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Reviews

Review of Koyo

Koyo

Zar Electrik

Jarring Effects

Rating: ★★★★

Zar Electrik are a trio from Marseille who deserve to become stars of the Afro-electro dance scene thanks to this...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: June/2025

Review of Healing Voices

Healing Voices

ESINAM & Sibusile Xaba

W.E.R.F.

Rating: ★★★★

The soulfully-voiced Belgian-Ghanaian multi-instrumentalist Esinam Dogbatse, who performs under the name ESINAM, met the South African singer and guitarist Sibusile...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2025

Review of Wagadu Grooves Vol 2: the Hypnotic Sound of Camara 1991-2014

Wagadu Grooves Vol 2: the Hypnotic Sound of Camara 1991-2014

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Hot Mule Records

Rating: ★★★

Gaye Mody Camara has had a remarkable career. A young Malian who moved to France in 1977, he started out...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: June/2025

Review of Nights in the Belly of Bohemia

Nights in the Belly of Bohemia

Gabriel Moreno

Poetry Mondays Records

Rating: ★★★★

Gabriel Moreno’s new album shows the singer-songwriter at the height of his powers. The London-based Gibraltarian poet/musician explores the dilemmas...

Reviewed by Tony Gillam in issue: June/2025

Review of El Sonido Bastardo

El Sonido Bastardo

Danzón El Gato

Lovemonk Records

Rating: ★★★★

Madrid’s Danzón El Gato occupy a similar sonic space to US band Khruangbin, melding psychedelic rock influences with a plethora...

Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: June/2025

Review of Diboli

Diboli

Tamala

Muziekpublique

Rating: ★★★★

The Tamala quartet certainly draw inspiration from an eclectic range of cultural influences. Led by the impassioned vocals of Mola...

Reviewed by Tom Spargo in issue: June/2025

Review of La Marche du Bonheur

La Marche du Bonheur

&Fusion

Buda Musique / Socadisc

Rating: ★★★★

Celebrating cultural differences, the richness of their respective heritages and the chance to further decolonise France’s imperial past, this virtuosic...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: June/2025

Review of Vie Kaz

Vie Kaz

Votia

Ajabu!

Rating: ★★★★

Votia, a group from La Réunion, come steeped in tradition: powerfully voiced lead singer Marie-Claude Philéas Lambert is the daughter...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: June/2025

Review of Ajo Rebirth

Ajo Rebirth

Wura Samba

Sambabe Records / Ajazco Records

Rating: ★★★★

Wura Samba (Wura meaning ‘gold’ in Yoruba) from Nigeria and his nine-piece “drumming and percussion” band return with Ajo Rebirth,...

Reviewed by Lucy Hallam in issue: June/2025

Review of Cancionera

Cancionera

Natalia Lafourcade

Top of the World

Sony Music

Rating: ★★★★★

We know Natalia Lafourcade can turn on the intimacy and intensity. On 2024’s Live at Carnegie Hall, she managed to...

Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: June/2025

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