Reviews
Stop the Hate
Femi Kuti's last album, 2018's One People One World, was disappointing; it lacked the bite of earlier recordings and sounded...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: March/2021
Read the Sky
Oysterband have had an impressive history, and they are certainly not finished yet. This is the 12th studio album, the...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: May/2022
The Orchestra in the Sky
Hochzeitskapelle & Japanese Friends
Hochzeitskapelle are a German instrumental quintet comprised of musicians from the Munich Jazz scene, who have garnered a reputation for...
Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: January/February/2024
The Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia
Few countries’ musical heritage has been pilfered so thoroughly as has Ethiopia’s in recent years. Rarely a month goes by...
Reviewed by John Howarth in issue: Nov/Dec/2012
Kings of the South Seas
Bored on tour, singer and concertina player Ben Nicholls idly picked up a book called The Missionary Trail. He grew...
Reviewed by Nathaniel Handy in issue: Jan/Feb/2015
Synthesizing the Silk Roads
The title and subheading (Uzbek Disco, Tajik Folktronica, Uyghur Rock and Crimean Tatar Jazz from 1980s Soviet Central Asia) say...
Reviewed by Keith Howard in issue: November/2024
Long Shot/Battle of the Giants
The Pioneers were a Jamaican vocal trio who formed in the early 1960s, shifting line-ups and achieving little success until...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: December/2018
Running Away With the Circus
The Trans-Siberian March Band's line-up is the expected Balkan spread of clarinets, trumpets, trombones, and alto saxophone, but with a...
Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: March/2017
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow
Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson
Wielding only the bare necessities – banjo, fiddle and bones – Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson, founding members (along with...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: June/2025
Havana Cultura – The Search Continues
We've been here before, sort of. Three years ago BBC DJ Gilles Peterson enlisted the help of his musician mate...
Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: Jan/Feb/2012
