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Reviews

Review of Percussion Around the World

Percussion Around the World

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Saydisc (2 CDs)

Rating: ★★

There's a feast of randomness here: a loose compilation of tracks in a multitude of styles whose music ranges from...

Reviewed by Barak Schmool in issue: April/2016

Review of Olli Goes to Bollywood

Olli Goes to Bollywood

Olli & The Bollywood Orchestra

Label Caravan

Rating: ★★★

Nothing if not experimental, Olli & The Bollywood Orchestra have made a third album every bit as bizarre as its...

Reviewed by Amardeep Dhillon in issue: April/2016

Review of The Gnawa Caravan: Salt

The Gnawa Caravan: Salt

Simo Lagnawi

Waulk Records

Rating: ★★★★

London-based gimbri master and Gnawa evangelist Simo Lagnawi is becoming a prolific and reliable recording artist, releasing Gnawa-themed albums with...

Reviewed by Tim Woodall in issue: April/2016

Review of Romanian Tales

Romanian Tales

Diana Rasina

Galileo Music

Rating: ★★★

Diana Rasina is a Romanian singer, based in Vienna. Romanian Tales is a strong album and certainly marks her as...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: April/2016

Review of Romance(s)

Romance(s)

Aldina Duarte

Sony Music (2 CDs)

Rating: ★★★★

After releasing Contos de Fados (a wordplay on ‘fairy tales’, replacing fairies with fados), Aldina Duarte decided to take time...

Reviewed by GonÇalo Frota in issue: April/2016

Review of Faransiskiyo Somaliland

Faransiskiyo Somaliland

Sahra Halgan Trio

Top of the World

Buda Musique & DVD

Rating: ★★★★★

Fans of all things desert-bluesy should check out Sahra Halgan. She has just returned to her homeland – the fledgling...

Reviewed by Jon Lusk in issue: April/2016

Review of Ragtime! Hokum! Western Swing!

Ragtime! Hokum! Western Swing!

The Holcombe Family String Band

Gin House Records

Rating: ★★

Cued by the ‘hokum’ present both in the album title and, homophonically, in the name of the band, this reviewer...

Reviewed by Jeff Kaliss in issue: April/2016

Review of Né So

Né So

Rokia Traoré

Nonesuch Records

Rating: ★★★★

It's easy to read too much into the circumstances surrounding the making of a record, but it's clear that some...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: April/2016

Review of The Longing Kind

The Longing Kind

Maz O’Connor

Top of the World

Restless Head

Rating: ★★★★★

‘For this album I didn’t want to hide behind historical disasters and mythological beastsat the expense of my own experience,’...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: April/2016

Review of Live in Berlin

Live in Berlin

Baden Powell

MPS Records (2 CDs)

Rating: ★★★★

Though far less well-known than João Gilberto or Tom Jobim outside Brazil, Baden Powell was one of that select group...

Reviewed by Alex Robinson in issue: April/2016

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