Reviews
La Mélancolie Royale
Anyone who has visited the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul will know what a monstrous mess was created by the Ottomans...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: October/2019
White Night
The ‘white night’ of this album's title comes from an anonymous Japanese poem about a cuckoo that sings all the...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: Aug/Sep/2019
Hitsville Re-Visited
Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas & Uhuru Yenzu
The cavalcade of 1970s and 80s African album reissues shows no signs of slowing. This one, originally released in 1982,...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: July/2019
Simigwa
On the opening track of this album, which was originally released in 1975, the Ghanaian bandleader Gyedu-Blay Ambolley recites a...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: November/2018
Brasslands: A Motion Picture Soundtrack
When Miles Davis ventured to the annual brass festival in Guca, in western Serbia, he was astonished. “I didn’t know...
Reviewed by Nige Tassell in issue: Jan/Feb/2014
Made It All Up
Sociograss formed in 2018 when guitarist and singer Tim Leslie of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visited Edinburgh, Scotland, for the first time....
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: January/2025
Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and Gambia
It has long been recognised that the banjo's history can be traced back to West Africa, though until recently it...
Reviewed by Alexandra Petropoulos in issue: April/2023
Raices en Viaje: Roots en Route
The Festival del Caribe in Santiago de Cuba in July often gives rise to unexpected en¬counters. 2009 saw a unique...
Reviewed by Jan Fairley in issue: October/2010
Best Foot Forward
If the electric violin is an acquired taste, it is one very quickly acquired in Omar Puente's case. A classically...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: April/2017
