Reviews
Essiebons Special 1973-1984: Ghana Music Power House
The recently departed Ghanaian producer and label-owner Dick Essilfie-Bondzie was digitising his recording vaults right up until his death, discovering...
Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: January/February/2022
Stone Soup
Cormac Byrne & Adam Summerhayes
This is an audacious piece of work by two accomplished musicians. Adam Summerhayes is a classically trained fiddler with a...
Reviewed by Nathaniel Handy in issue: July/2019
Afrika Mamas
One cannot help but be transported to the rolling hills of Zululand when listening to the Afrika Mamas’ latest, self-titled...
Reviewed by Franki Black in issue: June/2016
Sulle Rive del Tango
Tango has been described as the oldest world music: its dance rhythm colonised half the world before 1920. This double...
Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Quantum Leap
Mehmet Polat & Embracing Colours
Mehmet Polat, the Turkish oud player and composer describes his instrument as being a ‘great connector of cultures’ and, indeed,...
Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: October/2019
Obabes beMbube
The five Zimbabwean female singers who make up the a capella group Nobuntu deliver an uplifting and playful listening experience...
Reviewed by Franki Clemens in issue: April/2019
Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton
This wonderful recording of Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton performing in New York in 1962 begins with a short, sweet...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: July/2020
Avalanche Kaito
When the first track opens with ominous flat thrums of a bass guitar that make way for dissonant synth tones,...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: August/September/2022
Apocalypse Across the Sky
The Master Musicians of Jajouka
The story of Jajouka in the West begins with William S Burroughs and Brion Gysin, who were their conduit to...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: May/2020
