Reviews

Tribute to Irakere

Chucho Valdés

Paying tribute to your former band might sound like a vainglorious kind of nostalgia, if it weren’t for the fact...

Reviewed in issue June/2016

Sociedade Recreativa

Sociedade Recreativa

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

Reviewed in issue June/2016

Haiti Vodou: 1937-1962 Folk Trance Possession

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Following Frémeaux's 2013 two-CD compilation Jamaica Folk Trance Possession, comes this set of mostly field recordings from Haiti. But where...

Reviewed in issue June/2016

The Rough Guide to Bottleneck Blues

VARIOUS ARTISTS

You could say that bottleneck, or slide, guitar embodies the dichotomy at the heart of the blues. On the one...

Reviewed in issue June/2016

Accordion in Americas

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The poor squeezebox – if it's not a busker on autoplay, it's an off-the-peg cumbia band or a Seine-spoiling cliché-churner....

Reviewed in issue June/2016

Dubcatcher 2: Wicked My Yout

DJ Vadim

The Russian-born, New York-based DJ Vadim returns with another fast-paced reggae volume under the pseudonym Dubcatcher, this time pulling in...

Reviewed in issue June/2016

Natural

Nicola Conte & Stefania Dipierro

For a brief period in the 1960s, Brazil was at the epicentre of all things musically chic and sophisticated. On...

Reviewed in issue June/2016

Weighted Mind

Sierra Hull

The last time Sierra Hull released an album, the mandolin prodigy and protégé of Alison Krauss was only a year...

Reviewed in issue June/2016

The Rough Guide to Americana

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Compiled by rock writer and musician Sylvie Simmons, this second edition of TheRough Guide to Americana is a pleasing hodgepodge...

Reviewed in issue June/2016

Studio One Showcase

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Clement Dodd (1932-2004), founder of Studio One, pioneer of the Kingston sound systems, master producer and talent scout, recorded more...

Reviewed in issue May/2016