Reviews
Eclairer le Monde (Light the World)
It starts with a furious flurry of percussion, and then in comes that voice, as commanding, passionate and distinctive as...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: May/2025
Island Records Presents Ska: 40 Original Ska Classics
Best known as a British rock label, Island Records actually began life in Jamaica in 1959. Its Harrow–educated founder, Chris...
Reviewed by Neil Foxlee in issue: June/2013
Luci e Guai
Raised in Lyon with the tunes his Sicilian grandmother sang to him, Julien Lesuisse set out in search of his...
Reviewed by Robert Rigney in issue: June/2021
Roots Rocking Zimbabwe: The Modern Sound of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980
Music scenes are strange things, ephemeral and unpredictable. The right confluence of history, politics, culture, migrations, community, geography, trends, hard...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: June/2025
Prisoner
There have been many fine reggae artists to come out of Africa since Bob Marley played in Zimbabwe in 1980...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: January/2025
Teleology
If this really is the final album from Peggy Seeger, then the great lady is going out in style. Released...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: July/2025
Lam Phloen Grade A Guy
Angkanang Kunchai | Sonthaya Kalasin | Various Artists
Composer, producer and savvy businessman Doi Inthanon (named after Thailand's tallest mountain) has created a huge catalogue of songs and...
Reviewed by John Clewley in issue: Jan/Feb/2017
Tension
Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra
As the father of Ethio-jazz, the Ethiopian multi-instrumentalist and composer Mulatu Astatke has carved out a unique musical path. On...
Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: January/2025
L’amour à la folie
You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. Perhaps in recent years, we grew guilty of rather taking for...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: December/2025
Millions of Us
Ten tracks into Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness’ (BCUC) Millions of Us, there's a message from Jovi Nkosi to producer Sam...
Reviewed by Diane Coetzer in issue: July/2023
