Reviews
Once Upon a Time in Senegal: The Birth of Mbalax 1979-1981
Youssou N’Dour is Africa’s biggest star and the mbalax sound he helped shape remains Senegal’s musical heartbeat 30 years after...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Djitoumou
The name might be unfamiliar to you, but Mali’s Idrissa Soumaoro has an impressive musical pedigree, having performed with Ali...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Djekpa La You
An exceptional live performer and a brilliant songwriter, it’s not hard to see why Ivorian Dobet Gnahoré was chosen to...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Anthology 2
How to collect the music of Fela Kuti has long challenged record buyers. His original vinyl albums tended to contain...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Beginner’s Guide to South Africa
The title’s something of a misnomer. While this extended trawl of the last 30 plus years of South African music...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
The Collection
Gospel music is the biggest selling genre in South Africa and the Lusanda Spiritual Group rival Ladysmith Black Mambazo and...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Zembrocal Musical
Groove Lélé are a Creole group from the island La Réunion, located in the Indian Ocean to the east of...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Adama Drame
A long-term champion of West Africa’s loudest hand drum, the djembé master Adama Dramé here gets his early 90s solo...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Afrobeast
Yaaba Funk are a multiracial, multi¬national ten-piece Brixton band who have developed a strong reputation over the past two years...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
Shouka
There hasn’t been much news from the Western Sahara recently. But all is not quiet on the Western front. Shouka...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2010
