World Circuit レコード& CD

Review: Two titans of African music come together for a collaboration that will sadly never be repeated after the passing of the late Hugh Masekela. Allen's instantly recognisable drumming and Masekela's iconic trumpet are a match made in heaven - after all their paths first crossed back in the 70s thanks to Fela Kuti's galvanizing energy. Forget the throwback stuff trying to capture the spirit of the originators, this IS the originators sounding cool and deadly in every way. Funk lovers, Afrobeat heads, curious ears and dancing souls take heed - this right here is an unmissable transmission from two grandmasters in their field.

Review: When it was first released a quarter of a century ago, the Buena Vista Social Club album - a concept album produced by Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, featuring veteran Cuban musicians recreating music that had been popular on the island nation in the 1940s and '50s - had a huge cultural impact. Not only did it sell like hotcakes around the World, leading to a US tour and documentary film, but it also raised interest in Cuban music, something that has sustained to this day. This 25th Anniversary edition, then, is fully justified. It boasts fully remastered vinyl and CD versions of the original album, each with bonus tracks, as well as partner discs entirely made up of previously unheard songs and alternate takes

Review: When members of mega-bands work with relatively obscurer artists, we're always intrigued. But a potential trapping factor is in thinking Jarak Qaribak, for example, is more of a Jonny Greenwood album than a Dudu Tassa one, when in fact the exact opposite is the case. Tassa, an Israeli singer-guitarist who fuses Middle Eastern stylings with contemporary rock, lends a challenging structural terrain to the Radiohead member's electric guitar licks, with the former's Arabic and Hebrew lyrics moving atmospherically against them. A star cast of fellow Israeli artists accompany the pair, as serene vocal beat-driven movements plod and swell away in an appealingly nu-proggy fashion.

Review: Dudu Tassa's homage to his grandfather and the Al Kuwaiti Brothers, Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis, is a poignant and respectful revival of Iraqi musical heritage. Despite the family's forced migration to Israel, Tassa refuses to let their legacy fade into obscurity. Instead, he infuses their traditional melodies with his own rock sensibility, preserving their oud-driven dignity while injecting a contemporary energy. Tracks like 'Lo Thareeb Ana Wethroch' showcase Tassa's bold reinterpretation, blending speed and guitar burn with reverence for the original compositions. Importantly, he doesn't seek to erase or overshadow their Iraqi identity with Israeli influences but rather embraces and celebrates their cultural heritage. As one of Israel's prominent rock stars, Tassa's dedication to honoring his family's musical legacy has garnered international recognition, including performances at Coachella and tours with Radiohead. This reimagined album, featuring a live bonus track with Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead/The Smile, serves as a powerful example to the enduring influence of the Al Kuwaiti Brothers on contemporary music.

Review: Seventeen years after the death of Malian wallahidu music legend Ali Farke Toure, his label is treating us to a brand-new album - or, more accurately, a brand-new album of previously unheard songs culled from archives of recordings that, in some cases, have remained unissued for decades. 'Voyageur' is simply superb, with the included recordings sonically sparkling (the mixing and mastering is terrific) and deftly showcasing the inspiring vibrancy of the legendary artist's trademark style. That sonic hallmark- all infectious Malian rhythms, warming bass, fluttering flites, glistening guitars and his heady lead vocals - comes to the fore on a swathe of album highlights including opener 'Safari', the sun-baked, country-tinged genius of 'Cherie' and complimentary acoustic and electric versions of 'Sambadio'.

Review: Ali Farka Toure is widely regarded as the godfather of the genre 'desert blues', which blends distinct elements from Toure's own Malian heritage with electric guitar tropes from blues. Though he's got a panoply of albums dangling from under his immense belt, 'Le Voyageur' is brand new, documenting several unreleased tracks alongside old greats - it's the first album released by the artist since 2010's 'Ali & Toumani'. If the classic 'Kenouna' is anything to go by, then you can be sure to expect blissful horizon-gazing rhythmics, guitar chromatics, and matching counterpoint on vocals - all hallmarks of Toure's distinctive style.

Review: A welcomed heavyweight vinyl reissue of 1994 GRAMMY award winning album from two of the 20th century's most inspirational, creative bluesmen from two wholly contrasting sides of the world: Ali Farka and Ry Cooder. Most of Talking Timbuktu kicks its feet in the dusty plains of Mali with traditional instrumentation and time signatures before dropping into occasional splashes of soul surging blues such as the fiddle-like picking of "Ai Du" and the foot-stamping yearns of "Amandrai". A timeless meeting of two amazing minds that will never happen again, this should be reissued every 20 years by law to ensure future generations are aware this happened.