Reviews
Classic American Ballads from Smithsonian Folkways
The newest instalment of Smithsonian Folkways’ splendid vault-raiding Classic series compiles 25 songs written between 1836 and 1947 about topical...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
The Rough Guide to Barbecue Bob
Proving that rappers and hip-hop artists weren’t the first African-American musicians to adopt street names was Robert Hicks: he cooked,...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Original Album Series
Enrique Morente, who died in 2010, was one of the most important figures in the history of recorded flamenco. Considered...
Reviewed by Jo Setters in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Strictly Roots
If you’re looking for a contemporary reggae album that stays strictly to roots, look elsewhere. Roots has punch, and exists...
Reviewed by Clyde Macfarlane in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Lion Songs: Essential Tracks in the Making of Zimbabwe
As an audio companion to his recent biography of Mapfumo, the American writer and guitarist Banning Eyre has compiled 14...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Original Album Series
Concha Buika has added a compelling vision and an original voice to the Spanish music scene over the past ten...
Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
The West African Blues Project
The easiest way to describe The West African Blues Project is that it is exactly what it says in its...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Meluta
Finland's Antti Paalanen, as a former pupil of the great Kimmo Pohjonen, learned not only to become a brilliant accordion...
Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Still
Working with producer Jeff Tweedy, singer of the rootsy American indie band Wilco, Richard Thompson has taken a swerve in...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
