Reviews

The Confluence

Dele Sosimi & The Estuary 21

If there’s anything negative to say about Fela Kuti’s music in particular and Afrobeat in general it’s that it don’t...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Hiddo Dhawr

Sahra Halgan

Sahra Halgan is a hero of Somaliland’s music. At home, in the unrecognised Somali state’s capital, Hargeisa, she runs the...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

BLEU

Ann O’aro

O’aro’s voice is breathtaking, heartbreaking. Gentle, but with great power behind it that occasionally erupts in a shocking flash… Her...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

YIÊH

Pamela Badjogo

Gabon-born singer Pamela Badjogo honed her chops as a backing vocalist for Grammy-winning powerhouse diva Angélique Kidjo, then went on...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Iboto Ngenge

Ngwaka Son Systéme

A fine balance of danceable music which pushes the boat out sonically and a sound firmly rooted in Congolese rumba...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Amghar: The Godfather of Tuareg Music – Vol One

Abdallah Oumbadougou

The style of Touareg guitar music known to the world as ‘desert blues’ and to the musicians themselves as assouf...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

New Ancient Strings

Toumani Diabaté & Ballaké Sissoko

Reissued to mark the 25th anniversary of its 1999 release on Joe Boyd’s Hannibal label, New Ancient Strings remains a...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Acoustic

Tiken Jah Fakoly

Along with Alpha Blondy and the late Lucky Dube, Ivory Coast’s Tiken Jah Fakoly is part of a righteous trinity...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Live

Mama Sissoko

A veteran of Mali’s oldest dance orchestra Super Biton de Ségou, Mama Sissoko became the band’s guitarist in 1972. When...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Tanou

Adama Yalomba

There are few more ancient instruments than Mali’s six-stringed, individually bowed n’dan, or ‘traveller’s harp’. Fewer still whose existence is...

Reviewed in issue April/2024