Reviews
Love Warrior’s Anthem
Kwashibu Area Band’s two well-received album collaborations with Pat Thomas have placed them at the centre of a renaissance in...
Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: June/2025
Live in Basel
Baba Sissoko & Mediterranean Blues
Baba Sissoko’s sound is unashamedly grounded in the classic sounds of Chicago blues pioneered by the likes of Muddy Waters...
Reviewed by Tom Spargo in issue: June/2025
Sweet Rebels – The Golden Era of Algerian Pop-Raï
While Algerian rai has often been open to outside influences, the late 1980s saw a period of rapid modernisation as...
Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: June/2025
Journey Through Life
As its title suggests, Femi Kuti’s new album – his first since the release in 2021 of double LP Legacy...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2025
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow
Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson
Wielding only the bare necessities – banjo, fiddle and bones – Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson, founding members (along with...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: June/2025
Compter les dents
The 11 songs on this superbly performed set are drawn from something many of us have handled in our lives:...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: June/2025
Kokuu
Last year, the prolific Finnish pianist Timo Alakotila and Japanese accordion player Yuka Fujino released Seiras, which they followed with...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: June/2025
Mirror
Trilok Gurtu with Arkè String Quartet
Two decades ago, the Italian-based Arkè String Quartet appeared as special guests on Gurtu’s 2004 album Broken Rhythms, followed two...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2025
Douce Errance
Now resident in France, where he is best known as a film and TV actor, the Japanese-born Kengo Saito is...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2025
