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Reviews

Review of Güle Güle

Güle Güle

Romano

Batov Records

Rating: ★★★★★

Part of Tel-Aviv’s vibrant musical scene, Lior Romano grew up in a Turkish-Egyptian household and his synth-led music is drenched...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Review of Noor-e Vojood

Noor-e Vojood

Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian

Cardinal Fuzz

Rating: ★★★★

Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian is 23 years old, but his music resounds with a sense of ancient mystery. It’s unsurprising given...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Review of Improvisations from the Doyen of Kurdish Nay

Improvisations from the Doyen of Kurdish Nay

Trio Andalibi

Link Music Lab

Rating: ★★★★

Respected as a sideman of numerous Persian artists, Kurdish ney or nay (reed flute) virtuoso Shaho Andalibi presents his first...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Review of Peripheries of Nahavand

Peripheries of Nahavand

Araz Salek

Worlds Within Worlds

Rating: ★★★★

Salek is a Tehran-born, Canada-based ensemble leader and tar player versed in the mores of Iran’s dastgāh system of music,...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Review of In Between

In Between

Elana Sasson

PKMusik

Rating: ★★★★

Following her 2024 album with Golestan Ensemble, singer/composer Elana Sasson further explores her Persian and Kurdish heritage on this ambitious...

Reviewed in issue June/2025

Review of Doğu Ekspresi

Doğu Ekspresi

Café Türk

Top of the World

Sound Concept Records

Rating: ★★★★

The border town of Kars in the far north-east of Turkey holds a special allure in the Turkish imagination. The...

Reviewed in issue April/2025

Review of Yarın Yoksa

Yarın Yoksa

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

Big Crown Records

Rating: ★★★

Fans of groove-laden psyche will love this offering from these boundary-defying purveyors of vintage-style Anatolian soul. The silky vocals of...

Reviewed in issue April/2025

Review of Amane

Amane

Bab El West

Les Bonnes Ondes

Rating: ★★★

The Moroccan-French three-piece here deliver a well-crafted desert blues collection with strong 70s and 80s rock influences. The group work...

Reviewed in issue April/2025

Review of Aylar

Aylar

Şatellites

Batov

Rating: ★★★

In the last few years, a plethora of young bands have arisen with a mission to valorise and recreate the...

Reviewed in issue April/2025

Review of Music from the East

Music from the East

Ammar El Sherei

wewantsounds

Rating: ★★★★

Ammar El Sherei (AKA Omar El Shariyi), born in Upper Egypt in 1948, was considered a pioneer in the 1970s...

Reviewed in issue April/2025

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