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Review of Bourdon

Bourdon

Topette!!

Topette!!

Rating: ★★★★

Bourdon is French for ‘Bumblebee,’ and Topette!!’s exhilarating and intriguing new album begins with the buzz of a dumbledore. This...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: June/2022

Review of Karantamba

Karantamba

Bai ‘Ndigal’ Janha

Teranga Beat

Rating: ★★★★

Tiny Gambia has always struggled to maintain a musical identity beside its mighty neighbour, Senegal. For long periods its music...

Reviewed by Mark Hudson in issue: June/2012

Review of Down in Jamaica: 40 Years of VP Records

Down in Jamaica: 40 Years of VP Records

VARIOUS ARTISTS

VP Records VINYL BOX SET

Rating: ★★★★★

Jamaican record producer Vincent Chin began in the jukebox trade, establishing the iconic Randy's Records shop at 17 North Parade...

Reviewed by David Katz in issue: March/2020

Review of Whip Jamboree

Whip Jamboree

Blackbeard’s Tea Party

BTP Records

Rating: ★★★

York six-piece Blackbeard’s Tea Party formed in 2009: first as a busking unit, then a ceilidh band and now as...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: July/2013

Review of Stand Up, People: Gypsy Pop Songs From Tito's Yugoslavia 1964-1980

Stand Up, People: Gypsy Pop Songs From Tito's Yugoslavia 1964-1980

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Vlax Records

Rating: ★★★★★

When students Philip Knox and Nathaniel Morris found they shared a passion for Balkan music, specifically the kind discovered in...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Hot Pot Totto

Hot Pot Totto

WaqWaq Kingdom

Phantom Limb

Rating: ★★★★

WaqWaq Kingdom’s album Hot Pot Totto is a joyous and defiant response to ecological anxiety. The album is a brew...

Reviewed by Neil van der Linden in issue: November/2023

Review of Griais

Griais

Gillie Mackenzie

Gress Recordings

Rating: ★★★

Named after her home village on Lewis in the Western Isles, Griais is Mackenzie’s first solo album. It’s a bright...

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: Nov/Dec/2012

Review of Viena

Viena

Värttinä

Top of the World

Westpark

Rating: ★★★★★

Having worked with Värttinä earlier in 2015, I had a sense that their new album was going to be something...

Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: April/2016

Review of Midnight and Closedown

Midnight and Closedown

Lau

Top of the World

Reveal Records

Rating: ★★★★★

After a wait of nearly four years the British folk scene's bravest experimenters are back with their fifth studio album,...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: March/2019

Review of Divine

Divine

Oana Catalina Chitu

Asphalt Tango Records

Rating: ★★★

Maria Tanase is often referred to as ‘the Romanian Piaf’: both were distinctive vocalists who took a local vernacular music...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

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