Reviews

The Kankobela of the Batonga Volume 2

VARIOUS ARTISTS

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

VARIOUS ARTISTS

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

Baloji

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

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

VARIOUS ARTISTS

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

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

Mashasha

Mashasha

Peter ‘Mashasha’ Mujuru is a Zimbab–wean bass guitarist, session musician and member of jazz group Too Open. He currently lives...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012

Congo – Pygmy Polyphonies from North Congo

VARIOUS ARTISTS

This is a stunning collection of one of the world’s most extraordinary vocal expressions: yeli, the polyphonic yodeling from the...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012

Amachal

Toumast

On their second album, Toumast create a new form of Touareg guitar music, substantially evolved from the trademark sound we’ve...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012

My Life

Sia Tolno

It’s all a matter of interpretation. To some, Guinean singer Sia Tolno’s easy shifting back and forth between traditional styles...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2012