Reviews
Tiya
Singer, pianist and composer Lilas Lafleur cut her musical teeth as a backing singer for her uncle, Congolese soukous guitar...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2025
New African Orleans
Alune Wade | Alune Wade & Harold López-Nussa
On his sixth album, this bass-playing son of a 60s Senegalese brass-band star sets out “westward [to] begin a musical...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: July/2025
Ni Hui – Voices of the Forest
There is a running joke in Brazil that the state of Acre doesn’t really exist, an idea based on its...
Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: July/2025
Another Place
When Pachyman (Pachy García) left San Juan for Los Angeles back in the day, he carried a love of dub...
Reviewed by Max Reinhardt in issue: July/2025
Sing Yonder 2
VARIOUS ARTISTS | Various Artists
Following 2023’s excellent debut collection, Sing Yonder 2 presents a second superb collection of songs (11–20) from the Roud Index,...
Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: July/2025
Hawalat
It’s been hard keeping track of the work of Charif Megarbane. The Lebanese composer and multi-instrumentalist has released dozens of...
Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: July/2025
Ylh Bye Bye
A taut tension between tradition and the wide-open possibilities of the future underpins Ylh Bye Bye, the debut album by...
Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: July/2025
Bostântchi/Live in Tehran
Rokh Quartet started out in 2021 with the aim of “bringing to life the multifaceted essence of Persian classical music,...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: July/2025
Roots in Motion
Oud master Mehmet Polat’s seventh record fizzes with energetic, odd-time compositions. He develops a cross-cultural conversation that Dave Brubeck picked...
Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: July/2025
