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Review of Jolifanto

Jolifanto

ZA! + Perrate

Top of the World

Lovemonk

Rating: ★★★★

For all its depth of tradition, flamenco has always been moved by innovation. In 1979 Camarón de le Isla’s La...

Reviewed by Jo Setters in issue: June/2024

Review of Earthcycle

Earthcycle

Orchestra of the Swan

Signum Classics

Rating: ★★★★

This third ‘mixtape album’ from Orchestra of the Swan continues the classical ensemble’s adventures into bending and breaking genre boundaries....

Reviewed by Michael Quinn in issue: April/2024

Review of Ginga

Ginga

Flavia Coelho

[PIAS]

Rating: ★★★★

The fifth album by Brazilian singer-songwriter Flavia Coelho is brimming with uplifting, catchy melodies, which have become her signature appeal....

Reviewed by Huw Hennessy in issue: July/2024

Review of Te-Kwaro Alango-Ekuku

Te-Kwaro Alango-Ekuku

Ekuka Morris Sirikiti

Top of the World

Nyege Nyege Tapes

Rating: ★★★★

It wasn’t until Nyege Nyege Tapes shared the fruits of their deep dive into the radio recordings of Langi griot...

Reviewed by Alexandra Petropoulos in issue: December/2024

Review of Niepraudzivaya

Niepraudzivaya

Hajda Banda

Top of the World

Karrot Kommando

Rating: ★★★★

Hajda Banda are one of the best traditional bands to have emerged in Poland in recent years. Led by Belarusian...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: May/2025

Review of In Winter

In Winter

The Unthanks

Top of the World

RabbleRouser Music

Rating: ★★★★★

A winter album has been on the to-do list of this brilliantly inventive art-folk ensemble for a decade and a...

Reviewed by Kevin Bourke in issue: January/2025

Review of Masters of Our Roots

Masters of Our Roots

Albita and Chucho Valdés

InnerCat Entertainment

Rating: ★★★★

A masterclass of 20th century Cuban-American showbiz, this has all the vintage allure of a night at Havana's Tropicana, or...

Reviewed by Philip Sweeney in issue: September/2025

Review of Sunwise

Sunwise

Brìghde Chaimbeul

Top of the World

tak: til / Glitterbeat

Rating: ★★★★

The third solo album from Scottish composer and smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul, Sunwise feels like the start of a bolder...

Reviewed by Olivia Cheves in issue: August/2025

Review of Album No. 1

Album No. 1

Les Abranis

wewantsounds

Rating: ★★★★

Les Abranis were founded in the late 1960s by singer Karim Abdenour and organ player Shamy El Vaz, two young...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2025

Review of Chigiyo Music Kings 1987–1998

Chigiyo Music Kings 1987–1998

Zig-Zag Band

Analog Africa

Rating: ★★★

Way back at the dawn of the 1980s, the slow’n’rootsy style of Zimbabwean chimurenga, as played by the mighty Thomas...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: January/2026

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