Reviews
Éthiopiques 24: Golden Years of Ethiopian Music 1969-1975
If the news that there are two new volumes of the magnificent, hugely influential and spectacularly long– running Ethiopiques series...
Reviewed in issue Apr/May/2010
Nigeria Special Volume 2: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds and Nigerian Blues 1970-6
When the Nigerian civil war ended in 1970, a period of experimentation and musical freedom ensued, producing some rich and...
Reviewed in issue Apr/May/2010
Soweto
This is an album of ‘township sounds from the golden era of mbaqanga’ –a reminder of the rousing dance music...
Reviewed in issue Apr/May/2010
Nkolo
Pascal ‘Lokua’ Kanza has roots in Congo–Kinshasa and Rwanda, two nations afflicted by the greatest contemporary tragedies Africa has known....
Reviewed in issue Apr/May/2010
Stória, Stória…
Mayra Andrade’s confident 2006 debut Navega (reviewed in #44), brought her widespread acclaim. She was one of a number of...
Reviewed in issue March/2010
Tsikaya: Músicos Do Interior
Blighted by war from 1961 to 2002, Angola has received far less attention for its music than many of its...
Reviewed in issue March/2010
The Kankobela of the Batonga Vol 1
Once fishermen and farmers on the rich alluvial banks of the Zambezi, the Batonga were driven at gun¬point from their...
Reviewed in issue March/2010
Volume 2: Echos Hypnotiques
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
From latter-day obscurity to the plush aisles of London’s Barbican, the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo story is a typically colourful one, with...
Reviewed in issue March/2010
Bonjour
It’s all a matter of interpretation. With Bonjour, Rachid Taha, the leather-clad, Algerian-born Joe Strummer acolyte, has made a record...
Reviewed in issue March/2010
Ali & Toumani
Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté and Ali Farka Touré's 2005 Grammy-winning collaboration In the Heart of the Moon was about as flawless a...
Reviewed in issue March/2010
