World music
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 …
Track/Video: Groove conscious, Ethio-jazz fusionists Sandman Project step forward to announce debut album ‘Where Did You Go?’
Tel Aviv based, global grooving combo Sandman Project are spot-on calling their new album (due June 7th via the irrepressible Batov Records) ‘Where Did You Go?’ It’s been six years since they whipped up the outer-national dance floors and airwaves with their ethio-jazz meets Habibi funk mega-EP ‘Royal Family’. DJ Kobayashi, Gideon Coe, Laurent Garnier …
Album Review : Arthur Melo – ‘Mirantes Emocionais’ : a dazzling alt pop escapade from the Brazilian guitarist and composer.
In the same way that last year Bala Dejeso and Ana Frango Elétrico swung the spotlight back on the wild creativity of the Brazilian pop scene, 2024 looks like it’s facing a repeat. Alongside the whispers of the enigmatic Sessa, gathering a new album together, there’s another name filtering through to the surface, the multi-talented …
Track/Video: Jazz/afrobeat fusionists TC & The Groove Family announce new EP with the dynamic ‘Stand Strong’.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from TC & The Groove Family but you can’t keep a good collective down. Led by drummer Tim Cook (TC) and based around players who originally crossed paths in Leeds, the band’s 2022 debut ‘First Home’ (reviewed in BSM HERE) made a sizeable dent in the listening schedules. …
Track/Video : Rising singer-songwriter/producer Inês Loubet announces debut album ‘Senga’ with glistening new single ‘Sab Sabim’
Any musician who asks the audience at a show to write down some words about how the tunes made them feel and then gathers up this feedback has some nerve but that’s exactly what Inês Loubet did last year. The Portuguese, London-based singer-songwriter makes Tropicalia toned music of openness and honesty, that aims to reach …