Reviews

Lost in Mali

Various Artists

There has long been a suspicion that the world music we get to hear is only part of the story,...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

African Harmonies

Insingizi

African ground hornbills don’t sing, but they do emit calls that can apparently be heard from a distance of about...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Sabaru

Sekou Kouyaté

Sekou is the son of Guinean kora player M’Bady Kouyaté, but takes tradition further, using amplification and effects pedals. He...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Herança

Lura

While Mayra Andrade, Lura’s compatriot, has been steering away from traditional Cape Verdean sounds, husky-voiced Lura does the opposite on...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Singles As Bs & 12 Inches

Osibisa

Osibisa were brave pioneers – a band of Ghanian, Nigerian and Caribbean musicians who came together in London at the...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Songs of Paapieye

SK Kakraba

SK Kakraba is a Ghanaian musician living in Los Angeles, and his instrument is the gyil. This pentatonic xylophone of...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Let Them Speak

The Umoza Music Project

This is an album recorded by 18 musicians, separated by 18,000km. The Umoza Music Project is a joint Malawian and...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Change

N’Faly Kouyaté

This kora- and balafon-playing singer-songwriter from Guinea is best known for his dashing presence within the ranks of Afro Celt...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Rwanda is My Home

The Good Ones

This is a very enjoyable yet remarkably melancholic release by a four-piece acoustic group from Rwanda. Part of the charm...

Reviewed in issue December/2015

Balas y Chocolate

Lila Downs

Passion in spite of poverty, magic in the face of misery – these are survival strategies in Latin America. Lila...

Reviewed in issue November/2015