Reviews
Con Todo el Mundo
Take the surf versions of Middle Eastern folk tunes ‘Misirlou’ and ‘Hava Nagila’. Blend them with dub, 1960s Iranian pop...
Reviewed by Wif Stenger in issue: June/2018
Dr Strangedub (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Dub the Bomb)
This was supposedly written as a response to the ever-mushrooming sense of doom commonly experienced thanks to climate change, Trump,...
Reviewed by Tim Romain in issue: April/2019
Na Zala Zala
Rey Sapienz & The Congo Techno Ensemble
This is the debut album from Rey Sapienz, who grew up surrounded by the tragedy of the second Congo War...
Reviewed by Max Reinhardt in issue: Aug/Sep/2021
On Our Way
Based in Istanbul and led by the powerful singer, percussionist and composer Michal Elia Kamal (born in Israel to Iranian...
Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: May/2023
Balfron Promise
Comprising four musicians with Palestinian roots who formed a group in Jordan in 2013 but who are now resident in...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: March/2018
Mountain Songs and Other Stories
Maxida Märak & Downhill Bluegrass Band
Sámi activist Maxida Märak usually performs dubstep and hip-hop. But a few years ago she heard Steve Earle's ‘The Mountain’,...
Reviewed by Kevin Bourke in issue: Apr/May/2015
Desert Equations: Azax Attra
Sussan Deyhim & Richard Horowitz
Back in 1986, Iranian singer Sussan Deyhim was in New York, working with electronics and sampling multi-instrumentalist Richard Horowitz. They...
Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: January/February/2022
C’est La Vie
Many listeners admired the king of rai’s last couple of albums, notably Liberté, which heard his characterful voice unchained from...
Reviewed by Peter Culshaw in issue: June/2013
The Groove Maker
Gurdain Rayatt, a disciple of Shankar Ghosh, recorded his solo tabla recital from the Darbar Festival live at Kings Place...
Reviewed by Barak Schmool in issue: Jan/Feb/2014
He is #1
The Malawi Mouse Boys take their name from how they make their living when not playing music – selling mice...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2012
