A Beginner's Guide
Fruko: A Beginner's Guide
A one-man tropical orchestra generator, there can be few musicians who have left a bigger imprint on their country’s music than Fruko. Silvia Rothlisberger tracks down the Colombian bandleader
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Features
The Rough Guide to World Music: Nigeria
Nigeria's best-known cultural exports – juju, Afrobeat and fuji music – barely scratch the surface of the vast and vibrant cultural topography of the nation
Features
Best Albums 2020: Fusion
All of these albums received a maximum of five stars when reviewed in the 2020 issues of Songlines. Featuring Xylouris White, Sunny Jain, Derek Gripper, Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn and many more
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Another Good Friday feat Seun Kuti, Stick in the Wheel, Amadou & Mariam and more
Two Marleys, two Malian legends, two magnificent artists meeting up in Lagos, malevolent folk music from the Thames and more in our latest instalment of new songs to get your Friday going.
The Rough Guide to World Music
The Rough Guide to World Music: Mali
Few African countries have contributed so many important artists to the World Music market: Salif Keita, Toumani Diabaté, Habib Koité, Kandia Kouyaté, Oumou Sangaré and the late Ali Farka Touré being but a few
Features
Andy Irvine: A Beginner's Guide
The Irish music icon tells Emma Rycroft about Planxty’s swift success, his love of Balkan music and the array of sounds he’s explored from his first days in Dublin
Features
The Rough Guide to World Music: Mali
Few African countries have contributed so many important artists to the World Music market: Salif Keita, Toumani Diabaté, Habib Koité, Kandia Kouyaté, Oumou Sangaré and the late Ali Farka Touré being but a few
Features
Cosmo Sheldrake: Birdhouse In Your Soul
Jane Cornwell speaks to eco-minded composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Cosmo Sheldrake, whose interest in endangered species and enigmatic writers inspires works such as his new sophomore set, Wake Up Calls
Features
VRï interview: “Traditional music is owned by the people”
The Welsh trio VRï are injecting new life into traditional songs, mining the country’s past for the stories of everyday people
Features
Vieux Farka Touré interview: “It’s difficult to be the child of someone who has gone to the top of the mountain”
Emerging from the shadow cast by his famous father, guitarist Vieux Farka Touré has spent a career forging his own path. But now he’s finally returning to his roots. Photography by Kiss Diouara
Features
Taraf de Impex: “it’s exciting to be doing this. Fresh. A new way for Romanians to look at making music”
Garth Cartwright travels to Bucharest to preview the revitalised and reformed Romanian Gypsy band, Taraf de Haidouks, who are making their UK debut as Taraf de Caliu, alongside Impex
Features
EMEL interview: “I’m not interested in that inherited feeling where women are rivals anymore”
EMEL’s latest album sees her work with a completely female team to make one of the most unapologetically forthright and adventurous albums of the year
Features
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino: "We wanted to fit our style, and pizzica, into the idea of a Western pop song"
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino perform the vibrant pizzica music of southern Italy. Ciro de Rosa speaks to bandleader Mauro Durante about how they brought this rhythmic tradition into the 21st century
Features
Seun Kuti: “Love for me is a force that can change the world” + Video Premiere
With a new album ready, his first in six years and one featuring an all-star cast – Damien Marley, Sampa The Great, Lenny Kravitz – Seun hopes to make a breakthrough: “Reaching the people without the mainstream is not easy,” he tells Jane Cornwell
A Beginner's Guide
Mahsa Vahdat: A Beginner's Guide
One of Iran’s leading female singers has become world famous with her myriad collaborations. Laudan Nooshin pinpoints some of her career highlights to date
