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Reviews

Review of Mango

Mango

Mo’Horizons

Agogo Records

Rating: ★★★

Helming Mo’ Horizons are two Hannoverian DJs and producers, Ralf Droesemeyer and Mark Wetzler, who have been plying their Euro-Brazilian...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: December/2023

Review of Ooroo

Ooroo

Sangit

Riverboat Records

Rating: ★★★

Like an Israeli equivalent of Nitin Sawhney, the composer and multi-instrumentalist Sangit draws on global influences and a wide range...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: December/2023

Review of Hadsel

Hadsel

Beirut

Pompeii Records

Rating: ★★

Zach Condon takes his stage name from the capital of Lebanon because Beirut is where cultures meet and was ‘known...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: December/2023

Review of Aiê

Aiê

LUIZGA & Edgar Valente

Ajabu!

Rating: ★★★★

The nomadic Brazilian singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist LUIZGA is perhaps better known as Luiz Gabriel Lopes, erstwhile member of groups...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: December/2023

Review of Take to the Streets

Take to the Streets

Eparapo

Wah Wah 45s

Rating: ★★★★

Afrobeat creeps into so many heterogeneous mixes today that it’s refreshing to hear an unadulterated version. Conceived during the destabilising...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: December/2023

Review of Sekar Mayang

Sekar Mayang

Gombloh

Elevation Records

Rating: ★★★★

Indonesian singer-songwriter Soedjarwoto Soemarsono, known as Gombloh, was an important counter-culture figure of the 1970s and 1980s in his home...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: December/2023

Review of Lafz Bheege Hain – Words Drenched in Tears

Lafz Bheege Hain – Words Drenched in Tears

Pratibha Singh Baghel

Sufiscore

Rating: ★★★

Sufiscore is not just a record label but also a YouTube channel which has a huge following in Asia, particularly...

Reviewed by Jameela Siddiqi in issue: December/2023

Review of Japanese Celebration Melodies

Japanese Celebration Melodies

Junnosuke Uehara, Washu Yoneya & Kisaburo Umeya

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★★

Matsuri bayashi, the celebratory festival music of Japanese prefectures, provides the core for this album, albeit reimagined for a contemporary...

Reviewed by Keith Howard in issue: December/2023

Review of Hani Polyphonic Singing in Yunnan China

Hani Polyphonic Singing in Yunnan China

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Sublime Frequencies

Rating: ★★★

Southwest China’s Yunnan province is home to the majority of the Hani people. Think of the terraced rice fields of...

Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: December/2023

Review of Nowruz

Nowruz

Aga Khan Master Musicians

Smithsonian Folkways

Rating: ★★★★

The six musicians comprising this group have all been involved in the Aga Khan Music Programme as performers, teachers and...

Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: December/2023

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