Reviews
Hokin Janapar
There was once, in London in the 1920s, a now largely forgotten author named Michael Arlen, an Armenian born in...
Reviewed by Kim Burton in issue: July/2021
My Last Song: A Tribute to Macedonia’s Gypsy Queen
Esma Redžepova and Nune Brothers
As the title suggests, this album contains the last recordings of extraordinary North Macedonian vocalist Esma Redžepova, recorded in 2016...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: July/2021
Burkina Hakili
The West African nation of Burkina Faso has 60 different ethnic groups; in a strong career that includes three albums...
Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: July/2021
Tembo Kia Ngoma
This is an instrumental album of Congolese and Central African percussion rhythms performed by a musician based in the San...
Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: June/2021
Nouara
Although this is only his second album, Kamel El Harrachi is a well-known performer of chaabi, the Algerian popular music...
Reviewed by Jo Setters in issue: June/2021
Luci e Guai
Raised in Lyon with the tunes his Sicilian grandmother sang to him, Julien Lesuisse set out in search of his...
Reviewed by Robert Rigney in issue: June/2021
Yaral Sa Doom
In 2018 Karl Jonas Winqvist, self-styled ‘musical archaeologist’ and founding member of the Swedish band First Floor Power, travelled to...
Reviewed by Russell Higham in issue: June/2021
Roots of Strings: A Musical Journey with the Arabic Oud
It's a dark irony that the protracted suffering of the Syrian conflict has given Western audiences unprecedented opportunities to hear...
Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: June/2021
Zarb-e Osul
After having begun learning tombak (goblet drum) in Iran at the age of ten, Tabassian's rhythmic journey would later begin...
Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: June/2021
