Reviews
Skyscrapers & Deities
There have been plenty of well-meaning summit meetings over the years between West African and European musicians, partnerships that have...
Reviewed in issue March/2012
The Koka Koka Sex Battalion – Music from Tanzania 1975-1980
It's gratifying to know that some record labels are still able to recognise the value of compilations of vintage, previously...
Reviewed in issue March/2012
Guitars From Agadez Vol 3
When Tinariwen stormed the citadel of the mainstream music industry, a wave of guitar-toting Touaregs followed in their wake, picking...
Reviewed in issue March/2012
Contreband Mentality
Les Frères are a 14-strong Paris-based Afro-beat collective who, for some bizarre reason, all take the same surname in the...
Reviewed in issue March/2012
The Kankobela of the Batonga Volume 2
The kankobela is a smaller version of the more well-known mbira (thumb piano) of Zimbabwe’s Shona people. The people of...
Reviewed in issue March/2012
Noise & Chill Out – Ethiopian Groove Worldwide
The ‘Ethiopianisation’ of certain bands and their music is a curious, unpredicted scenario. Even sou-kous in its 80s peak didn’t...
Reviewed in issue March/2012
Kinshasa Succursale
Recorded in 2008, the story of Kinshasa Succursale has the trappings of a film script. Congolese-Belgian rapper-cum-dandy Baloji had turned...
Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012
King of Kwassa Kwassa: The Best of Kanda Bongo Man
Kanda Bongo Man is one of the most successful exponents of the soukous style of music – the exuberant ‘bubblegum’...
Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012
Bambara Mystic Soul: The Raw Sound of Burkina Faso 1974-1979
Burkina Faso has been somewhat passed over as a musical centre when compared to its West African neigh¬bours; this latest...
Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012
Dor de Mar
Tcheka’s last album, Lonji, was superb and earned five stars from this reviewer. Dor de Mar is even better and...
Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012
