At the top of the October Transglobal World Music Chart reigns Greek artist Stella Papalamprou with her debut album, while the chart also features a strong Slovak presence in the form of the compilation Slovakia: Folk to Global.
On the album “Protanixin”, Greek singer and Grevena native Stella Papalamprou returns to the roots of the historical region of Pontus by the Black Sea. The album, self-produced and independently released, features six traditional songs performed in Pontic Greek.
Papalamprou grew up in Western Macedonia – an area where various cultural influences naturally coexist (Epirote and Macedonian traditions, Vlach culture, the mountain heritage of the Kupatsarai community, and the music of displaced Pontic Greeks). In her work, however, she turns her specific attention to the Pontic repertoire, transforming it into a living, breathing language.
Sonic Intimacy and Musical Accompaniment
The core of the recording is Stella’s close musical symbiosis with Giorgos Vergos, whose family originates from the Matsouka region of historical Pontus. Vergos accompanies the singer on the traditional Pontic lyra, bagpipes (angion/tulum), and frame drum (bendiri), while percussionist Nikos Filippides provides driving bass rhythms on the davul drum. The acoustic arrangements are deliberately sparse, allowing the unique vocal ornamentation, phrasing, and raw connection of breath, strings, and percussion to fully stand out.
Top Albums Ranking, October 2026:
- Stella Papalamprou · Protanixin · Stella Papalamprou [-]
- Minyo Crusaders · From Japan with Love · Blue Note [1]
- Orquesta Akokán · América! · Daptone [4]
- Kay Slice · I Take U Highlife · Agogo [-]
- BaBa ZuLa · XXX · Glitterbeat [-]
- Orchestra Mambo International · ¡Apúntalo! · Loft Recordings [-]
- Fatoumata Diawara · Massa · Nø Førmat! [2]
- Mexican Institute of Sound & Meridian Brothers · Ruido Tovar · Ansonia [3]
- Alune Wade · Family Affair · Crescendo Sunu Production [-]
- Dur-Dur Band · Volume 3 (1988) & Volume 4 (1989) · Analog Africa [-]
- Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos · We Are Not the Headliner · Otá [35]
- Kitka · Kolo · Six Degrees [5]
- Ibrahim Maalouf · Trumpets of Michel-Ange, Vol. 2 · Mister Ibé [11]
- Arun Sood & Angeline Morrison · Donn/Dubh · Real World X [16]
- Officina Zoè · Mari e Marenne · Linfa [12]
- Hilal Kaya · Sümbül · CPL-Music / CPL-Musicgroup [10]
- JariBu Afrobeat Arkestra · M.T.T. (Money Talk Talk or Mad Tyrant T.) · Soul Garden [-]
- V.A. · Nigeria 80 · Strut [-]
- Beyrouth-Express · Meanwhile / Fi Hin Anna · VDE-Gallo [-]
- Seu Jorge · The Other Side · Amor in Sound [6]
- Lamia Yared · Zalzalian Crossings · Seyir Muzik [-]
- Isabel Novella · Nkati · Nice One Music [-]
- Meryem Koufi & Mehdi Haddab · Nuba Nova 2 · Buda Musique [-]
- Tengerton · Ilch · Buda Musique [14]
- Seffarine · Abaraz · Seffarine Music [-]
- Panjshanbe Maftun · Made in Lyublino: Afghan Songs · Antonovka / Hindukush Tapes [20]
- Joyce e Tutty Moreno & Adrian Younge · JID027 · Jazz Is Dead [38]
- Adam Rudolph · Invisible Threads · Omni Sound [-]
- V.A. · Sounds of Malawi, Vol. 1 · Hen House Studios [7]
- Elkhan Mansurov · Bayati-Isfahan Dastgah · Felmay [22]
- Mulato Bantú · Canto Cimarrón · Palenque [-]
- Cocanha · Flame Folclòre · Bongo Joe [8]
- Brama · La Raive · Airfono [-]
- BudaPesme · Makedonija · Balkan Heritage Cultural Center [17]
- Medusa Quartet · Weaving Gold in Broken Places · Medusa Quartet [19]
- V.A. · Slovakia: Folk to Global · CPL-Music / CPL-Musicgroup [-]
- L’Antidote · Sound Sketches · Ponderosa Music [-]
- Adrian Younge · Afro-Disco Makossa · Linear Labs [15]
- Allan Carvalho e Parceiros · 111 · Strank ‘n’ Chedd [-]
- Tilt · Wasm · Meshkat [-]
NMR (photo: press Stella Papalamprou)
Founder members and administrators Transglobal World Music Chart:
Ángel Romero (US), Araceli Tzigane (ES), Juan Antonio Vázquez (ES)
Current active members:
Enrique Blanc (MX), Tiago Lucas Garcia (BR), Zekeriya S. Şen (TR), Benjamín Muñiz (PR), Daryana Antipova (RU), Mika Kauhanen (FI), Luisa Piñeros (CO), Toni Pennacchia (US), Chen Hanzi (CN), Takuya “Salam” Unagami (JP), Janaína Ávila (BR), Ankur Malhotra (IN), Alexis Herrería (MX), Ula Nowak (PL), Banning Eyre (US), Magda Tejchma (PL), Tatiana Naryshkina (RU), Andrii Polianskyi (UA), Michael Rossi (UK), Nicky Blumenfeld [NickyB] (ZA), Ben Wheeler (GE/US), Darek Mazzone (PL/US), Junf Ga (MX), Piercarlo Poggio (IT), Nataliya Averina (Myazina) (RU), Labesse Patrick (FR), Seth Jordan (AU), Tony Hillier (AU), Charlie Crooijmans (NL), Nigel Wood (IE), Dore Stein (US), Roger Holdsworth (AU), Madan Rao (IN), Gil Medovoy (US), Chris Heim (US), Ciro De Rosa (IT), Scott Stevens (US), Hendrick T S Foh (MY), Cliff Furnald (US), Rob Weisberg (US), Toni Polo (FR/ES), Nicolás Falcoff (AR), Masakazu Kitanaka (JP), Jordi Demésenllà (ES), Rafael Mieses (DO/US), Luís Rei (PT), Jean Trouillet (DE), Evangeline Kim (US), Alejandro López (ES), Jon Kertzer (US), Ken Stowar (CA), Jiří Moravčík (CZ), Mu Qian (CN), Gil Rouvio (IL), Bouna Ndiaye (SN/US), Kutay Derin Kuğay (TR), Robert Gregor (SK), Yatrika ShahRais (IR/US), Armen Manukyan (AM), Rolf Beydemüller (DE), François Bensignor (FR), Eleni Ziliaskopoulou (GR), Marija Vitas (RS), Jaïr Tchong (BE)
More at: https://www.transglobalwmc.com/
