![Album Review: Ghetto Kumbé – Ghetto Kumbé [ZZK Records; July 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ghetto-kumbe-album-cover-335x335.jpg)
Ghetto Kumbé is an example of an act that dares to lead with striking visuals, and doesn’t disappoint with striking music to match. Formed in Colombia by three seasoned performers – singer El Guajiro and percussionists Chongo and Doctor Keyta – they have cultivated an enticing Afrofuturistic sound and image...
Album Review
Articles![Album Review: Ammar 808 – Global Control / Invisible Invasion [Glitterbeat Records; September 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ammar-808-invisible-invasion-cover-335x335.jpg)
Electronic music has always been a soft target for the purists. To use an ex-colleague (jazz guitarist, quelle surprise)’s metaphor, the fundamental difference between a handcrafted armchair and a cheap mass-produced imitation is the latter’s lack of the most universal characteristic known as ‘human element’. Or a human error –...
![Album Review: Duma – Duma [Nyege Nyege Tapes; August 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/dum-cover-335x335.jpg)
When Venom’s legendary album Black Metal came out in 1982, ‘black’ meant two things: a vague reference to Old Nick himself and a fashion statement. Not one metalhead could have foreseen that it would be in – of all places – Nairobi where the mosh pits would be heaving with headbangers...
![Album Review: Soom T – The Arch [X-Ray Production; September 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/soom-t-the-arch-cover-335x335.jpg)
Sumati Bhardwa, better known as Soom T, is a Glasgow rapper/MC of Indian origin. Justice is important to her and she feels passionate that everyone should reach their potential in life. This informs all she does as an artist. Asian Dub Foundation, The Orb, King Creosote and fellow Glaswegians Mungo’s...
![Album Review: Asian Dub Foundation – Access Denied [X-Ray Production; September 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/adb-access-denied-cover-335x335.jpg)
Access Denied, the ninth album from Asian Dub Foundation will be released on 19th September 2020. ‘Can’t Pay Won’t Pay’, the first single from the album has a refrain that references the Poll Tax riots which was part of the late 80s/early 90s milieu of political activity and government-funded youth...
![Album Review: El Búho – Ramas [Wonderwheel Recordings; March 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/el-buho-ramas-cover-335x335.jpg)
The ultimate litmus test for any release is to listen to it on a robust pair of closed-back monitor headphones at home. No accentuated frequencies, no fancy cocktails and canapés driving a wedge between you and the mix as it was intended – for better or for worse. In 2020...
![Album Review: Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers – Vodou Alé [Les Disques Bongo Joe; May 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/chouk-bwa-vodou-ale-cover-335x335.jpg)
Vodou Alé (Les Disques Bongo Joe) is not simply inspired by the ritualistic archetype that is voodoo, in fact, it is the perfect antidote to this esoteric paradigm of the Haitian tradition. Native to Haiti itself, Chouk Bwa are first-hand practitioners of the vodou faith of west African descent, their music...
![Album Review: Mungo’s Hi-Fi x Marina P – Soul Radio [Scotch Bonnet Records; August 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/mungo-marina-p-soul-radio-cover-335x335.jpg)
For their latest offering, Mungo’s Hi-Fi have collaborated with Paris-based Italian, Marina P and it’s a match made in heaven. Mungo’s have been working together with Marina P since around 2007. The jazz influenced singer is a big attraction to the Scottish sound system crew, who travelled to the French...
![Album Review: Alhousseini Anivolla & Girum Mezmur – Afropentatonism [Piranha Records; July 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/anivolla-afropentatonism-cover-335x335.jpg)
It was a breath of fresh air to receive this excellent album to review. Set against a background of recent unrest in Ethiopia triggered by the killing of controversial musician Haacaaluu Hundeessa in Addis Ababa on 29th June this year, the album Afropentatonism (out in early July on Piranha Records) by...
![Album Review: Orkesta Mendoza – Curandero [Glitterbeat Records; April 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/orkesta-mendoza-curandero-cover-335x335.jpg)
How best to shake off the dust from down Calexico way? Sergio Mendoza has the answer- give your listeners a good time to rival tequila as Mexico’s best export, as on Curandero. What follows is perhaps best described as a more authentic take on the faux-Tex/Mex border radio sound (at...