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Review of Ballads & Blasphemy: The Religious Gospel of Adebola Kuku

Ballads & Blasphemy: The Religious Gospel of Adebola Kuku

Kuku

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★

Nigerian singer-songwriter Kuku has an interesting heritage. Born Adebola Kuku in the US and raised in Lagos, he now resides...

Reviewed by Alex De Lacey in issue: June/2015

Review of Coro del Mundo

Coro del Mundo

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Ansonica Records

Rating: ★★★

The first bar of ‘Dance to the Revolution’, which opens this album, is among the most surprising you're likely to...

Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: Aug/Sep/2018

Review of Aquai

Aquai

Domo Emigrantes

Domo Emigrantes

Rating: ★★★

Translating as ‘Here’ in the Salento dialect of southern Italy that used to be called Calabria, Aquai is Domo Emigrantes'...

Reviewed by Russell Higham in issue: December/2018

Review of Saz Power

Saz Power

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Ironhand Records VINYL & DIGITAL ONLY

Rating: ★★★★

Conceived by Demir Kerem Atay (who records under the name Elektro Hafiz), this compilation places the saz (lute) right in...

Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: Aug/Sep/2018

Review of Light a Candle

Light a Candle

Forró in the Dark

Top of the World

Nublu Records/Nat Geo Music NGM003

Rating: ★★★★★

Forró is an eternally sunny, jiggy dance from north¬eastern Brazil that became very popular in the 1990s with the São...

Reviewed by Alex Robinson in issue: Jan/Feb/2010

Review of Safar: Les Âmes Retrouvées

Safar: Les Âmes Retrouvées

Waed Bouhassoun

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★★

The Syrian oud player and singer Waed Bouhassoun grew up in the culturally rich Jebel Druze region, just over the...

Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: June/2019

Review of Detached

Detached

Ies Muller & David Munnelly

Appel Rekords

Rating: ★★★★

For lovers of boundary-pushing music, a flute and a diatonic accordion may not seem an immediately thrilling prospect. Here, however,...

Reviewed by Simon Cross in issue: April/2020

Review of Poetry and Music of Ashiqs

Poetry and Music of Ashiqs

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Felmay

Rating: ★★★★

After several CDs of mugham, Felmay's excellent series of Azerbaijani music turns to the country's other traditional form – the...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Akalaka/The Power

Akalaka/The Power

Victor Chukwu/Uncle Victor Chuks

BBE Music

Rating: ★★★★

This release marks the reissue of two LPs from the comparatively little-known Nigerian highlife musician Victor Chukwu. They originate from...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: December/2020

Review of Tuulispää

Tuulispää

Karuna

KUU Records

Rating: ★★★★

Esko Järvela has an enviable musical pedigree. Growing up in Kaustinen, the home of Finnish folk music, he was immersed...

Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: March/2017

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