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Review of MandolinMan Plays Bossa Nova

MandolinMan Plays Bossa Nova

MandolinMan

ARC Music

Rating: ★★★

As their name might suggest, the Belgian quartet MandolinMan are all mandolin players. Their first album, Old Tunes, Dusted Down,...

Reviewed by Matt Milton in issue: May/2020

Review of DOST 2

DOST 2

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

Bongo Joe

Rating: ★★★

Derya Yıldırım's vocal style may not be to everyone's taste. Compared to Anatolian pop living-legend Selda Bağcan, with whom Yıldırım...

Reviewed by Robert Rigney in issue: December/2022

Review of The Rough Guide To Music Without Frontiers

The Rough Guide To Music Without Frontiers

VARIOUS ARTISTS

World Music Network (2 CDs)

Rating: ★★★★

The compilation market is over-crowded; genuinely valid albums offering anything new are so rare that it is hard to suppress...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Jan/Feb/2015

Review of Balkan Beats: A Night in Berlin

Balkan Beats: A Night in Berlin

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Piranha PIR2338

Rating: ★★★

Of the many Balkan and Gypsy compilation series out there, Robert Soko’s Balkan Beats has always stood out for its...

Reviewed by Lemez Lovas in issue: March/2010

Review of Talûş

Talûş

Gilad Weiss | Melisa Yıldırım

Khalkedon Music

Rating: ★★★

Yıldırım is a young Turkish musician specialising in the kamancha (spiked fiddle), called kabak kemane in Anatolia where a dried...

Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: May/2021

Review of The SLAM! Years (1983-88)

The SLAM! Years (1983-88)

Hamid El Shaeri

Habibi Funk

Rating: ★★★

Born in Libya but long based in Egypt, Hamid El Shaeri is a superstar of popular Arabic music. This album...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: May/2022

Review of The Next Generation

The Next Generation

Groundation

Baco Records

Rating: ★★★

Groundation are a reggae group who formed at Sonoma State University in 1998. The original members were all studying jazz...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: November/2018

Review of Cruzando Borders

Cruzando Borders

Los Texmaniacs

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Rating: ★★★★

The Grammy-winning Los Texmaniacs play music that celebrates the people and places of the Texas-Mexico borderlands: corridos, boleros and less...

Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: October/2018

Review of Astar

Astar

Breabach

Top of the World

Breabach Records

Rating: ★★★★

Astar, meaning distance or journey, is a fitting title for Breabach's new album. Incorporating influences, and guests, from all around...

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: May/2016

Review of Nim: Taegum Collection

Nim: Taegum Collection

Hyelim Kim

Universal

Rating: ★★★★

Hyelim Kim is one of Europe’s leading proponents of the taegum, a transverse bamboo flute that serves as a cornerstone...

Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

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