate gritty male/silky female vocal interplay in a tongue you probably can't understand, but you can certainly feel its pleasant timbre and vivid emotional tenor. While much of I Speak Fula moves at a fairly dignified gallop, tracks like "Musow" and "Saro" should raise shredders' pulses with its frantic plucking and quicksilver, crystalline ngonis (West African wooden lutes). The Mali-based Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba create mostly uplifting music, but it's tinged with an underlying bluesiness that keeps it from getting annoyingly gleeful. They achieve this delicate balance with magnificent poise and skill. DAVE SEGAL

Sister Wife, Cryptids, Erik Anarchy

(Funhouse) According to the Department of Random Trivial Information and Useful Statistics, a sister wife is "a woman who is another wife of her sister's husband in a polygamous marriage." That shit may fly in Utah, but Seattle indie-pop foursome Sister Wife share a different kind of big love: one capable of captivating hearts with meticulously crafted and catchy-as-all-hell power-pop hooks that your brain will never want to divorce. The band's carefree yet driven nature in song is remarkably refreshing, hitting all the sweet spots of the Zombies, Pavement, and Thee Oh Sees in one fell swoop. Not only are they attractive to the ears, they're also easy on the eyes. Let's all fall in love with Sister Wife together. TRAVIS RITTER

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