Reviews

Iboto Ngenge

Ngwaka Son Systéme

A fine balance of danceable music which pushes the boat out sonically and a sound firmly rooted in Congolese rumba...

Reviewed by Nik Hann in issue: May/2024

The Confluence

Dele Sosimi & The Estuary 21

If there’s anything negative to say about Fela Kuti’s music in particular and Afrobeat in general it’s that it don’t...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: May/2024

Rhapsody in Blue

Béla Fleck

According to no less an authority than Jim Farrington, former Music Librarian and Director of the World Music Archive at...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: May/2024

Little Sun

Charlie Parr

Austin, Minnesota’s Charlie Parr is leaving behind the country-blues derivations of his earliest works. For all their ramshackle charms, albums...

Reviewed by Spencer Grady in issue: May/2024

Évohé Bègue

Bégayer

Geographically, this mysterious quintet hail from the south east of France but, sonically, they manifest as though from a bustling...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: May/2024

Monsieur MÂLÂ

Monsieur MÂLÂ

Monsieur MÂLÂ, a Parisian jazz fusion quintet, emerges from the shadows of supporting roles for musicians like Blick Bassy, Mayra...

Reviewed by Lucy Hallam in issue: May/2024

Polonez

Lumpeks

The second album by the Polish-French quartet Lumpeks picks up right where their self-titled debut (2020) left off. Founded by...

Reviewed by Michał Wieczorek in issue: May/2024

Badā

Farah Kaddour

Farah Kaddour’s inaugural solo venture, Badā, unfolds as a deliberate exploration of the buzuq, a Persian lute akin to the...

Reviewed by Lucy Hallam in issue: May/2024

Live

Mama Sissoko

A veteran of Mali’s oldest dance orchestra Super Biton de Ségou, Mama Sissoko became the band’s guitarist in 1972. When...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: April/2024

Haz

La Yegros

Buenos Aires native Mariana Yegros absorbed from her parents a love of traditional cumbia and chamamé, a folk music distinctive...

Reviewed by Chris Wheatley in issue: April/2024