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Review of Seeds Are Sewing

Seeds Are Sewing

Alex Etchart

I Will Make Space Records

Rating: ★★★★

Listening to this on the day the UK Supreme Court stripped trans people of their rights was bittersweet. Alex Etchart’s...

Reviewed by Rosie Solomon in issue: July/2025

Review of Laini Tan

Laini Tan

Nadah El Shazly

Top of the World

One Little Independent

Rating: ★★★★★

More than seven years after her debut, the second solo album from Egyptian-born, Montréal-based Nadah El Shazly brings all the...

Reviewed by Olivia Cheves in issue: July/2025

Review of Toumaro

Toumaro

Hawa & Kassé Mady Diabaté

Top of the World

One World Records

Rating: ★★★★★

If it wasn’t for Salif Keita, Kassé Mady Diabaté would surely have been recognised as the finest male vocalist in...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: September/2025

Review of The True Story of Bananagun

The True Story of Bananagun

Bananagun

Full Time Hobby

Rating: ★★★★

Put on your sunglasses and your fringed jackets, turn on the lava lamp, mix yourself a martini, let out a...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: July/2020

Review of Voy Pa’ Allá

Voy Pa’ Allá

Semblanzas del Río Guapi

Discos Pacifico

Rating: ★★★

The arrival of Discos Pacifico has meant a steady stream of new releases from Colombia’s Pacific Coast; following on from...

Reviewed by Russ Slater in issue: July/2021

Review of Cormac Begley

Cormac Begley

Cormac Begley

Cormac Begley

Rating: ★★★★

A limited-edition release contained within very becoming concertina-shaped packaging, Cormac Begley's self-produced eponymous solo debut serves as both a masterclass...

Reviewed by Michael Quinn in issue: August/2017

Review of Sefardix

Sefardix

Oles Brothers & Jorgos Skolias

For Tune

Rating: ★★★

The concept behind this album is intriguing: the reimagining of Sephardic songs in a setting for drums and double bass;...

Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: December/2015

Review of The Bend in the Light

The Bend in the Light

Ellen Gibling

Ellen Gibling

Rating: ★★★★

Hailing from K’jipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia, classically trained Ellen Gibling’s keen interest in Irish traditional music is given free rein...

Reviewed by Michael Quinn in issue: June/2022

Review of Convoque Seu Buda

Convoque Seu Buda

Criolo

Top of the World

Sterns Music

Rating: ★★★★

Since the release of his last album, Nó Na Orelha, Criolo has arguably become the most important new artist in...

Reviewed by Russ Slater in issue: March/2015

Review of Origins

Origins

Negarit Band

Top of the World

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★★

Bandleader (although he prefers the title ‘Ethio Musicologist’) Teferi Assefa, from Addis Ababa, earned his Masters degree in Jazz Drumming...

Reviewed by Russell Higham in issue: January/February/2024

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