Reviews
In the Mood for the Nouba
For serious students of North African music and aficionados of the rarified and demanding canon of Arab– Andalus poetic tradition,...
Reviewed by Philip Sweeney in issue: July/2011
Hammer Down
The SteelDrivers definitely put the hammer down on their latest album, which captures the Nashville-based ensemble’s pitch-perfect blend of country,...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: June/2013
What are Those for Songs!
Otava Yo have existed since 2004 and are popular across much of the former Soviet Bloc. The six-piece are essentially...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: December/2015
Music for an Elliptical Orbit
This is no album for fiddle-tune purists. The majority of its music explores the harmonic and textural effects that can...
Reviewed by Matt Milton in issue: November/2015
Variations for Piano and Sitar
Andrew Goldberg & Ricky Romain
Sitarist Ricky Romain has long been a stalwart of the South Asian music scene in the UK, working with musicians...
Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: December/2023
Ruminate: Improvisations for Fretless Guitar and Dutar
American multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Marin is steeped in many music forms: on Ruminate he proves himself an imaginative interpreter of the...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: March/2022
Real Music for Unreal Times: Vol 2
Limitations can spark creativity and the global lockdown necessitated by COVID-19 has been nothing if not a limit to musicians....
Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: Aug/Sept/2020
Qin: Celestial Music for Qin and Xiao
The qin has a small but fanatical following, both in China and abroad. This is the seven-string zither that appears...
Reviewed by Rowan Pease in issue: March/2010
Sketches of Ethiopia
What’s in a name? Well, the album’s two longest tracks, ‘Assosa Derache’ and ‘Motherland Abay’, both composed, arranged and produced...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: Nov/Dec/2013
IYA: Songs for the Mothers
For their fifth album, London's Afro-Cuban community choir build on their tradition of performing songs to the Orishas (Yoruba deities)...
Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: May/2023
