Our latest reviews

Jama Ko by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

Reviewed by Paul Barr

Mali’s Bassekou Kouyate is a virtuoso on the Ngoni (an African string instrument similar to the lute). Jama Ko was recorded in Kouyate’s house, not far from where last year’s coup occurred in the capital, Bamako.

Produced by Howard Bilerman…

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Om Suite Ohm by Harry Manx

Reviewed by Michael Awosoga-Samuel

Slide guitarist and musical innovator Harry Manx is something of a globetrotting musical explorer. Stints in Japan and India, where he learnt the 20-string Mohan Veena under the tutelage of Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, has led to the perfect fusion of…

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Minute By Minute by The James Hunter Six

Reviewed by Declan Murphy

Minute by Minute is British soul man James Hunter’s first record since 2008’s fantastic The Hard Way. It’s also his first to be recorded in America. In a very astute move, Hunter has chosen Daptone main man Gabriel Roth…

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Ghost On Ghost by Iron & Wine

Reviewed by Dave Clarke

The first two Iron and Wine albums were very intimate affairs. Recorded in Sam Beam’s house, The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002) and Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) are considered classics of the neo-folk movement.

Unsurprisingly, his later approach has…

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Lonesome Dreams by Lord Huron

Reviewed by Michael Awosoga-Samuel

Musician and artist Ben Schneider first conceived of Lord Huron as a solo project after his move to LA (the name is taken from Lake Huron in Michigan, where Ben spent time as a child). The band was formed after…

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The Magician's Daughter by Mama Kin

Reviewed by Fiona Hardy

In The Magician’s Daughter, Mama Kin delivers soul as both a balm and a vitamin, there to soothe you as well as pump your heart full of musical adrenaline. Her second album is full of sass and energy, and…

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Mosquito by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Reviewed by Fiona Hardy

Yeah Yeah Yeahs deliver their fourth studio album with minimal instruments and a stadium’s worth of sound.

Lead track ‘Sacrilege’ follows a seemingly familiar path of guitars, drums and Karen O crooning and hollering, before breaking out electric licks and…

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Division Street by Harper Simon

Reviewed by Lou Fulco

Harper Simon turns up the volume with Division Street, the follow-up to his very successful self-titled 2010 debut. His intelligent, well-crafted lyrics remain, but the lines are a little more blurred and the edges a little more ragged; the…

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Amy Dickson, Catch Me If You Can

Reviewed by Kate Rockstrom

Amy Dickson has done a lot for classical saxophone in Australia, getting some really amazing recordings out there of works not often heard. This new recording is no different in that it’s got exciting and contemporary works with the flavour…

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Hildegard von Bingen, Wishard

Reviewed by Kate Rockstrom

The first thing I thought of when I listened to this new recording from Stevie Wishard and Guy Sigsworth on Decca was – this is not Hildegard von Bingen – this is Hildegard on steroids! This is not for early…

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