Reviews
They Found Asylum in the Sea
The seven-piece UK Afrobeat collective Sea Slugs have self-released three albums in four years since they formed in 2013. The...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: August/2017
Year of the Clown
The album's title is a whimsical comment on the political lunacy of the past year and there is certainly an...
Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: August/2017
Brincantes
I often feel weary when faced with collaborations between Europeans and Brazilians when the accordion-led rhythm of forró is mentioned,...
Reviewed by Russ Slater in issue: August/2017
Oté Maloya: The Birth of Electric Maloya on Réunion Island 1975-1984
Now this is a compilation to be treasured. Maloya is the roots music of La Réunion, a diasporic African mix...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: August/2017
Kyoto Mon Amour
For some time, traditional Japanese music and modal jazz have made for a fruitful synthesis. Both share a fascination with...
Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: August/2017
Letters from Iraq
Rahim AlHaj learned to play the oud (lute) as a schoolboy in Iraq and went on to study under Munir...
Reviewed by Merlyn Driver in issue: July/2017
Salone
The Kondi Band teams the blind Sierra Leonean thumb piano player and vocalist Sorie Kondi with the US producer and...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2017
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017
Although double-winner Daoirí Farrell is missing from the tracklist (presumably for contractual reasons) it is only a minor quibble with...
Reviewed by Kevin Bourke in issue: July/2017
Kora Fo
Born into a legendary griot family in Casamance, Senegal, for the past decade Maher Cissoko has been resident in Sweden,...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2017
Zaire 74: The African Artists
The ‘Rumble in the Jungle,’ as the 1974 Heavyweight Championship boxing bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman was known,...
Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: July/2017
