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Reviews

Review of Iboto Ngenge

Iboto Ngenge

Ngwaka Son Systéme

Top of the World

Eck Echo

Rating: ★★★★★

A fine balance of danceable music which pushes the boat out sonically and a sound firmly rooted in Congolese rumba...

Reviewed by Nik Hann in issue: May/2024

Review of Needlefall

Needlefall

Magic Tuber Stringband

Thrill Jockey

Rating: ★★★★

The music on Needlefall is borne of one region, but two worlds. It finds Durham, North Carolina guitar- and-fiddle duo...

Reviewed by Spencer Grady in issue: May/2024

Review of Amghar: The Godfather of Tuareg Music – Vol One

Amghar: The Godfather of Tuareg Music – Vol One

Abdallah Oumbadougou

Petaluma

Rating: ★★★★

The style of Touareg guitar music known to the world as ‘desert blues’ and to the musicians themselves as assouf...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: May/2024

Review of Little Sun

Little Sun

Charlie Parr

Smithsonian Folkways

Rating: ★★★★★

Austin, Minnesota’s Charlie Parr is leaving behind the country-blues derivations of his earliest works. For all their ramshackle charms, albums...

Reviewed by Spencer Grady in issue: May/2024

Review of Extinct But Still Alive

Extinct But Still Alive

Mama Longhorn

Top of the World

Soit Se Silti

Rating: ★★★★★

This is Finnish music collective Mama Longhorn’s fourth album in a 13-year career which has seen them acclaimed as among...

Reviewed by Chris Wheatley in issue: May/2024

Review of Cara de Espelho

Cara de Espelho

Cara de Espelho

Locomotiva Azul

Rating: ★★★★

No one by now can be ignorant of the far-right rise all over the world. In Portugal, the alarm is...

Reviewed by GonÇalo Frota in issue: May/2024

Review of Monsieur MÂLÂ

Monsieur MÂLÂ

Monsieur MÂLÂ

Bridge the Gap

Rating: ★★★★

Monsieur MÂLÂ, a Parisian jazz fusion quintet, emerges from the shadows of supporting roles for musicians like Blick Bassy, Mayra...

Reviewed by Lucy Hallam in issue: May/2024

Review of Oyoun Al Kalam

Oyoun Al Kalam

Ramzi Aburedwan & Dal’Ouna Ensemble

Riverboat Records

Rating: ★★★★

Originally recorded in 2007, Oyoun Al Kalam, by multi-instrumentalist Ramzi Aburedwan & Dal’Ouna Ensemble finally gets a digital release 17...

Reviewed by Yousif Nur in issue: May/2024

Review of Algo-Ritmo: Mexican Institute of Sound Hits 2004-2024

Algo-Ritmo: Mexican Institute of Sound Hits 2004-2024

Mexican Institute of Sound

Soy Sauce

Rating: ★★★★

This compilation of 24 songs spans the two-decade career of Mexican Institute of Sound, aka Camilo Lara. Named as one...

Reviewed by Jenna Mackle in issue: May/2024

Review of Karkelo

Karkelo

Polenta

Polenta Music

Rating: ★★★

Polenta is an odd name for a Finnish folk band. However, in Finnish ‘polenta’ means ‘stomp’. This youthful Helsinki quartet...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: May/2024

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