Reviews Search | Songlines

Reviews

Review of Salsa Salsa

Salsa Salsa

Tito Puente and His Orchestra

In The Woods

Rating: ★★★★★

In January 1983 Tito Puente took his orchestra to a club in New York, for a rousing and historic session....

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: September/2024

Review of Hawalat

Hawalat

Charif Megarbane

Top of the World

Habibi Funk

Rating: ★★★★

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

Review of Homegrown

Homegrown

Cole Quest & the City Pickers

Jalopy Records

Rating: ★★★

As legacies go, they don’t get much weightier than that of folk icon Woody Guthrie. Homegrown, the latest album by...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: August/2025

Review of Chak Chak Chak Chak

Chak Chak Chak Chak

Julián Mayorga

Glitterbeat Records

Rating: ★★★★

What Captain Beefheart was to the blues, Julián Mayorga is to cumbia. His latest album, Chak Chak Chak Chak, is...

Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: February/March/2025

Review of Pasé Bél Tan – Francophonies & Creolities in Louisiana

Pasé Bél Tan – Francophonies & Creolities in Louisiana

VARIOUS ARTISTS | Various Artists

FLEE

Rating: ★★★★★

In their study of the Cajun French of Louisiana, sociolinguists Sylvie Dubois and Megan Melançon describe the weakening of local...

Reviewed by Fred Waine in issue: September/2025

Review of Shiraz

Shiraz

Dhafer Youssef

ACT Music

Rating: ★★★★

Dedicated to his wife, filmmaker Shiraz Fradi, the latest album by Tunisian oud virtuoso and bandleader Dhafer Youssef is the...

Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: January/2026

Review of Di Klezmer Flute Nisht Fargesn

Di Klezmer Flute Nisht Fargesn

Adrianne Greenbaum

Borscht Beat

Rating: ★★★★★★★★

The dramatically fraught, poignantly expository nature of klezmer music courses through Di Klezmer Flute Nisht Fargesn, the latest full-length recording...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: May/2026

Review of Rais

Rais

Kuenta i Tambu

Buchi Records

Rating: ★★★★

Tambu music from Curaçao is a drum-based genre that has incredible significance for the islanders. It is a particularly social...

Reviewed by Alex De Lacey in issue: March/2018

Review of Sabîl

Sabîl

Ahmad Al Khatib & Youssef Hbeisch

Top of the World

Institut du Monde Arabe

Rating: ★★★★★

Time was when Palestinian musicians only got an airing if they snuck in on the dull-but-politically-worthy ticket. How things have...

Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: Apr/May/2012

Review of Haiti Direct – Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978

Haiti Direct – Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978

Various Artists

Top of the World

Strut Records

Rating: ★★★★★

What a truly wonderful collection of music there is on Strut's latest outing into the musical unknown! While Cuban and...

Reviewed by Chris Menist in issue: Apr/May/2014

Subscribe from only £7.50

Start your journey and discover the very best music from around the world.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Songlines magazine.

Find out more