Reviews

Small Room In Dakar

Ben Aylon feat Roei Hermon

Multi-instrumentalist Ben Aylon has long been inspired by the music of Senegal. Studying for over a decade with the sabar...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Memories of Magic – Mahō no Kioku

Shugorei

The first few tracks on this album are a red herring. The soft, cinematic tinkling of ‘Alchemy’ and the somewhat...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Dreaming In Gamelan

Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill

This Canadian venture follows a long line of music that has been inspired by the Indonesian gamelan, but has moved...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Nusantara Beat

Nusantara Beat

Nusantara Beat emerged from Amsterdam’s fertile psychedelic scene, its assorted members having previously played in acclaimed acts like Anatolian rockers...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

KROK

СОЮЗ (SOYUZ)

Belarusian group СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) have released an album that, reflecting their in-transit status, is tricky to place geographically. After relocating...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Shy Girl

Hollie Cook

London-based singer-songwriter Hollie Cook returns with a fifth album that sees her outgrow her feel-good, pop-heavy origins into a punchy...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Niḷa

Ragawerk

Musicians Max Clouth and Martin Standke, who make up Ragawerk, conjure up a heady mix of German angular spikiness with...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Guiss Guiss

Afrodream

Beginning and ending with a Fela Kuti sound bite about the spiritual power of music, ‘La musique de mélange’ kicks...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Live in Saint Louis, Senegal

Raphaël Pannier Quartet/Khadim Niang & Sabar Group

This recording is a result of a rare meeting of the French jazz scene and the Senegalese tradition of sabar...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Bring Summer

Me and My Friends

A range of musical styles blow through this pleasing album by this British five-piece – folk, soul-jazz, highlife, disco, rock,...

Reviewed in issue January/2026