Reviews
Unexpected Guests
The title-track of Unexpected Guests lives up to the billing. Bagpiper Craig Downie blares dramatically over a boisterous tabla beat....
Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: January/2021
Discover Japanese Taiko
Taiko is a term that covers an array of Japanese drums (known as wadaiko). Since the mid-20th century, taiko has...
Reviewed by Darran Smith in issue: May/2017
Cante
Cante is a form of traditional polyphonic singing from the south of Portugal, namely from the region of Alentejo, usually...
Reviewed by GonÇalo Frota in issue: Aug/Sept/2020
Juyungo: Afro-Indigenous Music from the Northwestern Andes
In the Ecuadorian city and surrounding region of Esmeraldas, the descendants of Africans who escaped slavery, and Indigenous peoples such...
Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: April/2025
Galiza
Kepa Junkera is a wonderful player of trikitixa, the traditional dance music of the Basque country, which he squeezes out...
Reviewed by Julian May in issue: June/2014
O Ptácích a Rybách
BraAgas are a Czech female quartet (plus bassist Jan Hrbek) who featured on the bonus CD of Czech music with...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: Jan/Feb/2019
Kanabory Siyama
When the great kora (harp-lute) player Kaouding Cissoko died in 2003, he was replaced in Baaba Maal's band by Diabel,...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2012
Of Lovers, Gamblers and Parachute Skirts
Taraf de Haidouks exploded out of Romania as soon as communism ended, introducing Balkan Gypsy music to the West; their...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: March/2015
Carvings
Norwegian guitarist and singer Juni Habel caused a quiet stir with her debut, with some quarters likening her to Nick...
Reviewed by Chris Wheatley in issue: April/2023
Kopolo
The charming tropical rainforest recordings of this Cameroonian pygmy group have won them quite a fanbase. Unfortunately, this latest instalment...
Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: Apr/May/2013
