by Danny Wiser | Jan 10, 2022 | Reviews
Dance or cry to this beautiful album, Majurugenta reminds us of Mozambique’s challenging past and shows off the work of a phenomenal saxophonist… It is fair to say that my music taste has evolved a great deal over the course of the last two years. Yet,...
by Danny Wiser | Jan 4, 2022 | Reviews
This East meets West album does far more than introduce Westerners to the beautiful Baul music tradition – it enables both artists to truly shine… We recently featured an album showcasing one of UNESCO’s masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of...
by Danny Wiser | Nov 17, 2021 | Reviews
Bab L’Bluz’s music is touted as ‘psychedelic Gnawa blues’, but what does that actually mean? Many nations hold a proud tradition of ritual poetry being sung to music. What makes Morocco’s proud tradition of gnawa music distinct is not the...
by Joel Dwek | Jul 22, 2021 | Reviews
Blurring the boundaries between tradition and progression, the Uzbek diva shows us her country by combining old songs with a new sound… When it comes to the field of acting, it is said that no actor is more than six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. When...
by Danny Wiser | May 10, 2021 | Reviews, Top Picks
Humorous, uplifting, and endearing – this palm wine record is the perfect accompaniment to a relaxing day in the sun The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours arguably are three of the most iconic album covers of all...
by Danny Wiser | Apr 29, 2021 | Reviews
Wild and loose, Totó La Momposina carries the torch for traditional Cumbia in this spectacular record… Recently on NoiseNomad we have published a review of Comorian singer Maalesh’s Wassi Wassi. In the piece we discussed his ability to reflect the...
by Danny Wiser | Apr 12, 2021 | Reviews, Top Picks
Oryema tackles the difficult theme of being exiled from one’s homeland using the emotions from his personal hardship to guide him through this powerful masterpiece… When one ponders the term ‘exile’, it often evokes images of deposed leaders, such as...
by Danny Wiser | Mar 15, 2021 | Reviews, Top Picks
Serenity, spirituality and sanctity feature as strands of this phenomenal collaboration between two musical devotees… When many in the West imagine a monastic Buddhist life they often get confused and instead picture the deprivation of asceticism. Under this...
by Danny Wiser | Feb 18, 2021 | Reviews
A hidden gem that demonstrates the beauty of cross-cultural collaboration… Hukwe Zawose, folk musician or fusion pioneer? That is the question posed by this underappreciated collaboration he made with celebrated Canadian producer and guitarist Michael Brook....
by Danny Wiser | Jan 22, 2021 | Reviews
If an album has been released by the Real World Records record label, the artist usually either has a fascinating story or an incredible talent; in the case of Maryam Mursal it seems that she has both… Somalia is a country that, when mentioned, might immediately...
by Danny Wiser | Jan 16, 2021 | Reviews
On the verge of perfection – but is Papa Wemba let down by a Western production team?… Papa Wemba’s decision to release an album with such an international sound, as he collaborated with Brit-pop producer of New Order and Pet Shop Boys fame Stephen Hague,...
by Danny Wiser | Sep 13, 2020 | Reviews
A great introduction to the soukous genre, as well as a window into a bleak period of Tanzanian history where The Doctor’s cutting lyrics were a glimmer of hope in trying to remedy the nation’s afflictions… Throughout this journey, Joel and I have discovered...
by Joel Dwek | Aug 10, 2020 | Reviews, Top Picks
In his first Western album, the King of Qawwali Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan shows off his immense vocal talent in an album that straddles the line between tradition and innovation… Qawwali is a particular style of Sufi Islamic devotional singing that achieved a...
