// REVIEWS

Live Wire
Live Wire presents the most influential American folk singer in concert. Recorded by a fan at a 1949 show one winter’s night in New Jersey, this release is a historic event. It delivers the full intensity, and humour, of Woody Guthrie’s...

Our Latin Thing
The long-awaited remastered version of Fania’s Our Latin Thing is finally released.  We review the historic New York City salsa film.    This film is no slick talking-head documentary. This is a free-form, hand-held classic, shot in the...

Rubber Orchestras
Born in Trinidad and based in London, the poet and novelist Anthony Joseph is gifted with a rare charisma and always seemed set to pioneer a shape-shifting global sound. On stage his Spasm Band deliver stunning performances, and on this, their third...

The Interrupters - CeaseFire Chicago
In the wake of last week’s riots across the UK every inner city should be doing publicised showings of Steve James’ latest award-winning documentary The Interrupters. Filmed in Chicago over a year this film captures a period when the city...

Hollie Cook
Hollie Cook is a daughter of music. Her father Paul played drums with The Sex Pistols and her mother, Jennie Matthias, sang with The Bodysnatchers and The Belle Stars. This self-titled debut album, produced by Mike Pelanconi aka Prince Fatty, is a...

Ela Lia
Recorded in three days during a European tour, and sensitively mixed by the electro producer Grant Phabao, Ela Lia is the second international release by Malagasy musician Damily, the young tsapiky guitar hero. The genre was created in the late 60s by...

Band Of Gypsies 2
Ten years after the original Band Of Gypsies album by Taraf de Haïdouks, the legendary Romanian band joins forces with Macedonia’s celebrated Koçani Orkestar on this new release. The encounter between these two mighty Roma groups is a musical...

Alamar
In his award-winning film Pedro González-Rubio tells the story of the bond between a father and son. Their relationship deepens over a few days together on an atoll reef called Banco Chinchorro, off the coast of Mexico. In this simple setting the...

Afrolatin
These Afrolatin compilations on Syllart follow on from the lovely African Pearls series, Mali 70, Congo 70 and Senegal 70, and this time put the spotlight on cities and ports. Both these releases are double discs full to the brim with the music which...

Fire In Babylon
“Cricket lovely cricket, hit the ball before it reach the wicket….” Jah Thomas   It’s a Wednesday evening and screen 3 at the Curzon cinema in Soho is packed with men, sporty looking Caucasian blokes, who have settled into...

Puglia Sounds
It will be the window of Puglia Sounds in France and in all Europe. This blog will show all the i...

AFRO by SOUL
Africa is the future and the future is now…as the prophecy unfolds Eric Soul is as always ahead o...

The Center for Black Music
The Center for Black Music in Salvador, Bahia, and the International Exhibition of Black Music in...

Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett was one of the UK's leading World Music journalists. For years he presented a wee...

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