Reviews

Diamond Fingers

Mama Sissoko

Among a crowded field of West African guitar heroes, Malian Mama Sissoko stands out as an artist of keen sensitivity...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Byin Arrivé

Etinsel Maloya

From La Réunion comes an action-packed album featuring eight young musicians, fronted by the punchy Creole vocals of lead singer...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Tilaye’s Saxophone with the Dahlak Band

Tilaye Gebre

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

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Hoggar

Tinariwen

Tinariwen are the elder statesmen of desert blues, champions of Touareg resistance, and spokesmen for their nomadic culture which spans...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

A Djinn and a Hunter Went Walking

Neba Solo & Benego Diakité

Two traditional instrumentalists from Mali, but from different cultures. Neba Solo, who also sings, is one of the most respected...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Let Us Clap

Lamisi

Lamisi is a singer-songwriter from Accra with roots in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana. The project’s musical director...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Jèem

Lëk Sèn

Gravel-voiced Senegalese reggae singer Lëk Sèn delivers an album that finds its formula in the opening seconds and sticks to...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Mengwi

Nda Chi

Cameroonian artist Nda Chi describes his album as a ritual journey, a tribute to lost mothers, a collection of anthems...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Ethiopiques 32

Nalbandian the Ethiopian & Either/Orchestra

Boston’s Either/Orchestra featured on Ethiopiques 20 in a live recording made in Addis in 2004 and resurface here with a...

Reviewed in issue April/2026

Hunter Folk Vol II: Tribute to Bantoma Sanogo

Pelengana Blo

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

Reviewed in issue April/2026