Reviews
Classic American Ballads from Smithsonian Folkways
The newest instalment of Smithsonian Folkways’ splendid vault-raiding Classic series compiles 25 songs written between 1836 and 1947 about topical...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2015
The Rough Guide to Barbecue Bob
Proving that rappers and hip-hop artists weren’t the first African-American musicians to adopt street names was Robert Hicks: he cooked,...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2015
Strictly Roots
If you’re looking for a contemporary reggae album that stays strictly to roots, look elsewhere. Roots has punch, and exists...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2015
Anna & Elizabeth
Like a long-lost Coen Brothers soundtrack, this album opens to the old-time sounds of the Southern cotton fields. Drenched in...
Reviewed in issue July/2015
Chasing the Sun
Trilling banjo and strummed guitar, expressive fiddle lines and the purest close-harmony vocals: Chasing the Sun opens with a gorgeous,...
Reviewed in issue July/2015
One
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy
This album is a new venture for Cape Breton fiddle supremo Natalie MacMaster, in two respects. First, she has recorded...
Reviewed in issue July/2015
Something in the Water
Over almost a decade, Pokey LaFarge has carved out a career as one of Americana's most distinctive young talents. His...
Reviewed in issue July/2015
Outros Choros do Brazil
A choro supergroup of sorts, the three members of Aquarela have worked with the likes of Gilberto Gil, Airto Moreira...
Reviewed in issue July/2015
A Wanderer I’ll Stay
Sweet, sincere harmony singing and a deft, relaxed approach to old-time, traditional and contemporary folk music are what characterise this...
Reviewed in issue July/2015
Tundra Songs
The first noises here sound just like a fat seal pulling itself over gritty snow. By the end of Tundra...
Reviewed in issue July/2015
