Reviews
Yellow Fever/Na Poi
It’s now 16 years since Fela Kuti died and his legendary status continues to grow. The problem with legends, though,...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2013
Batuk Freak
A mixture of canny production, assured rapping and tough- to-extricate earworms make this debut album from Brazilian rapper Karol Conka...
Reviewed by Russ Slater in issue: June/2014
The Rough Guide to South African Jazz
The title might suggest another nostalgic ‘golden era’ compilation of township jive, kwela and marabi, built around the old favourites...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2016
Originali
Orkestar Kriminal’s evolution reaches a highpoint with Originali, their first album of entirely original compositions. Renowned for their renditions of...
Reviewed by Buzz Bury in issue: June/2024
Metisse Maloya
The island of La Réunion is a French territory located in the Indian Ocean, lying to the east of Madagascar,...
Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: June/2015
Lero-Lero
São Paulo seems to be producing dozens of smoky, smoochy women singers at the moment. Only Céu and Mariana Aydar...
Reviewed by Alex Robinson in issue: Aug/Sep/2010
Too Slow to Disco Brasil
‘Um, dois, um-dois-três…’ and then a horn section blasts us straight to the land of Earth Wind & Fire. This...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: June/2018
Òran Bagraidh
This is a piece of musical archaeology. It feels like you are hearing sounds and words from the distant past....
Reviewed by Nathaniel Handy in issue: April/2019
The Best Boleros from the Costa Chica
The ‘Costa Chica’, or ‘little coast’, is the stretch of Pacific shore that runs from south of Acapulco to the...
Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: July/2018
