by Danny Wiser | May 10, 2022 | Reviews
The rabab shines as Essar reminds his fellow compatriots about the richness and beauty of his family’s culture.. As the son of an Israeli, I have been wholly aware of my internal battle that I have been facing for many years as to whether I should proudly...
by Joel Dwek | May 3, 2022 | Reviews
This fusion album reinterprets Turkish folk music through the lens of modern funk as well as the 1970s Turkish rock scene… Based in the Netherlands and comprising of Turkish and Dutch members, Altin Gün (translating to Golden Day from Turkish) have an...
by Danny Wiser | Oct 31, 2021 | Reviews
Soca from one of the world’s smallest countries – but is it up to scratch…? Joel: Going into this project, while I liked calypso music, I was not a huge fan of soca music. Over a year later, and though I would not say it’s my favourite genre, I have...
by Danny Wiser | Oct 16, 2021 | Reviews
The Polynesian pair perform palatable Pacific pop… Joel: Tuvalu, the 4th smallest country in the world, with a population of only around 10,000 people, we had imagined would prove to be a challenge in finding an album, though we were undeterred after having...
by Danny Wiser | Oct 12, 2021 | Reviews
A metal album that breaks all the rules with sprinklings of disco, funk and jazz… Regular readers of the site will be aware of my recent conversion process from hating metal music to being… not exactly a hardcore fan of the heavy metal genre, but at least...
by Joel Dwek | Aug 6, 2021 | Reviews
American styles sung in Nepali by a powerhouse vocalist in the form of Arthur Gunn, this is a debut album that makes you pay attention… Born in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, Dibesh Pokharel, later known professionally as Arthur Gunn, moved to the...
by Danny Wiser | Jul 24, 2021 | Reviews
While LUNA features experimentalism combined with a fearless attitude, this album by plucky indie band from the Abode of Peace leaves one of us cold, the other enthusiastic… Danny: In the interest in being straight-up and honest, I will admit from the outset...
by Danny Wiser | May 16, 2021 | Reviews
Stories of life’s everyday happenings are sung with amazing instrumentation behind them in a wonderful crossover of genres… One of the joys of this journey around the globe’s different music cultures is that we have of course discovered a myriad of musical...
by Joel Dwek | Apr 16, 2021 | Reviews
Consummate pop music performed perfectly – but is there enough of it to satisfy? The first song on Taiwanese indie band The Fur.’s 2018 album Town is called Short Stay, which sums up my only real issue with the album, and it’s an uncommon criticism for me to...
by Joel Dwek | Mar 4, 2021 | Reviews
A superb collaboration between Auli & Tautumeitas that elevates the bagpipes from an object of derision to showcase a stunning sounding instrument… The humble bagpipe is often mocked and maligned in the UK and the USA. It is popular in Scotland as its...
by Joel Dwek | Dec 23, 2020 | Reviews
An album with a twist as Systema Solar confront issues of feminism and environmentalism on the dancefloor… This album by Colombian electro-cumbia dance group Systema Solar is a truly great party album. It really is. Rumbera, my favourite song by a long, long...
by Danny Wiser | Dec 10, 2020 | Advent Calendar
ISRAEL: Ma’oz Tzur – Yonina… Husband and wife duo Yoni & Nina Tokayer’s cover of the Chanukah classic Ma’Oz Tzur updates an 800-year-old song that has been popularly sung by Jewish communities around the world since the time of its original writing. The song...
by Joel Dwek | Sep 29, 2020 | Reviews
What’s the link between the Vaudou culture of Togo and the funk music of the 1970s? Vaudou Game show us where the two can meet… A while ago, we reviewed Benin International Musical’s first album BIM #1, and it was in that review where we touched upon the...
by Danny Wiser | Sep 13, 2020 | Interviews
We sat down with Slovenian electronic music producers JK Soul and Zoran Savin to discuss their career so far and their affinity for the soul genre… “It was a clear statement that JK Soul is getting back to the soul – in the soul of his soul, and the soul...
by Joel Dwek | Aug 22, 2020 | Reviews
Suave beats and smooth rhythms make Argentinian indie pop rockers Bandalos Chinos stand out from the crowd… The music of BACH, the most recent album by the Argentinian indie pop band Bandalos Chinos has a very cool sound to it. So cool I wonder if I should even...
by Joel Dwek | Jul 27, 2020 | Reviews, Top Picks
Exciting and fresh, Sultana reinvigorates alternative rock by infusing it with a wide range of styles and genres… At the age of 13 I started to learn the guitar. I had just got into rock music and I was determined to become the next Brian May or Jimmy Page. I...
by Joel Dwek | Jul 23, 2020 | Reviews
Fun and upbeat, Benin International Musical have made an album that brings Beninese culture to the forefront… Upon listening to BIM #1 for the first time with my uneducated Western ears, it seemed to me to be a straightforward Afrobeats (also known as Afro-Pop,...
