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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 Pancada Motor: Manifesto da Festa

Pancada Motor: Manifesto da Festa

DJ Tudo e Sua Gente de Todo Lugar

Far Out Recordings

Rating: ★★

One of Alfredo Bello's passions is to create field recordings of Afro-Brazilian traditions and religious ceremonies. These recordings then serve...

Reviewed by Russ Slater in issue: March/2015

Review of Maputo Queens

Maputo Queens

Etienne de la Sayette

Paris DJs

Rating: ★★

This is the debut solo album from composer, arranger and producer Etienne de la Sayette. The Parisian is primarily known...

Reviewed by Alex De Lacey in issue: October/2016

Review of Cosmic Griots

Cosmic Griots

The Afronauts

Agencja Perspektywy

Rating: ★★★★

Consistently funky and smile-inducing multi-diasporic Polish band The Afronauts channel the classic Afrobeat sound of Fela Kuti, the Ghanaian highlife...

Reviewed by Andrew Taylor-Dawson in issue: July/2025

Review of Rewend

Rewend

Aynur

Arista/Sony

Rating: ★★★★

On this album, Aynur gives us what is probably her more satisfactory effort to date, due especially to the well-thought...

Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: Jan/Feb/2011

Review of Fazendo as Pazes com o Swing

Fazendo as Pazes com o Swing

Orquestra Imperial

Mais Um Discos

Rating: ★★★

Before rock'n'roll there was swing – with big bands fronted by musicians like Benny Goodman introducing African-American syncopation and jazz...

Reviewed by Alex Robinson in issue: Apr/May/2014

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 Zozodinga

Zozodinga

Abdallah Oumbadougou

Original Dub Master

Rating: ★★★

One of the founding fathers of Touareg ishumar music, or desert blues in European marketing-speak, Oumbadougou returns with his first...

Reviewed by Philip Sweeney in issue: Nov/Dec/2012

Review of Oy

Oy

Mohsen Namjoo

Fabrica Music STR70013

Rating: ★★

Mohsen Namjoo has created quite a buzz in Iran in recent years, initially as a singer-songwriter pushing the boundaries and...

Reviewed by Laudan Nooshin in issue: October/2010

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

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