Reviews
Faran
Faran is an Israeli instrumental group playing their own compositions on traditional Middle Eastern instruments, including oud (lute), kamancheh (spike...
Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: October/2014
Al-Zarqa
While the Cairo-born musician Ali Khattab is described as a flamenco guitarist, it's better to think of him simply as...
Reviewed by Jan Fairley in issue: Nov/Dec/2011
The Paths of Pain: The CAIFE Label, Quito, 1960-68
London record shop/label Honest Jon’s is never short of rare musical treasure and what a treat they have served up...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: December/2021
West to West
If you had to sum up Nii Okai Tagoe in the reductionist shorthand pigeonholing that the modern world demands, ‘Ghanaian...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Aug/Sep/2016
Hunger of the Skin
Hunger of the Skin finds Flook flautist Brian Finnegan putting COVID-19 lockdown purdah to scintillating use with a firing-on-all-cylinders set....
Reviewed by Michael Quinn in issue: June/2021
Demi-Écrémé
Jack-of-all-trades Wael Jegham, aka Ghoula, returns with an engrossing electronica exploration of North African fables, languages and musical traditions. In...
Reviewed by Daniel Brown in issue: May/2023
Shorelines
Emilyn Stam & Filippo Gambetta
Even from just the first few notes of ‘Sunflower Delight’, the opening track on this confident album, it is clear...
Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: Jan/Feb/2019
Borrowed Time
Appalachian banjo and fiddle player, bilingual singer-songwriter and activist à la Pete Seeger, Joe Troop calls this his ‘dream album.’...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: October/2021
Kabatronics
Fanfara Tirana meets Transglobal Underground
The irresistible draw here is Albania’s amazing brass band Fanfara Tirana, an 11-strong musical force of real magic. Transglobal Underground,...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Apr/May/2013
Peru Boom: Bass, Bleeps and Bumps from Peru's Electronic Underground
Peru's capital Lima now hosts an edgy, fresh dance music scene, which draws on a wide range of influences: pan-South...
Reviewed by Charles De Ledesma in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
