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Review of Ballad Lines

Ballad Lines

VARIOUS ARTISTS | Various Artists

Scissor Tail Records

Rating: ★★★★

That odd beast – a folk concept album – takes shape in Ballad Lines, a new Scottish folk musical by...

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: December/2025

Review of Hunter Folk Vol II: Tribute to Bantoma Sanogo

Hunter Folk Vol II: Tribute to Bantoma Sanogo

Pelengana Blo

Mieruba

Rating: ★★★★

This recording by Pelengana Blo, a member of the Donsoya, the Mande hunters’ brotherhood, pays tribute to the society’s rich...

Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: April/2026

Review of Tilaye’s Saxophone with the Dahlak Band

Tilaye’s Saxophone with the Dahlak Band

Tilaye Gebre

Muzikawi

Rating: ★★★★

Saxophonist Tilaye Gebre was one of the stalwarts of Addis Ababa’s popular music scene from the 1960s to the 1980s,...

Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: April/2026

Review of Working in Wood

Working in Wood

Brooks Williams & Aaron Catlow

Red Guitar Blue Music

Rating: ★★★

Don’t get me wrong: this album’s fine. It’s well-played, pleasant to listen to and seems to have its heart in...

Reviewed by Paul Slade in issue: April/2026

Review of Svaleheim

Svaleheim

Fliid/McKenzie

GO’ Danish Folk Music

Rating: ★★★★

This debut album by singer Adine Fliid and cellist Adam McKenzie presents a sublime listening experience. Fliid is of Norwegian/Danish...

Reviewed by Chris Wheatley in issue: April/2026

Review of Wahj

Wahj

Toni Geitani

Toni Geitani

Rating: ★★★

On this, his second full-length album, Beirut-born, Amsterdam-based composer, artist and producer Toni Geitani pens a sonic thesis on Arabic...

Reviewed by Olivia Cheves in issue: April/2026

Review of Open Guitar (Volume One)

Open Guitar (Volume One)

D.C Cross

D.C Cross

Rating: ★★★★

The concept behind Australian guitarist D.C Cross’s latest album is intended as an antidote to the frenetic nature of modern...

Reviewed by Glenn Kimpton in issue: April/2026

Review of Saputjiji

Saputjiji

Tanya Tagaq

Top of the World

Six Shooter

Rating: ★★★★★

The Canadian Inuk singer Tanya Tagaq may have refined her extreme techniques during recent decades, but hasn’t diluted the boldness...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: April/2026

Review of Ajomasé

Ajomasé

Gasper Lawal

Strut Records

Rating: ★★★★★

From the opening beat, Ajomasé announces itself as a percussive odyssey shaped by Gasper Lawal’s boundless creativity. First released in...

Reviewed by Joe Mulhall in issue: February/March/2026

Review of The American Revolution

The American Revolution

VARIOUS ARTISTS | Various Artists

In a Circle Records

Rating: ★★★★

The American Revolution, a six-part television documentary mini-series directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, recently debuted on...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: February/March/2026

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