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Review of Sociedade Recreativa

Sociedade Recreativa

Sociedade Recreativa

Top of the World

Jarring Effects

Rating: ★★★★★

There's something about the off-kilter charm of the music of north-east Brazil that can sometimes be more appealing than the...

Reviewed by Howard Male in issue: June/2016

Review of Madjafalao

Madjafalao

Le Tout-Puissant Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou

Top of the World

Because Records

Rating: ★★★★

One of the great West African big bands of the 1970s, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo were Benin’s answer to Senegal’s Orchestra Baobab,...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Jan/Feb/2017

Review of More Than One

More Than One

The Idumea Quartet

Penny Fiddle Records

Rating: ★★★★

From the very beginning of this album it is apparent that we are dealing with musicians as equally well-versed in...

Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: June/2020

Review of Lemma

Lemma

Souad Asla

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★

Hailing from the Saoura region of southern Algeria, Lemma are a group of 11 female artists whose name, in their...

Reviewed by Russell Higham in issue: Jan/Feb/2019

Review of Love & Devotion

Love & Devotion

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party

Real World Records

Rating: ★★★★

Qawwali is the devotional music of South Asian Sufis (Islamic mystics) and its most famous exponent, the late Nusrat Fateh...

Reviewed by Jameela Siddiqi in issue: Nov/Dec/2013

Review of History

History

Youssou N'Dour

Naïve Records/Believe

Rating: ★

Whereas Salif Keita's recent album, Un Autre Blanc [reviewed in #146], only featured a lone foray into AutoTune vocals, the...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: July/2019

Review of Strange Suite

Strange Suite

Ateshkhan Yuseinov

Riverboat Records

Rating: ★★★

Guitarist Ateshkhan Yuseinov's new album truly is a Strange Suite; its carefully ordered tracks lead listeners down a path of...

Reviewed by Celeste Cantor-Stephens in issue: December/2019

Review of Bumayé

Bumayé

LASS

Chapter Two/Wagram Music

Rating: ★★★★

Lassana Sané was inspired to sing by seeing the Senegalese hip-hop trio Daara J on television. He went to see...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: August/September/2022

Review of I Used to Be Sad & Then I Forgot

I Used to Be Sad & Then I Forgot

Mr Alec Bowman

Mr Alec Bowman

Rating: ★★★

Professional photographer-turned-singer-songwriter Mr Alec Bowman may have swapped the darkroom for the recording studio but it still doesn't seem to...

Reviewed by Russell Higham in issue: July/2020

Review of Andalussyat

Andalussyat

Françoise Atlan & l’Orchestre Arabo-Andalou de Fès

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★★

French-born of North African Jewish parents, Françoise Atlan was one of the first singers to explore the Andalusian repertoire shared...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: October/2022

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