Reviews
The Free Wild Wind & The Songs of Birds
Citing Norwegian chamber-prog band Meer and composer Bear McCreary as influences, The Crooked Fiddle Band’s new and lengthily-titled album comprises...
Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: September/2024
Les Percussions de Guinée Vols 1 & 2
A welcome reissue of the two classics from Guinea's national supergroup, this was assembled to promote Guinean culture on the...
Reviewed by Barak Schmool in issue: March/2013
Léve Léve: São Tomé & Príncipe Sounds 70s-80s
São Tomé and Príncipe isn't exactly known as a musical powerhouse nation – Songlines has only ever reviewed one other...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: April/2020
Egypt: Vocal & Instrumental Art of the 19th Century
Aïcha Redouane & Al-Adwar Ensemble
This recording is probably aimed more at aficionados of Middle Eastern classical music than the casual listener, for the real...
Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: Jan/Feb/2010
Scottish Cowboy Ballads & Early American Folk Songs
Also known as Sorley the Bard, Shackleton developed his chops busking on the streets of Edinburgh with his father, Norman...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: December/2025
Jive & Soul: The Very Best Of
Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens/The Soul Brothers
It’s highly unusual to combine two different artists on a ‘Best Of’ set like this, but the teaming of two...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Jan/Feb/2011
Inspiration Information 4: Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen
Don’t mistake the superlatives that follow for unwarranted hype. If you don’t have this album at home to take you...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: Jan/Feb/2010
Ancient Sufi Invocations & Forgotten Songs From Aleppo
When Jason Hamacher, a punk drummer in Washington DC, read William Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain, he contacted the author...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sep/2014
Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978
You have to hand it to Frankfurt-based label Analog Africa. The fuel on which it runs is a passionate obsession...
Reviewed by Max Reinhardt in issue: March/2015
The Cook, the Clown, the Monk & the Accordionist
London-based Italian musician Maurizio Minardi ventures here into the porous terrain that lies somewhere between folk, classical, jazz and improvisation....
Reviewed by Ciro De Rosa in issue: July/2013
