Reviews

Take It

Black Roots

Bristol reggae band Black Roots have offered a powerful social commentary for 40 years – spreading a message of love,...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Judgement Day

Capital Letters Featuring JB

Following Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton in Dub, the Black Country's finest reggae outfit return with a new album and a modified...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles

Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles

There ought to be nothing surprising about an all-female mariachi band, but this particular branch of Mexican music has such...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Dubcatcher 3: Flames Up!

DJ Vadim

The Russian-born, London-based DJ Vadim returns with another high-octane reggae volume under the pseudonym Dubcatcher. As with previous albums, the...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Against All Tides

Harpeth Rising

Lyrically engaging, harmonically alluring and instrumentally honed to a crystalline sharpness, Harpeth Rising ascend to the upper echelon of the...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Long Shot/Battle of the Giants

The Pioneers

The Pioneers were a Jamaican vocal trio who formed in the early 1960s, shifting line-ups and achieving little success until...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Carousel

The Pine Hearts

Hailing from Olympia, Washington, The Pine Hearts are a bluegrass trio with a penchant for expertly conjured, though largely conventional,...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Stupid Mountain Too Big

The Hot Seats

‘We call it stringband music because it's just too tedious to try and get into whether it's old-time, bluegrass, ragtime,...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

Alborada

Uji

Following the trend of digital cumbia, South America's electronic underground music has gone spiritual, adding chants from Ayahuasca rituals and...

Reviewed in issue December/2018

New Folk

Recoveco

Imagine if Peter Gabriel was commissioned – or perhaps forced – to record ‘La Bamba’ and reunite with his old...

Reviewed in issue December/2018