Reviews

Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth-Boogie in 1980s South Africa

VARIOUS ARTISTS

‘Bubblegum’ was the catch-all term given to Western-influenced popular music in 1980s South Africa, although the term is highly misleading,...

Reviewed in issue July/2018

Bamako Sessions

Invisible System

Invisible System, aka producer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Harper, is best known for his heavy dub-rock takes on Ethiopian music, drafting...

Reviewed in issue July/2018

Manhã Florida

Nancy Vieira

Listening to Manhã Florida, it's easy to see why critics have praised Vieira as the finest voice of Cape Verde...

Reviewed in issue June/2018

Live in Bamako

Oumar Konaté

There's a certain emotional urgency that can only be delivered by a live album. Live in Bamako, Oumar Konaté's fourth...

Reviewed in issue June/2018

Tambai

Zimbamoto

The group Zimbamoto are led by singer and songwriter Kurai Blessing Mubaiwa, who plays either mbira (thumb piano) or marimba...

Reviewed in issue June/2018

Yene Alem

Etenesh Wassie & Mathieu Sourisseau

The collaboration between Ethiopian singer Etenesh Wassie and the French bass guitarist Mathieu Sourisseau has already yielded one album back...

Reviewed in issue June/2018

Fenfo

Fatoumata Diawara

Can it really be seven years since Fatoumata Diawara's debut on World Circuit announced her as the brightest new female...

Reviewed in issue June/2018

We Have One Destiny

Ayuune Sule

Ayuune Sule discovered his passion for playing the kologo — a two-stringed lute — learning from the musicians who would...

Reviewed in issue June/2018

Miziki

Dobet Gnahoré

Eight years after receiving a Grammy Award for her song ‘Palea’, the African singer-songwriter Dobet Gnahoré has released her fifth...

Reviewed in issue June/2018

Roadside

Diogal

Currently based in France, Diogal is the son of a Senegalese fisherman and a self-professed ‘sound-designer.’ As well as four...

Reviewed in issue June/2018