![Album Review: Simo Lagnawi & Gnawa London – Africa Soyo [February 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/simolagnawi-soyo-cover-1-335x335.jpg)
In recent decades, the music of the Gnawa has transitioned from a repertoire of ritualistic trance-inducing songs – performed exclusively for the adherents of its night-long healing ceremonies – to a more profane yet equally transfixing professional type of music, played on festival stages and in venues the world over. Due not...
Album Review
Articles![Album Review: The Leonard Simpson Duo – LSD [Jakarta Records; January 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/leonard-simpson-lsd-cover-335x335.jpg)
Take one long-time, respected Detroit hip hop rapper (Guilty Simpson) and mix with one awarding-winning producer and multi-instrumentalist from New Zealand (Leonard Charles), and what do you get? The Leonard Simpson Duo who, with a convenient acronym, have synthesised LSD (released on 31st January 2020 on Jakarta Records). The pair...
![Album Review: Derek Gripper – A Year of Swimming [New Cape Records; April 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/derek-gripper-a-year-of-swimming-cover-335x335.jpg)
In keeping with the traditional, classical style guitar techniques, Derek Gripper, once again, respectfully represents the quintessence of a traditional West African kora. Derek utilises his classically trained handiwork in favour of this tradition, of which the album delivers generously. The rhythmical complexities and soulful embellishments akin to the West...
![Album Review: Conjunto Papa Upa – Libre Para Amar [Names You Can Trust; March 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/conjunto-papa-upa-libre-para-amar-cover-335x335.jpg)
Add some much needed colour to your life with the debut album from Conjunto Papa Upa. Based in Amsterdam, they have gained a reputation in their scene for their vibrant sound. Released on 20th March 2020 through the New York indie label Names You Can Trust, Libre Para Amar is...
![Album Review: Spoek Mathambo – Tales From The Lost Cities [TEKA Records; February 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/spoek-mathambo-tales-335x335.jpg)
‘Remember back when good rap was just a cool dance hit / Even though it wasn’t saying shit’, Paris spat on his militant debut The Devil Made Me Do It. Released only three months before Rodney King’s assault, it made an accurate prediction about the future of hip-hop. Try looking...
![Album Review: Jah 9 – Note to Self [VP Records; March 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jah9-note-to-self-335x335.jpg)
Janine Cunningham, better known as Jah9, has had a meteoric rise since her first album – New Name – came out in 2013. On Note to Self, her newly-released fourth album, she co-produces the entire project and stamps her authority all over it. Indeed, she has described this new body...
![Album Review: Hailu Mergia – Yene Mircha [Awesome Tapes From Africa; March 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/hailu-mergia-yene-mircha-cover-335x335.jpg)
The man with the Moog is back when we needed him most. Following his acclaimed 2018 release Lala Belu, the unassuming elder of Ethiopian music Hailu Mergia returns with his soothing synths for Yene Mircha which translates from Amharic as `My Choice’. Ever since Buena Vista Social Club and (before) we’ve...
![Album Review: Chassol – Ludi [Tricatel; March 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/chassol-ludi-cover-335x335.jpg)
French composer and musician Christophe Chassol, who has collaborated with Frank Ocean and Solange, has become known for “ultrascore”, a musical technique that can be thought of as harmonising reality. Ludi (released on 6th March 2020 via Tricatel) is his latest effort applying this technique, as he continues to draw...
![Album Review: Let Drum Beat – Lua Cheia [February 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/let-drum-beat-lua-cheia-335x295.jpg)
Let Drum Beat’s debut album – Lua Cheia – was recorded in the Navegas Cantareira Studio housed within a tropical forest in Brazil. The London based all female group consisting of Alba Cabral, Béa Shantifa, Lizzie Ogle and Tuca Milan have created an album that is charming and simmering with...
![Album Review: Ko Shin Moon – Leïla Nova [Akuphone; March 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ko-shin-moon-leila-nova-cover-335x335.jpg)
We are a product of our own environment. Nowhere is this more evident than in music, as an accurate representation of the artist’s social fabric. To Axel Moon (oriental lutes, beats) and Niko Shin (keyboards) of Ko Shin Moon, this phenomenon doesn’t seem foreign. “In Aubervilliers 90% of the population...