THE indie record company Sub Pop first earned a reputation as a tastemaker in the late 1980s, when it signed and recorded the Seattle bands Nirvana and Soundgarden and other exponents of what came to be known as grunge. But one of its best-received recent releases is “I Speak Fula,” by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba, an ensemble that plays small lutelike instruments and sings in various West African languages.

The Chicago label Thrill Jockey is another indie trendsetter, whose best-known act is probably Tortoise, the experimental post-rock band. But last week Thrill Jockey released Sidi Touré & Friends’ “Sahel Folk,” a lilting collection of songs played on acoustic guitars and related African instruments like the kurbu and kuntigui.

Everywhere you turn these days, it seems that the indie rock world is exploring African sounds. Labels like Dead Oceans, Secretly Canadian and True Panther have also begun releasing new recordings by African musicians, those acts have begun playing American gigs, and African music regularly gets attention on the indie-minded Web sites of Pitchfork, Mojo and The Fader.

“As a record buyer, someone who consumes music all the time, I buy music in all shapes and sizes, so this is not a big leap for me,” said Phil Waldorf, a founder of Dead Oceans. “The boundaries have been broken down over time, and I think there are a lot of really curious people out there. This is just another kind of music that they will share and talk to each other about, and we’re putting it out because we think it deserves a place in that discussion.”