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Review of A Memento of Istanbul

A Memento of Istanbul

Saeed Nayeb Mohammadi

Nava Arts UK

Rating: ★★★

A Memento of Istanbul is an excellent solo oud album by top Iranian player Saeed Nayeb Mohammadi. It’s the opening...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: December/2023

Review of Genuine Negro Jig (15th Anniversary Edition)

Genuine Negro Jig (15th Anniversary Edition)

Carolina Chocolate Drops

Nonesuch Records

Rating: ★★★★★

Soon after the release of Genuine Negro Jig by Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2010, the album rocketed into the top...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: April/2026

Review of Sufis at the Cinema: 50 years of Bollywood Qawwali & Sufi Song 1958-2007

Sufis at the Cinema: 50 years of Bollywood Qawwali & Sufi Song 1958-2007

Various Artists

Top of the World

Saregama

Rating: ★★★★

Twenty-five tracks and over 150 minutes of film music at its best, this compilation from Saregama has got to be...

Reviewed by Jameela Siddiqi in issue: July/2011

Review of Zaire 74: The African Artists

Zaire 74: The African Artists

Various Artists

Top of the World

Wrasse Records 2 CDs

Rating: ★★★★

The ‘Rumble in the Jungle,’ as the 1974 Heavyweight Championship boxing bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman was known,...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: July/2017

Review of Landscapes of Eternity

Landscapes of Eternity

Naïssam Jalal

Top of the World

Les Couleurs du Son

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★

Every time Naïssam Jalal releases a new album, I get to have the same thought: ‘bloody hell, she’s a fantastic...

Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: May/2026

Review of A Tribute to the King of Zydeco

A Tribute to the King of Zydeco

FEATURED COMPILATION

Valcour Records

Rating: ★★★★★

This autumn, Smithsonian Folkways will release a 4-CD box set, Clifton Chenier: King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco. Comprising 67...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: September/2025

Review of 1990

1990

Szászcsávás Band

Fonó Records

Rating: ★★★

The village of Szászcsávás in Romania only has 1,000 inhabitants, but its fame far outweighs its size thanks to its...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: October/2019

Review of Luci e Guai

Luci e Guai

Crimi

Airfono

Rating: ★★★★

Raised in Lyon with the tunes his Sicilian grandmother sang to him, Julien Lesuisse set out in search of his...

Reviewed by Robert Rigney in issue: June/2021

Review of Lines: Parts One, Two and Three

Lines: Parts One, Two and Three

The Unthanks

Rabble Rouser

Rating: ★★★

Lines, the latest of The Unthanks' many ambitious and innovative projects, is a trilogy of song cycles, each with a...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: April/2019

Review of Faso Denou

Faso Denou

Farafina | King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal I | Omar Pene & Super Diamono | Remmy Ongala & Orchestre Super Matimila | SE Rogie | The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar

Real World

Rating: ★★★

The rustic Wiltshire village of Box in the Cotswolds could hardly be more quintessentially English. The Rev W Awdry, who...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: August/September/2022

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