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Reviews

Review of Ye Ankasa | We Ourselves

Ye Ankasa | We Ourselves

Jembaa Groove

Agogo Records

Rating: ★★★★

Jembaa Groove’s 2022 debut album was a highlife highlight (a Top of the World in #177). The Berlin-based group elegantly...

Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: June/2024

Review of Les Secrets du Ciel

Les Secrets du Ciel

Yann Falquet

Yann Falquet

Rating: ★★★★

Yann Falquet is best-known as the singer and guitarist who co-founded the award-winning Québécois folk trio Genticorum, celebrated for their...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: June/2024

Review of All About the Bones

All About the Bones

Chris Smither

Signature Sounds

Rating: ★★★★

American folk and blues singer Chris Smither marks his upcoming 80th birthday with All About the Bones, a moody and...

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: June/2024

Review of PsychoTropical

PsychoTropical

Los Guayabo Brothers

Los Guayabo Brothers

Rating: ★★★★

Guayabo is Colombian slang for hungover, but it can also mean nostalgia for your homeland, the famous saudade in Portuguese,...

Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: June/2024

Review of Africa Yontii

Africa Yontii

Tidiane Thiam

Top of the World

Sahel Sounds

Rating: ★★★★

This is the second instrumental album for Sahel Sounds by the Senegalese guitarist from Baaba Maal’s home town of Podor...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2024

Review of Negore

Negore

Odd Okoddo

Altin Village & Mine

Rating: ★★

Odd Okoddo is Kenyan singer Olith Ratego and German multi-instrumentalist Sven Kacirek, working in Nairobi, and here delivering their second...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: June/2024

Review of Originali

Originali

Orkestar Kriminal

CPL-Music

Rating: ★★★★

Orkestar Kriminal’s evolution reaches a highpoint with Originali, their first album of entirely original compositions. Renowned for their renditions of...

Reviewed by Buzz Bury in issue: June/2024

Review of Congo Funk! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa/Brazzaville 1969-1982)

Congo Funk! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa/Brazzaville 1969-1982)

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Analog Africa

Rating: ★★★★

A simplified history of music during the period dubbed L’Authenticité in the Congo shows a period of heavily state-funded and...

Reviewed by Nik Hann in issue: June/2024

Review of Wise and Waiting

Wise and Waiting

Equal Spirits

Ubuntu Music / ECN Music

Rating: ★★★

Wise and Waiting is Bristol-based trombonist Raph Clarkson’s latest exploration into the vibrant sounds of South African jazz. Following recent...

Reviewed by Tom Spargo in issue: June/2024

Review of EZRA

EZRA

EZRA

Adhyâropa Records

Rating: ★★★★★

With the eponymously titled EZRA, composer, multi-instrumentalist and luthier Jesse Jones establishes his acoustic ensemble as one of our planet’s...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: June/2024

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