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Review of Ya Mizolé

Ya Mizolé

Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin

Top of the World

Jarring Effects

Rating: ★★★★

Having set out their stall with an acclaimed self-titled 2020 debut, feminist collective Les Mamans du Congo (Mothers of the...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: November/2023

Review of Simnadé + 4

Simnadé + 4

Pascal Diatta

Ghosts from the Basement

Rating: ★★★★

When this recording was first released as an LP on the Rogue Records label in 1989 it heralded the exciting...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: December/2020

Review of Remembering

Remembering

Ross Ainslie

Great White Records

Rating: ★★

Remembering is a curious mix. Mostly made up of self-penned songs, the album marks a new direction for Ross Ainslie...

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: December/2015

Review of From Kinshasa

From Kinshasa

Mbongwana Star

World Circuit

Rating: ★★★★

When the much-lauded Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili imploded in early 2013, at the height of their global fame, that...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: July/2015

Review of Rough Guide to Spiritual Blues

Rough Guide to Spiritual Blues

VARIOUS ARTISTS

World Music Network

Rating: ★★★

As the music of gambling dens, bordellos, barrelhouses and anywhere else vice was to be found, the blues swiftly earned...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: October/2020

Review of We Have Tigers

We Have Tigers

Inga Liljeström

Accords Croisés

Rating: ★★★

I have mixed feelings about We Have Tigers, the debut folk album of the Finnish-English artist Inga Liljeström. Let's deal...

Reviewed by Howard Male in issue: March/2018

Review of Inganekwane

Inganekwane

Zoë Modiga

Yelloëwax

Rating: ★★★★

In both senses of the term, Johannesburg’s Zoë Modiga is a new world star. Her ancient-to-future energy swirls from a...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: October/2020

Review of North

North

Mary Dillon

Back Lane Records

Rating: ★★★★

The elder sister of Cara and former frontwoman of 90s Irish powerhouse Déanta, Mary Dillon has followed up her 2010...

Reviewed by Michael Quinn in issue: Apr/May/2013

Review of 1000 Can Die

1000 Can Die

King Ayisoba

Glitterbeat Records

Rating: ★★★★

It’s as absurd to generalise about African albums as it would be American or European albums. But over the years...

Reviewed by Howard Male in issue: May/2017

Review of Ghalia Benali sings Oum Kalthoum

Ghalia Benali sings Oum Kalthoum

Ghalia Benali

Zimbraz/Music & Words MWCD3038

Rating: ★★★★

A subtle sifting through the Kalthoum songbook. Raised in Tunisia but now living in Brussels, Ghalia Benali has explored many...

Reviewed by Neil van der Linden in issue: October/2010

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