Reviews

Assolist

Efruze

These sentimental tracks come from the golden, pre-Arabesk, age of Turkish gazinos, venues where mixed crowds would come, eat and...

Reviewed by Robert Rigney in issue: October/2021

Unearth Repeat

Sam Sweeney

Following on from his Island Records’ debut, The Unfinished Violin, England's premier fiddler releases a small band album with a...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: May/2020

La Gouache

R.wan

In 2000, Parisian band Java gave traditional bal-musette (French accordion music) a 21st-century makeover, adding the lyrics of Erwan Séguillon...

Reviewed by Lucy Hallam in issue: March/2021

Amser

Fernhill

Fernhill are a musical jackdaw: the band fly far and wide over the historical and cultural landscape of Wales –...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: October/2014

Spirit of Malombo

Julian Bahula

To appreciate Julian Bahula's contribution to South African music, you don’t need to know that he was a tireless anti-Apartheid...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: Jan/Feb/2015

Hawaiki

Taimane

Rising Polynesian uke star Taimane Gardner is a hapa-Samoan (part-Caucasian, part-Samoan) player raised in Hawaii. A musical prodigy, she was...

Reviewed by Seth Jordan in issue: January/February/2023

Nha Vida

Ceuzany

If you can get past the cover, which resembles a Stock, Aitken & Waterman 12” from the late 80s, this...

Reviewed by Brendon Griffin in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Work Hard

King Ayisoba

Recorded in 2020 and 2021 in Ghana and The Netherlands, Work Hard arguably presents Ghana's kologo maestro King Ayisoba (born...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: April/2023

Take Care, Take Cover

The Mae Trio

Building on the promise of their fine 2014 debut album, Housewarming, and 2015's EP September, Melbourne's Mae Triocontinue to impress...

Reviewed by Seth Jordan in issue: October/2017

Little Universe

A Moving Sound

Only one year after their acclaimed 2020 release Songs Beyond Words, Taiwan-based group A Moving Sound return with another eclectic...

Reviewed by James Catchpole in issue: December/2021