Reviews

Laço Umbilical

Lucibela

On a trip to Cape Verde last year I found myself being chastised by another journalist for mentioning the search...

Reviewed in issue May/2018

Iphupho: A Cappella from South Africa

Afrika Mamas

Afrika Mamas’ fourth album, Iphupho (New Dreams), beautifully encapsulates the magic of sisterhood and the central role that community plays...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

Anarouz

3MA

It has been a decade since the three master musicians of 3MA – Ballaké Sissoko (kora), Driss El Maloumi (oud)...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

Sycophantic Friends

Atamina

Attentive listeners may have first heard Atamina on the 2016 compilation This is Kologo Power!, on which he appeared alongside...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

Lala Belu

Hailu Mergia

After reissuing three of Hailu Mergia's classic albums to great success, Awesome Tapes From Africa have taken the veteran Ethiopian...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

World Affairs

Mpho Majiga

Mpho Majiga is a South African gospel singer with a disco vibe. This is his fifth album and World Affairs,...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

Mes Racines

Sabry Mosbah

The son of Slah Mosbah, a celebrated singer among Tunisia's marginalised black community from the southern desert lands on the...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

Leeroy Presents: Fela is the Future

Leeroy

A French hip-hop and beatboxing hero from the early 2000s, Leeroy is at the controls here as curator and producer...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

Tantabara

Tal National

Recorded with minimal equipment in a makeshift studio in their hometown of Niamey, the third international release from Niger's Tal...

Reviewed in issue April/2018

Ballébé: Calling All Africans

Hama Sankare

If a solo album by a veteran Malian percussionist whose only instrument is the hollow gourd calabash doesn't sound over-enticing,...

Reviewed in issue March/2018