Reviews

NRTYA

SAICOBAB

NRTYA is an easy record to celebrate but a difficult one to enjoy. The album fully realises its mission of...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Songs of My Land

Chiyomi Yamada & Baobab

A classical soprano with a decades-long career in early music, Chiyomi Yamada moved back to her native Japan in 2022,...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Qasr

Sheherazaad

This layered debut explores issues of identity that arise when one’s ethnic heritage does not wholly align with one’s country...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Ngélar

LAIR

Formed in 2018 in the city of Jatiwangi, West Java, LAIR (pronounced ‘lah-eer’ – taken from the Indonesian word meaning...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

If Only I Could Hibernate

Johanni Curtet

This release is the soundtrack to the film If Only I Could Hibernate by Mongolian director Zoljargal Purevdash. It had...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

A Tablanaut’s Journey

Kuljit Bhamra

Hear the tabla like you’ve never heard it before! This may seem a bold claim for an instrument central to...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Aarambh

Abby V

Toronto-based singer Abby V (Abby Venkatachalam) teams up with producer-composer and three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej for Aarambh, which means...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

like the sky I’ve been too quiet

ganavya

Born in New York and raised in Tamil Nadu, ganavya has gradually cultivated a glowing reputation as an interdisciplinary artist,...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Ulyap Songs: Beyond Circassian Tradition

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Fans of the traditional sounds of the Northern Caucasus will be familiar with the name of Bulat Khalilov and the...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Master of Bamboo Mouth Organ

Sombat Simla

The free reed bamboo mouth organ, the khaen or khene, is the iconic musical instrument of Laotians living in Isan...

Reviewed in issue April/2024