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Reviews

Review of Inner Spaces

Inner Spaces

Amir ElSaffar & Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch

Ornithology Productions

Rating: ★★★★

The latest release from Iraqi-American trumpeter, santur player and vocalist Amir ElSaffar and composer and sound artist Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch,...

Reviewed by Olivia Cheves in issue: May/2025

Review of Malmin Med Åshild Vetrhus

Malmin Med Åshild Vetrhus

Malmin feat Åshild Vetrhus

Krets

Rating: ★★★★

With rugged fjords, stony cliffsides and fishing villages, Rogaland in Norway is also home to a remarkably raw-sounding tradition of...

Reviewed by Devon Léger in issue: May/2025

Review of The Edinburgh Rollick

The Edinburgh Rollick

Ruckus & Keir GoGwilt

Ruckus Records

Rating: ★★★★

NYC-based Ruckus – described as “the world’s only period-instrument rock band” – have joined forces with violinist, composer and musicologist...

Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: May/2025

Review of At My Mother’s Piano

At My Mother’s Piano

Yama Warashi

PRAH Recordings

Rating: ★★★★

Can memory be preserved through sound? Can a place and a point in time be captured in the soft fall...

Reviewed by Rosie Solomon in issue: May/2025

Review of Niepraudzivaya

Niepraudzivaya

Hajda Banda

Top of the World

Karrot Kommando

Rating: ★★★★

Hajda Banda are one of the best traditional bands to have emerged in Poland in recent years. Led by Belarusian...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: May/2025

Review of Following

Following

Pédro Kouyaté

Quai Son Records

Rating: ★★★★

Malian-born Pédro Kouyaté has made his way in music as a disciple of Toumani Diabaté, a member of the Symétric...

Reviewed by Jean Berry in issue: May/2025

Review of Alé: Iberian Chants

Alé: Iberian Chants

Libérica & Manel Fortià

Segell Microscopi

Rating: ★★★

Combine jazz, improv, Iberian folk and flamenco and stand back for a restless, roaming set that opens with a Catalan...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: May/2025

Review of Piknik

Piknik

Uusikuu

Nordic Notes

Rating: ★★★

Uusikuu could just be the house band at the cosy local tavern of your dreams, with warm, relaxed vocals backed...

Reviewed by Wif Stenger in issue: May/2025

Review of Dreamscapes

Dreamscapes

Frigg

Bafe’s Factory

Rating: ★★★★

After 25 years of travelling the world, fiddle juggernaut Frigg rolls like a well-oiled machine – albeit with a few...

Reviewed by Wif Stenger in issue: May/2025

Review of Riζituals: Inspired by Cretan Vocal Traditions

Riζituals: Inspired by Cretan Vocal Traditions

Xanthoula Dakovanou

Mousa

Rating: ★★★★

This is an intriguing album, reworking the rizitika vocal tradition of Crete for female voices and a backing of Greek...

Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: May/2025

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