Reviews
Diwan of Beauty and Odd
Singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef is one of music's unrelenting explorers. From his roots in Tunisia he has travelled...
Reviewed by Jo Setters in issue: December/2016
Sometime Between Now and Never
Punchy Balkan brass, bubbling dub rhythms and piquant punk guitar riffs jostle joyously on this first offering from Montréal-based Dumai...
Reviewed by Simon Cross in issue: September/2024
Ananda Shankar and His Music
Originally released in 1976, this album by Indian sitarist Shankar would later find cult popularity in the 90s UK rare...
Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: February/March/2025
Tales of Earth and Sun
The Iranian group Rastak have been going for over 25 years, although in recent years they’ve relocated from Iran to...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: July/2025
If Like Birds and Angels I Could Fly
Hossein & Raha Alizadeh with the Hamavayan Ensemble
Perhaps the most striking aspect of this recent album by Hossein Alizadeh & the Hamavayan Ensemble is its showcasing of...
Reviewed by Laudan Nooshin in issue: Aug/Sep/2012
Calypso Craze 1956-57 and Beyond
Forty-year-old Bear Family Records is a German label renowned for digging deeply into the country, blues and rock’n’roll archives, and...
Reviewed by Charles De Ledesma in issue: Jan/Feb/2015
King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco
To mark the centenary of the king of zydeco’s birth, and following an acclaimed tribute album on Valcour Records, topped...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: February/March/2026
All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn't Do
A slightly oddball but nevertheless engaging blend of rootsy folk, indie pop, soft psychedelia and alt-country makes this album an...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: Aug/Sep/2018
A Time Between Birth and Chaos
On stage, he sits with a qanun, the Middle Eastern zither, on his lap and a table crammed with electronic...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: March/2023
The Dark Peak and the White
This is a strikingly original work of musical preservation. Supported by the Peak District National Park Authority, it is a...
Reviewed by Nathaniel Handy in issue: October/2012
