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Review of Uhamiaji

Uhamiaji

Msafiri Zawose

Soundway Records

Rating: ★★★★★

When a press release states that an album will redefine the boundaries of whatever style it purports to represent, you...

Reviewed by Howard Male in issue: November/2017

Review of Simnadé + 4

Simnadé + 4

Pascal Diatta

Ghosts from the Basement

Rating: ★★★★

When this recording was first released as an LP on the Rogue Records label in 1989 it heralded the exciting...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: December/2020

Review of Matjale

Matjale

Thabang Tabane

Mushroom Hour Half Hour

Rating: ★★★

The percussionist Thabang Tabane grew up playing in Molombo, a band from Mamelodi township on the outskirts of Pretoria, led...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: November/2018

Review of Creation

Creation

Freddie McKay

Greensleeves Records / VP Records

Rating: ★★★★

For years this was a real rarity. Recorded back in 1979 by the Jamaican singer Freddie McKay, Creation has been...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: September/2024

Review of The Art of the Kora

The Art of the Kora

Jali Nyama Suso

Ocora Radio France

Rating: ★★★★

This is an augmented reissue of the first commercial release of solo kora and griot music recorded in 1972. The...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: April/2020

Review of Zomba Prison Project: I Have No Everything Here

Zomba Prison Project: I Have No Everything Here

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Six Degrees

Rating: ★★★

In 2013, producer Ian Brennan clandestinely documented the music found inside Zomba's maximum security institution in Malawi. Some of the...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: June/2015

Review of Afrique Mon Désir

Afrique Mon Désir

Laurinda Hofmeyr, Afrique mon Désir Ensemble & Régis Gizavo & #9;

Laurinda Hofmeyr

Rating: ★★★

For more than two decades, Laurinda Hofmeyr has specialised in setting the poetry of her native South Africa to music....

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: July/2018

Review of Mirante

Mirante

Nick Storring

We Are Busy Bodies

Rating: ★★★★

Inspired by his visits to Brazil, Canadian composer and instrumentalist Storring applies contemporary composition techniques to convey the impressions which...

Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: May/2025

Review of Djudjon: L’Oiseau de Garana

Djudjon: L’Oiseau de Garana

Bassekou Kouyate & Amy Sacko

One World Records

Rating: ★★★★

Kouyate and his band Ngoni Ba have been ambassadors for Bamana jeli (griot) ngoni music since their debut in 2007....

Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: August/2024

Review of Julia

Julia

Ásgeir

One Little Independent

Rating: ★★★★★★★

This is the fifth album from Icelandic singer-songwriter Ásgeir and marks his first foray into writing lyrics – previous releases...

Reviewed by Chris Wheatley in issue: May/2026

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