Reviews
Irakere
Grupo Irakere, as the Cuban all-star outfit was known back in 1976 when this second in Mr Bongo’s Cuban Classics...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: April/2024
Usvyaty: Russian Music from Pskov Region in Modern and Archival Recordings
This is a curiosity. We get relatively few recordings from Russia and as the title says, these are field recordings...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: December/2023
The Water Garden
Okinawa-born Kojun Kokuba’s The Water Garden was first released in 1993, and proved immensely popular, hence this vinyl reissue, complete...
Reviewed by Keith Howard in issue: November/2023
Caracoles
Six years after their Grammy-nominated debut on Daptone, the retro Cuban/New York orchestra’s third album hits another home run. Right...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: August/2024
Congo Funk! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa/Brazzaville 1969-1982)
A simplified history of music during the period dubbed L’Authenticité in the Congo shows a period of heavily state-funded and...
Reviewed by Nik Hann in issue: June/2024
Hajda!
This is the debut of a new band focussing on the traditional music of Polesia, a region of eastern Poland,...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: June/2024
Black Woman & Child (2024 Remix)
Miguel Collins, far better known as Sizzla, played an intriguing role in reggae history. He began recording in the late...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: February/March/2025
The Instruction Manual
I’d not heard a robotic choir before, and won’t hear one again based on The Instruction Manual’s self-titled debut album....
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: February/March/2025
