Reviews
Of Lovers, Gamblers and Parachute Skirts
Taraf de Haidouks exploded out of Romania as soon as communism ended, introducing Balkan Gypsy music to the West; their...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: March/2015
Tunes from the Trenches: Songs from the First and Second World Wars
This kit-bag full of old songs springs from John Kirkpatrick's feeling that we get nearer to what the soldiers felt...
Reviewed by Julian May in issue: December/2015
Carvings
Norwegian guitarist and singer Juni Habel caused a quiet stir with her debut, with some quarters likening her to Nick...
Reviewed by Chris Wheatley in issue: April/2023
Kopolo
The charming tropical rainforest recordings of this Cameroonian pygmy group have won them quite a fanbase. Unfortunately, this latest instalment...
Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: Apr/May/2013
Amandla
Zimbabwean singer Shelter Matshelela presents us here with an archetypal bubblegum (township pop) album brim-full of happy, head-nodding tunes. Matshelela...
Reviewed by Charlotte Algar in issue: November/2018
Agora
Since her acclaimed 2000 debut, Tanto Tempo, reimagined bossa nova with a brilliant contemporary electronic twist, Gilberto’s career has followed...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: October/2020
De Platino
This Belgium-based band take their name (meaning ‘the bodysnatcher’) from a novel by Juan Carlos Onetti, Uruguay's most celebrated fiction-writer....
Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: Apr/May/2014
Libraries on Fire
Since Songlines first championed the South African guitarist Derek Gripper following his 2012 album One Night on Earth, his transpositions...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2016
Femmina
The vocalist and clarinettist Gera Bertolone hails from Sicily, and here puts together an album of original songs which blend...
Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: January/2025
