Reviews
Kasbatek
‘Gnawa funk’, a blend of sounds from ‘the Orient, from the Maghreb, chaabi melodies and Gnawa rhythms’ is the proclamation...
Reviewed by Nik Hann in issue: April/2024
Festyval
Hailing from Oldham, The Ukrainians were formed in 1990 by guitarist Peter Solowka (he being of Ukrainian and Yugoslav heritage)....
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: May/2022
A Country’s Soul: 1945-1957
The great, groundbreaking monarch of Portuguese fado hasn’t really been given her due in » terms of disc space in...
Reviewed by Jon Lusk in issue: June/2013
Alku: The Beginning
Violin, voice and jouhikko (Finnish bowed lyre) make for a powerful combination in this solo album from Päivi Hirvonen, who...
Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: October/2018
The Rip Tide
Unlike previous Beirut albums, there's precious little evidence of Zach Condon's cosmopolitan taste in music here. Gone are the mariachi...
Reviewed by Matthew Milton in issue: Nov/Dec/2011
The Sahara Sessions
As the list of African acts, from Rokia Traoré to Bombino, seeking an indie rock‘n’roll makeover grows ever longer, Etran...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2013
The Trojan Story
Despite a series of late 60s chart hits by artists such as Desmond Dekker and Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican music faced...
Reviewed by David Katz in issue: Aug/Sep/2021
After the Tempest
It was in 1992 that British musicians Martin Cradick and Su Hart conceived their improbable fusion of Celtic and Baka...
Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: July/2014
Make the Light
Kate Rusby has always interspersed her own compositions among traditional songs. Now, for the first time, she has made an...
Reviewed by Julian May in issue: March/2011
The Loft Tapes
Sheffield-based Mishra were founded by Ford Collier and Kate Griffin using money from the first Christian Raphael prize to foster...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Jan/Feb/2020
