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Reviews

Review of Essencia

Essencia

Madredeus

Wrasse Records

Rating: ★★★★

What’s good about the newly reformed and reinvented Madredeus is that they sound so much like the Madredeus of old....

Reviewed by Alex Robinson in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of Way Up On The Hill

Way Up On The Hill

Hatful of Rain

UMS

Rating: ★★

Here’s a jaunty set of songs from the Sussex-based Appalachian-themed band Hatful of Rain, rolling through a tidal wave of...

Reviewed by Rose Skelton in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of The Other Shore

The Other Shore

Marta Topferova

World Village

Rating: ★★★

Few artists are as cosmopolitan as Marta Topferova. Born and partly raised in Czechoslovakia, this 30-something singer-songwriter emigrated to the...

Reviewed by Tim Woodall in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of Chasing the Light

Chasing the Light

The Old Dance School

Transition Records

Rating: ★★

The Birmingham-based Old Dance School’s debut album Forecast was full of the first flush of recording excitement; a follow-up was...

Reviewed by Rose Skelton in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of Che Guava’s Rickshaw Diaries

Che Guava’s Rickshaw Diaries

Lokkhi Terra

Top of the World

Funkiwala

Rating: ★★★★

Lokki Terra have gone from strength to strength since their first gig in 2006 at a concert titled From Bangla-beat...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of Contours of Cairngorm (Live)

Contours of Cairngorm (Live)

Mhairi Hall & Patsy Reid

Strath Records

Rating: ★★★

Opening with the sweetly rousing ‘Sunrise’, Mhairi Hall and Patsy Reid’s Contours of Cairngorm is an accomplished and polished collaboration....

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of Classics of My Soul

Classics of My Soul

Waldemar Bastos

Enja

Rating: ★★★

Like his compatriot Bonga, Waldemar Bastos is an Angolan in exile – living in Portugal after fleeing his homeland when...

Reviewed by Alex Robinson in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of MTMTMK

MTMTMK

The Very Best

Top of the World

Moshi Moshi

Rating: ★★★★★

The combination of the Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and the London-based electro production team Radioclit made The Very Best's debut...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of Kon Koma

Kon Koma

Kon Koma

Soundway

Rating: ★★★★

Ghanaians Alfred ‘Kari’ Bannerman and Emmanuel Rentzos have long been mainstays of the UK African scene. Guitar virtuoso Bannerman has...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

Review of Blue Cha Cha

Blue Cha Cha

Manuel Galban

Concord Picante

Rating: ★★★★

Galbán’s pedigree as Cuba’s finest electric guitarist ran from his 1960s work with Los Zafiros to his late flowering on...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sep/2012

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