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Reviews

Review of Wicked Leaders

Wicked Leaders

King Ayisoba

Makkum Records

Rating: ★★★

Ghanaian popular music is currently dominated by both religious music and the genre known as hiplife. King Ayisoba is well-known...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Review of Dernier Appel

Dernier Appel

Tiken Jah Fakoly

Wrasse Records

Rating: ★★★

The singer Tiken Jah Fakoly is next in line to Alpha Blondy on the somewhat specialised Ivory Coast reggae scene,...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Review of Maghreb Lyon

Maghreb Lyon

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Frémeaux et Associés

Rating: ★★★★

The role of Paris and Marseille in the production of North African music in France is well documented: less so...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Review of Rough Guide to the Music of the Sahara

Rough Guide to the Music of the Sahara

VARIOUS ARTISTS

World Music Network

Rating: ★★★★

The rich river of talent flowing from beneath the sands of West Africa has rather hijacked our perception of music...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Review of Jaiyede Afro

Jaiyede Afro

Orlando Julius with The Heliocentrics

Top of the World

Strut

Rating: ★★★★

Orlando Julius should be much more famous outside his native Nigeria. One of the pioneers of Afrobeat, this is the...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Review of Trésors de la Musique Judéo-Arabe

Trésors de la Musique Judéo-Arabe

Lili Boniche

World Village

Rating: ★★★

Another welcome haul through the treasure trove of Jewish-Arab popular song: in this case, it's 13 tracks, including three released...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Review of Tzenni

Tzenni

Noura Mint Seymali

Top of the World

Glitterbeat

Rating: ★★★★★

The latest ascending Saharan star comes not from Mali, as you might expect, but from Mauritania. Singer and griot Noura...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Review of Akal Warled

Akal Warled

Imarhan Timbuktu

Clermont Music

Rating: ★★★

Mix the hypnotic call-and-response vocals and tinde hand-drums of the Touareg troupe Tartit with the electric guitars, rocking rhythms and...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Review of Addoh

Addoh

Oumar Konaté

Clermont Music

Rating: ★★★

On this, his debut album, guitarist and singer Oumar Konaté seeks to place himself among the ever-growing pantheon of Mali's...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Review of African Gems: Recordings by Charles Duvelle, Jos Gansemans, Benoit Quersin & David Fanshawe

African Gems: Recordings by Charles Duvelle, Jos Gansemans, Benoit Quersin & David Fanshawe

VARIOUS ARTISTS

SWP Records

Rating: ★★★

SWP Records never fail to surprise, educate and delight with their releases of traditional African field recordings. Their crowning glory...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

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