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Review of Lala Belu

Lala Belu

Hailu Mergia

Awesome Tapes from Africa

Rating: ★★★★

After reissuing three of Hailu Mergia's classic albums to great success, Awesome Tapes From Africa have taken the veteran Ethiopian...

Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: April/2018

Review of Azel

Azel

Bombino

Partisan Records

Rating: ★★★

The music of the Niger-born Touareg guitarist Omara ‘Bombino’ Moctar seems to have captured the imagination of the American indie-rock...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: May/2016

Review of Wayo

Wayo

Moonlight Benjamin

Top of the World

Mas Case

Rating: ★★★★

On the opening title-track of Benjamin's third album, the guitar riffs explode like Led Zeppelin and the drums detonate like...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: April/2023

Review of La Serena

La Serena

Aviva Chernick

Aviva Chernick

Rating: ★★★

For many years, Canadian singer Aviva Chernick was the vocalist with Toronto-based klezmer group Jaffa Road. Having gone solo, she's...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: Jan/Feb/2020

Review of Badinyaa Kumoo

Badinyaa Kumoo

Sona Jobarteh

Top of the World

African Guild Records

Rating: ★★★★★

Long respected as the first internationally successful female kora player, it is more than a decade since Sona Jobarteh's last...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: December/2022

Review of My Seven-String Chadyghan: Songs from the Khahas North

My Seven-String Chadyghan: Songs from the Khahas North

Yulia Charkova

Pan Records

Rating: ★★★★

The chadyghan is a long wooden box of a zither, exquisitely played here by Khakassian singer and instrumentalist Yulia Charkova...

Reviewed by Michael Ormiston in issue: Apr/May/2012

Review of Opérette Volume 2

Opérette Volume 2

Moussu T e lei Jovents

Manivette Records

Rating: ★★★★

The subtitle of this delightful album, Chansons Marseillaises 1930-1940, suggests no obvious Jamaican link. Yet Moussu T was initially inspired...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: December/2018

Review of More Than a Little

More Than a Little

Adrian + Meredith

Adrian + Meredith

Rating: ★★★

Nashville-based husband and wife duo Adrian and Meredith Krygowski are supported by a full-fat seven-piece band for their often-riotous debut...

Reviewed by Tim Woodall in issue: May/2017

Review of Echoes of the Mountains

Echoes of the Mountains

Duo Perse-Inca

Top of the World

Analekta

Rating: ★★★★

This and several other new recordings are a collaboration between the Canadian label Analekta and the Centre des Musiciens du...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: April/2021

Review of Folk Music of China Vol 7: Folk Songs of the Yi and Qiang Tribes in Sichuan & Yunnan

Folk Music of China Vol 7: Folk Songs of the Yi and Qiang Tribes in Sichuan & Yunnan

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Naxos World

Rating: ★★★

This might not be an easy-listening album, but it takes one on a rare cultural tour to hear the music...

Reviewed by Mu Qian in issue: Aug/Sept/2020

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