Reviews
Fragments
American multi-instrumentalist Yoni Avi Battat has undergone a journey of discovery to reconnect with his Iraqi-Jewish roots through the medium...
Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: December/2022
Saulem Ai
A galloping, multicoloured horse brightens the cover of Saulem Ai (My Beloved), an appropriate emblem for the music of this...
Reviewed by Tim Woodall in issue: Apr/May/2014
Kar Yagar
Derya Yildirim & Grup Şimşek - which translates as Ocean Lightning and the Thunderbolts - is a trul international band...
Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: October/2019
The Sounds of India; Improvisations; Three Ragas
This double album features three older releases by Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitar maestro who died in 2012. He took...
Reviewed by Jameela Siddiqi in issue: July/2015
Celia
Not content with simply succeeding Miriam Makeba as the new ‘Mama Africa,’ Kidjo now has her sights on the late...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2019
The Dark Peak and the White
This is a strikingly original work of musical preservation. Supported by the Peak District National Park Authority, it is a...
Reviewed by Nathaniel Handy in issue: October/2012
El Rebusque
Mama Julia y los Sonidos Ambulantes
Since La Mojarra Eléctrica disappeared on indefinite hiatus, the world has been calling out for a new group to combine...
Reviewed by Russ Slater in issue: October/2015
Lastenkerääjä
Akkajee are a Finnish band of two akkas, a term they define as a ‘head-strong woman with a decisive attitude...
Reviewed by Merlyn Driver in issue: July/2021
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle
I Kate and Anna McGarrigle were the unlikeliest of pop stars, two plain-spoken homebodies raised in the ancient Laurentian mountain...
Reviewed by Roger Hahn in issue: October/2013
Beja Power! Electric Soul & Brass from Sudan’s Red Sea Coast
A unique instrument is always eye-catching, and Noori’s incredible self-made (literally) fusion of an electric guitar and a tambour (lyre)...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: July/2022
