Reviews

Braziliance!

Marcos Valle

‘First came Gilberto, then Jobim, and now MARCOS VALLE BRAZILIANCE!’ runs the breathless blurb on the original sleeve of this...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

Galactic Gala

Silla + Rise

Mixing century-old traditional vocals with the latest sonic technology has always been an attractive yet dangerous musical venture. More often...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

Sombras

OKAN

The Afro-Cuban roots group OKAN present their first full-length release of jazz-influenced music paying tribute to the sonic traditions of...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

The Rough Guide to Blues Divas

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The stereotypical image of the early blues pioneers as black itinerant males playing bottleneck guitar on the plantations of the...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

Birds

Da Lata

Can that be the sweet sound of spring? On the strength of this fourth album by beloved London-based tropicalistas Da...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

The Rough Guide to Blues Divas

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The stereotypical image of the early blues pioneers as black itinerant males playing bottleneck guitar on the plantations of the...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

Back to Sustain

The Pine Hearts

Like a light hike on an easy trail on a sunny spring afternoon, The Pine Hearts' fourth studio album doesn't...

Reviewed in issue April/2020

12 Inches of Dub

Roots Radics

During the late 1970s, the Jamaican music scene was completely reconfigured when aspiring producer Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes began working with...

Reviewed in issue March/2020

Líquido

Deco Ensemble

Opening with ‘Triunfal’, a typically lyrical, mood-swinging Astor Piazzolla number, this UK-based quintet set out the stall of their second...

Reviewed in issue March/2020

Tall Fiddler

Michael Cleveland

There is a temptation for top-level bluegrass musicians to make pretentious, over-complicated fusion albums. This is not one of those....

Reviewed in issue March/2020