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Reviews

Review of Chinmaya Dunster presents… MELA: Beyond Tradition

Chinmaya Dunster presents… MELA: Beyond Tradition

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Chinmaya Dunster

Rating: ★★

There is no doubting the devotion with which sarod player Chinmaya Dunster, the progenitor of MELA, approaches his musical projects....

Reviewed by Tom Newell in issue: May/2021

Review of Kagabas

Kagabas

Lion’s Drums

Biologic Records

Rating: ★★

Just when you weren’t waiting for a steaming chiva bus up to the mountains of the Colombian coast, along come...

Reviewed by Chris Moss in issue: May/2021

Review of Up the Cut

Up the Cut

Jon Wilks

Grizzly Folk

Rating: ★★★★

For Black Country native Jon Wilks’ third album he has eschewed the fuller arrangements of 2018’s Midlife for a lean...

Reviewed by Glenn Kimpton in issue: May/2021

Review of Orkney Monster

Orkney Monster

The Chair

Folky Gibbon Records

Rating: ★★★★

Well, here is a bit of fun. Orkney-based big band The Chair are a formidable and electrifying presence. With a...

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: May/2021

Review of Anoura

Anoura

Anansy Cissé

Riverboat Records

Rating: ★★★

In 2018 the Malian guitarist Anansy Cissé and his band were travelling to a festival in his hometown of Diré...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: May/2021

Review of Tales from the Punjab

Tales from the Punjab

Shez Raja

Ubuntu Music

Rating: ★★★

Shez Raja is the kind of bass player who eschews the back row in favour of centre stage. In the...

Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: May/2021

Review of Now More Than Ever

Now More Than Ever

Katie McNally Trio

Katie McNally Trio

Rating: ★★★★

With Boston fiddler McNally leading the charge, the Katie McNally Trio have been steadily making waves since their 2016 debut...

Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: May/2021

Review of Shapes of the Fall

Shapes of the Fall

Piers Faccini

Top of the World

Nø Førmat!/Beating Drum

Rating: ★★★★

Close to two decades ago painter, poet and musical polymath, Piers Faccini, released his solo debut on Label Bleu. Since...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: May/2021

Review of The Beginning, the Medium, the End and the Infinite

The Beginning, the Medium, the End and the Infinite

IKOQWE

Crammed Discs

Rating: ★★★★

Truly a concept rather than a story, this comes at you ‘packed with utopia and sermons for righteous earthlings… those...

Reviewed by Max Reinhardt in issue: May/2021

Review of Iran: The Masters of Music, Vol 1

Iran: The Masters of Music, Vol 1

Talâ’i, Musavi & Kiâni

Ocora Radio France

Rating: ★★★★

In the 19th century, the once orally transmitted modal tradition of Persian classical music was canonised into a repertoire known...

Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: May/2021

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