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Reviews

Review of Arctic Spirit: Music from the Siberian North

Arctic Spirit: Music from the Siberian North

German & Claudia Khatylaev

Borealia

Rating: ★★★★★

Sakha, or Yakutia, is a land of mammoths, gold and diamonds: a Siberian territory that sits atop permafrost and is...

Reviewed by Keith Howard in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Carry Me Home

Carry Me Home

The Dustbowl Revival

Dustbowl Revival

Rating: ★★★

The theatrical and often comical approach to their kaleidoscope of Americana makes you want to see how The Dustbowl Revival...

Reviewed by Jeff Kaliss in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Go Calypsonian

Go Calypsonian

Lord Mouse & the Kalypso Katz

Piranha

Rating: ★★★

This selection from the ever ebullient Lord Mouse follows 2010's eponymous debut. The purpose remains unaltered: electric and eclectic calypso...

Reviewed by Charles De Ledesma in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Young, Gifted and Yellow

Young, Gifted and Yellow

Yellowman

VP Records

Rating: ★★★

This new anthology of albino dancehall star Yellowman flaunts his laugh-out-loud sexual swagger over two CDs. His massive hit ‘Zungguzungguguzungguzeng’...

Reviewed by Clyde Macfarlane in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Vagrant Stanzas

Vagrant Stanzas

Martin Simpson

Topic Records

Rating: ★★★★

The inspiration for Vagrant Stanzas came, according to Simpson, from sessions at the kitchen table with his neighbour Richard Hawley,...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Five Albums

Five Albums

Natacha Atlas

Beggars Archive

Rating: ★★★★★

In recent years Natacha Atlas has significantly changed musical direction and now stands on the threshold of venerable diva status....

Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Athar

Athar

Khaled Aljaramani

Institut du Monde Arabe

Rating: ★★

The first few moments of Khaled Aljaramani's first solo album come as something of a blessed relief: the sound of...

Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Sotaque

Sotaque

Budiño

Fol Musica

Rating: ★★★

The Galician gaita, like its Celtic forebears the Scottish bagpipes and Irish uilleann pipes, produces rough-edged, high-pitched melodies that dance...

Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Turbines

Turbines

Tunng

Full Time Hobby

Rating: ★★★

Flux is the keyword in Tunng's story, from its 2003 beginnings as a loose East London collective through to the...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

Review of Ouesh Hada?

Ouesh Hada?

Temenik Electric

Top of the World

Nomad’ Cafe

Rating: ★★★★

From the vibrant multi-cultural melting pot of Marseille comes the debut album from Temenik Electric, a flamboyant Arabic rock outing...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sept/2013

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