Reviews
Soul of My City
Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra
From the gleeful rockabilly throb of ‘Let's Go Back in Time, Man’ via infectious celebrations of cross-dressing (‘Life is a...
Reviewed by Kevin Bourke in issue: April/2019
Gràs
Hailing from the windswept Outer Hebridean island of South Uist, MacInnes is one of the finest singers in the Gaelic...
Reviewed by Nathaniel Handy in issue: June/2015
Lament for Syria
A former teacher and journalist in his native Syria, Jan Ibro Khelil fled to Norway in 2010 and was granted...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: October/2016
The Sky is Cloudy
The group's name doesn't give much away, but the plaintive melody on the duduk that opens this album makes its...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: November/2019
Dakan
In the world of the djembé, we have progressed a long way from CDs of traditional dance drumming captured purely...
Reviewed by Barak Schmool in issue: October/2016
The Road to Jajouka
The artist and writer Brion Gysin took Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones to see the Jajouka Musicians shortly before...
Reviewed by Peter Culshaw in issue: Jan/Feb/2014
Meluta
Finland's Antti Paalanen, as a former pupil of the great Kimmo Pohjonen, learned not only to become a brilliant accordion...
Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Hakili Kélé
The veteran Malian griot Mah Damba believed she had recorded her final album when she made 2010's À l'Ombre du...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Jan/Feb/2020
Djoyas de Mar
This album is not only musically interesting but is an inventive reimagining and bringing together of two traditions. At first...
Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: Aug/Sep/2018
High Words
My first inclination was to award this album a single star. These songs are annoyingly catchy, and they're annoyingly unfunny,...
Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: July/2017
