World music
Album Review: Fabiano do Nascimento – ‘Cavejaz’: a stunning collection of guitar and percussion miniatures.
It may be a decade into the consistent series of impactful releases from composer/guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento but here is a musician who continues to build on his reputation as an innovator both within the MPB world and beyond. A guitarist from the age of ten, his natural affinity for the instrument and intuitive feel …
Album Review: Yalla Miku –‘2’: an energetic, ‘post-world’, sonic cocktail direct from the Bongo Joe community.
If ever there was an imprint that was more than just another indie record label it’s Bongo Joe. A musicians’ collective, a community, a shop and watering hole, a barometer of Geneva’s underground scene, an epicentre for ‘post -world’ music, this cutting-edge Swiss co-op is now in its tenth year. Fitting then that Bongo Joe’s …
Album Review: Madalitso Band-‘Ma Gitala’: More pulsating, street band afrobeat from the unstoppable Malawian duo.
Obviously no-one has told the irrepressible Madalitso Band about the third album wobble. The Malawian roots duo, Yosefe Kalekeni and Yobu Maligwa, are a partnership who take everything in their stride, including their steep rise from years spent busking on the Lilongwe streets to delivering knock-out sets at recent Roskilde and WOMAD fests. Supported by …
Album Review : Sami Galbi –‘Ylh Bye Bye’ : fresh and feisty electro-pop from a new voice on the world fusion airwaves.
Genevan label Bongo Joe has been sneaking out singles by Swiss/Moroccan electronic artist Sami Galbi since March last year but now the teasing is over. The full whammy, his debut album ‘Ylh Bye Bye’ has landed on the shelves and should soon be flying off them at speed, it’s that strong. Galbi really is a …
Album Review: Dowdelin –‘Tchenbé!’: Lyon-based Beats and Creole-soul fusionists groove deeper.
It all started when fusion-centric producer/musician David Kiledjian met Martinican singer Olivya Victorin with the notion of sculpting something different, maybe some creole-voiced, beats-informed nu soul and the result… Dowdelin. Now two albums and a couple of EPs along the road comes their third LP ‘Tchenbé!’ (on Underdog Records) and signs of a subtle shift …
Album Review: Jupiter & Okwess –‘Ekoya’: The Irrepressible Congolese band deliver a scorching return.
Formed in 1990 by Jupiter Bokondji from within the buzzing Congolese street music scene, Jupiter & Okwess have always been an irrepressible band. From early success across Africa to serious derailment by five years of ravaging civil war, then a breakthrough feature in the ‘Jupiter Rising’ documentary on Kinshasa lo-fi, Jupiter & Okwess have always …
Album Review: Maalem Houssam Guinia – ‘Dead Of Night’ : An unforgettable, intense offering from the Gnawa master-musician
We should be mighty thankful for the long and strong relationship that’s grown between Brighton’s Hive Mind Records and Guinia family of Gnawa musicians in Morocco. Back in 2017, the label’s inaugural release was the first vinyl press of ‘Colours Of The Night’ by the legendary guembri player Maalem Mahmoud Guinia. It was a poignant …
Track/Video : MPB new wave mover Dora Morelenbaum previews incoming album with the lush and lyrical ‘Essa Confusão’.
The jet-stream of MPB may stretch right back to the sixties but it keeps powering onwards with singer/songwriter Dora Morelenbaum right there at the epicentre of this latest surge. She’s an artist steeped in a weighty musical heritage with parents, composer Jacques and vocalist Paula, having CVs which include work with Tom Jobin, Gal Costa …
Album Review: Inês Loubet – ‘Senga’: vibrant samba-fusion sounds from a song-writer to watch.
Portuguese, London-based singer-songwriter Inês Loubet makes Tropicalia toned music of openness and honesty, which reaches out to people while following its own course. She was vocalist and co-writer in the latin-jazz, fusion-facing ensemble Caravela whose intoxicating album ‘Orla’ sent the UK scene slightly giddy in 2021 (see Backseat’s review HERE). That document was shaped during …
Album Review : Ghana Special Volume 2 : a thrilling ‘burger-highlife’ compilation charting the roots of today’s afro-beats and so much more…
So, what makes a great compilation album? It so much more than flinging a gaggle of tracks together which have got a loose connection to a time or place or label or genre….and let’s not get started on the ‘Greatest Hits’ collection. No, outstanding compilation albums are assembled by people who know and care about …