Reviews

Awakening

Àbáse

This, the critical second full-length album of Àbáse (stage name of Hungarian keyboardist and producer Szabolcs Bognár) follows up Laroyê,...

Reviewed by Huw Hennessy in issue: September/2024

Doing Things Right

Jim Kweskin & The Berlin Hall Saturday Night Revue

Younger listeners may recall the name-check of Jim Kweskin by Bob Dylan in Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: July/2025

Eilifð

Anúna

Formed in 1987 by the composer Michael McGlynn, Anúna have become surely the best-known vocal group (he doesn’t like to...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: July/2025

Barĩy (Fera) برٌِي

Maurice Louca

Egyptian guitarist Maurice Louca’s music has shapeshifted continually across the years. Rooted in Arabic music, he’s refracted its traditions in...

Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: July/2025

Rise Up

Cha Wa

Combine the deeply influential legacy of marching brass bands in New Orleans with the equally significant historical relationship between African-Americans...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: January/2026

Radio Zodiak

Owls Are Not

Intercontinental musical collective Owls Are Not brings together musicians from Poland, Malawi and Tanzania in the name of intrepid sonic...

Reviewed by Andrew Taylor-Dawson in issue: January/2026

Batakari

Ata Kak

Ata Kak (AKA Yaw Atta-Owusu) is back… again! Ten years on from the now seminal reissue of his 1994 debut,...

Reviewed by Olivia Cheves in issue: December/2025

Vendrán Suaves Lluvias

Silvana Estrada

Silvana Estrada says she studied at a jazz conservatory so she could “use my voice as an instrument”, and with...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: December/2025

Liberatsiya

The Ukrainians

‘There are mines underfoot; in the sky there is a swarm of drones… our mothers are praying for us’. The...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: May/2026

Birds

Da Lata

Can that be the sweet sound of spring? On the strength of this fourth album by beloved London-based tropicalistas Da...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: April/2020