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Review of YIÊH

YIÊH

Pamela Badjogo

Raphia

Rating: ★★★★

Gabon-born singer Pamela Badjogo honed her chops as a backing vocalist for Grammy-winning powerhouse diva Angélique Kidjo, then went on...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Review of Iboto Ngenge

Iboto Ngenge

Ngwaka Son Systéme

Top of the World

Eck Echo

Rating: ★★★★★

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

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Review of Amghar: The Godfather of Tuareg Music – Vol One

Amghar: The Godfather of Tuareg Music – Vol One

Abdallah Oumbadougou

Petaluma

Rating: ★★★★

The style of Touareg guitar music known to the world as ‘desert blues’ and to the musicians themselves as assouf...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Review of New Ancient Strings

New Ancient Strings

Toumani Diabaté & Ballaké Sissoko

Chrysalis

Rating: ★★★★★

Reissued to mark the 25th anniversary of its 1999 release on Joe Boyd’s Hannibal label, New Ancient Strings remains a...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Review of Acoustic

Acoustic

Tiken Jah Fakoly

Chapter Two

Rating: ★★★★

Along with Alpha Blondy and the late Lucky Dube, Ivory Coast’s Tiken Jah Fakoly is part of a righteous trinity...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Review of Live

Live

Mama Sissoko

Mieruba

Rating: ★★★

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

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Review of Tanou

Tanou

Adama Yalomba

Remote Records

Rating: ★★★★

There are few more ancient instruments than Mali’s six-stringed, individually bowed n’dan, or ‘traveller’s harp’. Fewer still whose existence is...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Review of Souvenirs

Souvenirs

Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru

Mississippi Records

Rating: ★★★★

The world lost a unique composer with the passing of Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru at the age of 99 last year....

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Review of Joola Jazz

Joola Jazz

IBAAKU

Blanc Manioc

Rating: ★★★★

Eight years since the release of his previous record Alien Cartoon, Senegalese electro-jazz artist IBAAKU has returned with a stunning...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

Review of Esengo

Esengo

London Afrobeat Collective

Canopy Records

Rating: ★★★★

Given that Afrobeat was born out of a creative culture clash – funk meeting highlife for a riotous party –...

Reviewed in issue April/2024

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