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Review of The Sounds of Varanasi

The Sounds of Varanasi

Srdjan Beronja

ARC Music

Rating: ★★★★

The very mention of Varanasi, India's holiest city on the banks of the River Ganges, conjures up the most evocative...

Reviewed by Jameela Siddiqi in issue: March/2015

Review of Covers: Traditional Melodies of Dalarna, Sweden

Covers: Traditional Melodies of Dalarna, Sweden

Ian Carr | Ian Carr & The Various Artists

Ian Carr

Rating: ★★★★

The best whisky I ever tasted was in Sweden, full-throated and peaty with a honeyed thread of sweetness. Listening to...

Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: November/2022

Review of Go Calypsonian

Go Calypsonian

Lord Mouse & the Kalypso Katz

Piranha

Rating: ★★★

This selection from the ever ebullient Lord Mouse follows 2010's eponymous debut. The purpose remains unaltered: electric and eclectic calypso...

Reviewed by Charles De Ledesma in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Dudu Phukwana and the Spears

Dudu Phukwana and the Spears

Dudu Pukwana

Matsul¡ Music

Rating: ★★★★

Now this truly is a musical treasure to stumble upon: back in 1969 the noted producer Joe Boyd had befriended...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: October/2020

Review of Fragments

Fragments

Yoni Avi Battat

Yoni Avi Battat

Rating: ★★★

American multi-instrumentalist Yoni Avi Battat has undergone a journey of discovery to reconnect with his Iraqi-Jewish roots through the medium...

Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: December/2022

Review of Saulem Ai

Saulem Ai

Violons Barbares

World Village

Rating: ★★★

A galloping, multicoloured horse brightens the cover of Saulem Ai (My Beloved), an appropriate emblem for the music of this...

Reviewed by Tim Woodall in issue: Apr/May/2014

Review of Kar Yagar

Kar Yagar

Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek

Top of the World

Bongo Joe

Rating: ★★★★

Derya Yildirim & Grup Şimşek - which translates as Ocean Lightning and the Thunderbolts - is a trul international band...

Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: October/2019

Review of Celia

Celia

Angélique Kidjo

Verve

Rating: ★★★★

Not content with simply succeeding Miriam Makeba as the new ‘Mama Africa,’ Kidjo now has her sights on the late...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2019

Review of Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Nonesuch Records (2 CDs,)

Rating: ★★★

I Kate and Anna McGarrigle were the unlikeliest of pop stars, two plain-spoken homebodies raised in the ancient Laurentian mountain...

Reviewed by Roger Hahn in issue: October/2013

Review of Zoo of Songs

Zoo of Songs

Pulsar Trio

T3 Records

Rating: ★★★★

German group Pulsar Trio have transplanted the emblematic instrument of Hindustani classical music – the sitar – into a northern...

Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: November/2018

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