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Album reviews
Seun Kuti, the prince of Afrobeat
From Africa With Fury: Rise
21/04/2011 -
Afrobeat conquered America, Europe and even Japan forty years after its creation...
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
Cotonou Club
20/04/2011 -
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo’s latest album Cotonou Club, the finishing touch to the group’s renaissance, has been released twenty months after the group’s first concerts...
Wendo Kolosoy
Botyiaki Ntembe
31/03/2011 -
Sold together in a single box entitled Botyiaki Ntembe, and remastered for the occasion, the two albums, Nani Akoleka Wendo? and Banaya papa Wendo by the singer Wendo Kolosoy...
Ishumar 2 compilation
The new generation of Tuareg guitarists
17/03/2011 -
The compilation Ishumar 2, nouvelles guitares touarègues is a yardstick measuring the progress of Tuareg guitar playing...
Boubacar Traoré
Mali Denhou
03/03/2011 -
His rare talent, both live and in the studio, helped turn Boubacar Traoré into a young people’s idol at the time of his country’s independence. ...
Irma
Letter to the Lord
25/02/2011 -
After being discovered on the internet, young Cameroonian singer Irma signed up with the fan-funded music label My Major Company...
The Karindula Sessions
The Katanga trad-modern sound
23/02/2011 -
More than just a simple album accompanied by a DVD, The Karindula Sessions provides a pretty faithful documentary...
Tahiti 80
The Past, The Present & The Possible
21/02/2011 -
After breaking away from their record label, the members of Tahiti 80 have come up with a new album, The Past, The Present & The Possible ...
Larbi Dida
Boug Boug
02/02/2011 -
After a long career singing with the Orchestre national de Barbès, Algerian raï musician Larbi Dida unveils some more personal choices with his own second album, Boug Boug...
Sidi Touré
Sahel Folk
27/01/2011 -
The unassuming face of Malian music and former lead of the Songhaï Stars de Gao, singer and guitarist Sidi Touré has gone back to basic, ...
The Serge Gainsbourg Experience
Touches of Paris and British pop
18/01/2011 -
British-born Brad Scott has swapped his double bass for a microphone to take an energetic, unruly ride through Gainsbourg’s repertoire, aptly entitled,
Senegal as seen by Star Band and Super Diamono
Two legendary bands, two musical attitudes
28/12/2010 -
A new compilation of Star Band’s seventies music, released at the same time as a collection of Super Diamono’s eighties hits, shows the contrasting visions of Senegalese music...
Africa 50 years of music
Prestige anthology
23/12/2010 -
Covering 50 years of African music in a single anthology is quite some challenge. Mission accomplished in eighteen discs comprising 180 tracks, all ranked by period and geographical area.
Daft Punk
Tron: Legacy
21/12/2010 -
French duo Daft Punk have set out on their own Hollywood adventure, blending electronic sounds with a symphony orchestra to compose the film soundtrack for Tron: Legacy.
Mylène Farmer
Bleu Noir
15/12/2010 -
The prestigious line-up on Mylène Farmer’s eighth studio album, Bleu Noir, gives hope for something of a resurgence. Don’t hold your breath.
Femi Kuti
Africa for Africa
09/12/2010 -
Two years after his album Day by Day, Femi Kuti is back with Africa for Africa, recorded in the legendary Decca studio in Lagos. True to the spirit ...
Naby
Dem Naa
01/12/2010 -
Aware that he needs to remain visible on the international circuit, one year after winning the RFI Découvertes award, the Senegalese singer Naby has brought out a completely reworked and much better version of Dem Naa,
Véronique Sanson
Plusieurs lunes
29/11/2010 -
Plusieurs lunes is the fourth studio album by Véronique Sanson, one of the great French variété figures, who has returned more light hearted and liberated than ever.
Cocoon take to the high seas
Where the oceans end
22/11/2010 -
The second album from Cocoon, Where the oceans end, was recorded in the UK, Paris and Brittany. Mark Daumail and Morgane Imbeaud left their Clermont-Ferrand cocoon to set off on the high seas of acoustic folk,
Lëk Sèn
Burn
10/11/2010 -
After reaching the finals of the 2007 RFI Découvertes award with his group SSK, the Senegalese Lëk Sèn has now released a first album under his own name. Entitled Burn, ...
Erik Truffaz
In Between
04/11/2010 -
Swiss trumpet player Erik Truffaz has hooked up with his former musical accomplices to turn out a dark, melancholy album, In Between.
Côte d’ivoire – 50 ans d’indépendance musicale
Retrospective boxed set
22/10/2010 -
Contained in three CDs and 52 songs, the official compilation Côte d’ivoire – 50 ans d’indépendance musicale looks back over the success of the Ivoirian artists...
Tiken Jah Fakoly
African Revolution
01/10/2010 -
With his tenth album, African Revolution, recorded in Kingston and Bamako, Tiken Jah Fakoly blends reggae and Mandinka blues to deliver his expansive message of Positive Revolution.
Lobi Traoré
Rainy Season Blues
20/09/2010 -
Accompanied by just his instrument, the Malian singer and guitarist Lobi Traoré recorded the tracks from this latest album Rainy Season Blues ...
Danyel Waro
Aou Amwin
15/09/2010 -
On Aou Amwin, his lavish new album, Danyel Waro opens up Réunion’s maloya music a little by inviting a Corsican and a South African to join in his Creole poetry.
Jamaica
No Problem
09/09/2010 -
Keep that holiday feeling with a dose of Jamaica’s electro-pop. The Parisian twosome have just brought out their first album No Problem,
Gonzales’s ivory tower
Chess and piano games
06/09/2010 -
Ever faithful to his pet instrument, the keyboard, Gonzales is back with Ivory Tower. The new album is also the soundtrack of the first film written by and starring the Canadian musician.
Syd Matters
Brotherocean
02/09/2010 -
The dreamlike fourth album from Syd Matters, Brotherocean, defies current trends and confirms that creative juices are still flowing for the Parisian folk rock quintet.
Ghalia Benali
Ghalia Benali sings Om Kalthoum
02/08/2010 -
Keen to dust off some of Om Kalthoum’s vast repertoire, the Tunisian singer Ghalia Benali has chosen to rework some of the Egyptian legend’s songs on her new album Ghalia Benali sings Om Kalthoum...
Bumba Massa
Apostolo
23/07/2010 -
At 65, the Congolese champion of acoustic rumba, Bumba Massa, has returned to his first love with Apostolo, an album that revives some of Kinshasa’s best rumba years...
special report
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