Reviews
Five Rivers
For more than 30 years, the British-born Indian singer Najma Akhtar has operated largely beneath the radar, releasing a series...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: April/2020
Live in Stockholm 1969
Zia Mohiuddin Dagar & Pandit Taranath
The rudra veena (or bīn) player Zia Mohiuddin Dagar came from one of the oldest musical lineages in India, a...
Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: December/2015
Doroja
Santiago Córdoba & The Bauls of Bengal
One of the most striking things about Baul music – a form of folk music from Bengal, South Asia – is its...
Reviewed by Shaswata Kundu Chaudhuri in issue: March/2022
Drifting Like a Bird
There's a real delicacy and charm in Annbjørg Lien's Drifting Like a Bird, a studio version of the commissioned work...
Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: July/2016
I Would Not Live Always
I Would Not Live Always opens with a brief burst of burbling electronics before the traditional ballad ‘Lovely Joan’ weighs...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Aug/Sep/2021
Pura Vida Conspiracy
It’d be a cliché to mention that salty yeast-based vegetarian spread in relation to whether one has a taste forHütz...
Reviewed by Howard Male in issue: October/2013
Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth-Boogie in 1980s South Africa
‘Bubblegum’ was the catch-all term given to Western-influenced popular music in 1980s South Africa, although the term is highly misleading,...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2018
Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl
The centenary of Ewan MacColl's birth provides the perfect opportunity for a remarkable collection of artists to celebrate this unique,...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: November/2015
Alefa Madagascar! Salegy, Soukous & Soul from the Red Island 1974-1984
Another offering from Strut Records' Indian Ocean compilation series, this album of Malagasy songs takes a look at one of...
Reviewed by Lucy Hallam in issue: November/2019
Nuestras Vivencias
Echoes of Spain are an Anglo-Spanish flamenco guitar duo who have just self-produced their first album. They are both more...
Reviewed by Jo Setters in issue: May/2017
