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Reviews

Review of Ritmo Del Barrio

Ritmo Del Barrio

Chicha Por Favor Vol 1 – Grooves from El Volcán: The Heartbeat of Peruvian Cumbia

Rating: ★★★

These grooves constitute a limited-edition LP of ten tracks from the El Volcán label recorded during the 70s and 80s....

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: April/2025

Review of Hymns of Bantu

Hymns of Bantu

Abel Selaocoe

Top of the World

Warner Classics

Rating: ★★★★★

Anything Abel Selaocoe touches is bound to be extraordinary. Having followed his career from its early days, it’s been a...

Reviewed by Alexandra Petropoulos in issue: April/2025

Review of Kaira

Kaira

Toumani Diabaté | Toumani Diabaté & Sidiki Diabaté

Chrysalis Records

Rating: ★★★★★

This was the album that created an icon. The late Toumani Diabaté released his debut Kaira in 1988 and it...

Reviewed by Alexandra Petropoulos in issue: April/2025

Review of Sanju

Sanju

Flook

Flatfish Records

Rating: ★★★★

Flook have been one of the most distinctive-sounding, innovative instrumental folk bands in Britain and Ireland since they formed in...

Reviewed by Dave McNally in issue: April/2025

Review of Road Rasa

Road Rasa

Jawari

Vadi Records

Rating: ★★★

Following up an impressive 2021 solo debut, Vignettes, British sitarist Tommy Khosla introduces their ensemble Jawari, together with saxophone, guitars...

Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: April/2025

Review of Yarın Yoksa

Yarın Yoksa

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

Big Crown Records

Rating: ★★★

Fans of groove-laden psyche will love this offering from these boundary-defying purveyors of vintage-style Anatolian soul. The silky vocals of...

Reviewed by Simon Cross in issue: April/2025

Review of Women

Women

Kat-Tet

Symbole

Rating: ★★★★

The wildly fecund jazz fusion of Guadeloupe, that archipelago of a dozen plus islands out where the northwest Caribbean meets...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: April/2025

Review of Nací Mestizo

Nací Mestizo

La Pambelé

discos elgozo

Rating: ★★★★★

Intertextuality is not a common word to introduce a review of dance music, but it is everywhere in this second...

Reviewed by Kim Burton in issue: April/2025

Review of Our Calling

Our Calling

Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko

Top of the World

Nø Førmat!

Rating: ★★★★★

The British-Italian folk songwriter Piers Faccini and the Malian kora player Ballaké Sissoko (Taj Mahal, Toumani Diabaté, Derek Gripper) first...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: April/2025

Review of Boss Morris

Boss Morris

Boss Morris

Boss Morris

Rating: ★★★★

The self-titled debut from Boss Morris soars with all the melancholy folk beauty of a Red Kite in a wintry...

Reviewed by Dan Hobson in issue: April/2025

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