Reviews
Stereo Instrumental Music
The Ibex Band were at the heart of Ethiopia’s fabled ‘golden age’ of music, backing the likes of Mulatu Astatke,...
Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: June/2025
The Pearl Album (Live in Celebration)
Alternating songs with jigs, reels, slides, marches, hornpipes and airs, The Pearl Album celebrates 30 years of music making by...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: June/2025
Lagon Nwar
Together with Valentin Ceccaldi (bass, cello) and Quentin Biardeau (saxophone), both musical improvisers, composers and producers, and Marcel Balboné (Burkinabé...
Reviewed by Pierre Cuny in issue: June/2025
Salsa de la Bahia: A Collection of SF Bay Area Salsa and Latin Jazz
In this double-disc third volume of the Salsa de la Bahia series, documentary-maker and timbales-player Rita Hargreaves highlights the contributions...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: June/2025
Roots Rocking Zimbabwe: The Modern Sound of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980
Music scenes are strange things, ephemeral and unpredictable. The right confluence of history, politics, culture, migrations, community, geography, trends, hard...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: June/2025
El Errante
On their latest album, Montréal’s El Balcón have delivered a dynamite collection of self-written songs seamlessly blending lead singer Valeria’s...
Reviewed by Justin Turford in issue: June/2025
Nouse Luonto – Songs of Nordic Biodiversity
VARIOUS ARTISTS | Various Artists
In Finland, where nature is often on your doorstep, an estimated one in nine species is endangered. Nouse Luonto is...
Reviewed by Merlyn Driver in issue: June/2025
Hyldon JID023
Younge’s output is so prolific that it must be difficult to maintain the quality, especially when he plays virtually all...
Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: June/2025
Kotiin
Anne-Mari Kivimäki | Anne-Mari Kivimäki & Palomylly
Recorded across Finland, Estonia and Iceland, Kotiin (Homeward) blends Kivimäki’s hypnotic accordion with regional instruments such as the kantele (zither)...
Reviewed by Mateusz Dobrowolski in issue: June/2025
Our Boys Are Doing It
Dennis Mpale (feat Kippie Moketsi)
First issued locally in 1977, Our Boys Are Doing It was trumpeter Dennis Mpale’s first solo album, although by then...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2025
