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Reviews

Review of It All Came Round Again

It All Came Round Again

Fairport Convention

Madfish

Rating: ★★★★

Subtitled ‘On Stage and On Air 1982-90’, this is an extensive and intriguing history of what was a decidedly tricky...

Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: January/2025

Review of Ventre Unique

Ventre Unique

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp

Bongo Joe Records

Rating: ★★★

Ventre Unique, the sixth album by Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, merges folk, krautrock, post-punk and African rhythms to create...

Reviewed by Lucy Hallam in issue: January/2025

Review of Mmabatho

Mmabatho

Sereetsi & The Natives

Tomeletso Sereetsi

Rating: ★★★

Singer, songwriter and producer Tomeletso Sereetsi is something of a hero in his homeland as an exponent of the unique...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: January/2025

Review of Vèjula

Vèjula

Merope

STROOM

Rating: ★★★★

A few years ago, I reviewed Merope’s album Naktės and it remains one of my favourites in something like 12...

Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: January/2025

Review of I’m Glad About It: The Legacy of Gospel Music in Louisville, 1958-1981

I’m Glad About It: The Legacy of Gospel Music in Louisville, 1958-1981

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Louisville Story Project

Rating: ★★★★★

According to contributing singer Bessie Leavell Palmer, ‘gospel music is written out of the depths of somebody’s soul.’ Well, this...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: January/2025

Review of Port’Inglês

Port’Inglês

Carmen Souza

Galileo Music

Rating: ★★★★

The tricky part about coming up with and cementing an aesthetic of your own is avoiding being cornered or imprisoned...

Reviewed by GonÇalo Frota in issue: January/2025

Review of Al-Bahr

Al-Bahr

Wishamalii

Nordic Notes

Rating: ★★★★

There’s so much going on with Finnish trio Wishamalii’s debut album that it almost invents a whole new genre of...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: January/2025

Review of Tension

Tension

Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra

Top of the World

Batov Records

Rating: ★★★★★

As the father of Ethio-jazz, the Ethiopian multi-instrumentalist and composer Mulatu Astatke has carved out a unique musical path. On...

Reviewed by Paul Bowler in issue: January/2025

Review of Dima Libre

Dima Libre

Labess

Inouïes Distribution

Rating: ★★★

This is the fifth album in the lengthy career of a group led by Algerian singer-songwriter, Nedjim Bouizzoul. Having migrated...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: January/2025

Review of I’m Jimmy Reed

I’m Jimmy Reed

Jimmy Reed

Craft Recordings / Bluesville

Rating: ★★★★★

It’s routinely hailed as the first great blues album but, as was the case with most bluesmen of his generation,...

Reviewed by Kevin Bourke in issue: January/2025

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