Reviews

Restitute

Eliza Carthy

In 2016, the Wayward Band, the ensemble of gifted musicians Eliza Carthy first assembled in 2013, suffered what she describes...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: July/2019

Janus

Hardanger fiddle player Annbjørg Lien has long been putting her instrument on the international map. She first recorded aged 12...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: April/2022

Raga Yaman

Uday Bhawalkar

Uday Bhawalkar is a maestro of dhrupad, an ancient Indian classical vocal style, believed to be the world's oldest musical...

Reviewed by Jameela Siddiqi in issue: August/September/2023

Nenĭa Iră

Nenĭa Iră

This eponymous first album by one-woman band Aurélia Nardini draws on Mediterranean modal music, supplemented by her electronic machines, Indian...

Reviewed by Daniel Brown in issue: April/2023

Qasr

Sheherazaad

This layered debut explores issues of identity that arise when one’s ethnic heritage does not wholly align with one’s country...

Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: April/2024

Faz Tempo

Alvorada

When I first arrived in Brazil, one of my first experiences with live music was a roda de choro in...

Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: January/2025

kwaNTU

Madala Kunene & Sibusile Xaba

kwaNTU feels less like an album and more like an encounter. It brings together Madala Kunene, a significant figure within...

Reviewed by Hillary Palesa Morusi in issue: February/March/2026

Café Türk

Café Türk

This LP is one of the most welcome releases of the year, and the story behind it is a heart-warming...

Reviewed by Robert Rigney in issue: January/2021

I Can Be A Clay Snapper (Lahko Sem Glinena Mesojedka)

Širom

Širom, a young Slovenian multi-instrumentalist trio, exemplify a fine balance between improvisation and craft. This, their second studio outing, sees...

Reviewed by Tommie Black-Roff in issue: November/2017

Abatwa (The Pygmy): Why Did We Stop Growing Tall?

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Following recordings made in Vietnam, Cambodia and Mali, the fourth album in Ian Brennan's Hidden Musics series finds the indefatigable...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: November/2017