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Reviews

Review of Maturity

Maturity

Nadir Ben

Joussour / InOuïe Distribution

Rating: ★★

French-Algerian singer-songwriter Nadir Ben describes his debut Maturity as a personal, poetic release in a Maghreb folk-pop style, and that’s...

Reviewed by Alexandra Petropoulos in issue: October/2025

Review of Acqua Marina

Acqua Marina

Prefaces

Ruptured Records

Rating: ★★★★

Led by multi-instrumentalist Charif Megarbane, Beirut-based trio Prefaces’ music transplants surf rock from its traditional Californian heartland to the coasts...

Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: October/2025

Review of El Pela Vacas

El Pela Vacas

Chalino Sánchez

Craft Latino

Rating: ★★★

Known as ‘El Rey del Corrido’ (King of Corridos), Sánchez worked as a ‘coyote’, smuggling drugs and undocumented immigrants into...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: October/2025

Review of Original Broadway Cast Recording

Original Broadway Cast Recording

Buena Vista Social Club

World Circuit

Rating: ★★★

World Circuit protected the integrity of its multi-million selling brand of Cuban nostalgia vigorously, refusing large sums to license Buena...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: October/2025

Review of Asteartea

Asteartea

Bea Asurmendi

Bea Asurmendi

Rating: ★★★★

Bea Asurmendi is a London-based Basque singer-songwriter and Guildhall graduate with a sensitive, wide-ranging voice. This album was informed by...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: October/2025

Review of Cinnamon Flower

Cinnamon Flower

The Charlie Rouse Band

Resonance Records

Rating: ★★★★

For over a decade, Charlie Rouse’s tenor sax graced Thelonious Monk’s quartet during the final chapter of the pianist’s career....

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: October/2025

Review of Your Comfort Zone

Your Comfort Zone

Peyoti For President

Sordid Soup Records

Rating: ★★★

Cumbia grooves, salsa horn riffs and calls to rebellion coalesce on this bombastic record. Opener ‘You are the Revolution’ could...

Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: October/2025

Review of Hillbilly Ragas

Hillbilly Ragas

Sir Richard Bishop

Drag City

Rating: ★★★★

The John Fahey-coined term “American primitive guitar” has become murky of late, with some guitarists disregarding it completely due to...

Reviewed by Glenn Kimpton in issue: October/2025

Review of The End

The End

Junior Brother

Strap Originals

Rating: ★★★★

“The sound of the album is supposed to take the organic instruments of Irish traditional music and lift them somewhere...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: October/2025

Review of INTEIRA

INTEIRA

Nina Maia

Mr Bongo

Rating: ★★★

Inteira (meaning whole) was originally released last year on the Seloki label in Brazil, an indie with a terrifically varied...

Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: October/2025

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