Reviews Search | Songlines

Reviews

Review of Bahir

Bahir

Dexter Story

Soundway

Rating: ★★★★

Where the rhythms and grooves of West Africa have been embraced across the planet, absorbed into the mainstream and melded...

Reviewed by Tim Romain in issue: May/2019

Review of The Crown Prince of Reggae: Singles (1972-1985)

The Crown Prince of Reggae: Singles (1972-1985)

Dennis Brown

VP

Rating: ★★★★

The much-loved Dennis Brown (1957– 1999) was the outstanding solo reggae singer of his generation, his only rival being the...

Reviewed by Neil Foxlee in issue: March/2011

Review of YO

YO

Roberto Fonseca

Top of the World

Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi

Rating: ★★★★

A visual and aural treat from Havana's proudest son, who lays himself bare on YO (that's ‘I’ in Spanish) with...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: June/2012

Review of Osmosis

Osmosis

Tafahum

Tafahum Records

Rating: ★★★★

The opening track ‘Wiladah’ (perhaps named after the renowned poetess from 11th century Andalusian Córdoba) sounds like Frank Zappa and...

Reviewed by Neil van der Linden in issue: Aug/Sep/2016

Review of 40girls / Kita Koun Kan

40girls / Kita Koun Kan

Ya Tosiba / Sabou-Gnouman De Kita

Purplish Records

Rating: ★★★

Purplish Records like to release music as pairs or batches on cassette. Batch #6 consists of albums by Ya Tosiba...

Reviewed by Rosie Esther Solomon in issue: October/2025

Review of Tombouctou

Tombouctou

Al Bilali Soudan

Clermont Music

Rating: ★★★

If you Like your desert blues raw and unmediated and think Tinariwen are over-produced, then AL Bilali Soudan is for...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2020

Review of Starshine

Starshine

A Moving Sound

ARC Music

Rating: ★★★

Taiwan sadly remains an afterthought in the world music community so having another A Moving Sound album arrive in 2022,...

Reviewed by James Catchpole in issue: December/2022

Review of Moon Over Ci. Ruins

Moon Over Ci. Ruins

Mao Ya

Top of the World

Rhymoi Music

Rating: ★★★★★

This remarkable album explores the shared history of music between ancient China, specifically the Tang Dynasty (seventh to tenth century...

Reviewed by James Catchpole in issue: June/2020

Review of Mahal

Mahal

Irfan Ali Taj

A for Aleph Records

Rating: ★★★

Hailing from the Upper Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north of Pakistan, singer and multi-instrumentalist Irfan Ali Taj’s...

Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: August/September/2022

Review of In Light of India

In Light of India

Alec Cooper

Alec Cooper

Rating: ★★★

Edinburgh-based sitar player and ethnomusicologist Alec Cooper plays his cards well on his debut album In Light of India by...

Reviewed by Shaswata Kundu Chaudhuri in issue: November/2021

Subscribe from only £7.50

Start your journey and discover the very best music from around the world.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Songlines magazine.

Find out more