Tabla de contenidos para August 2025 en Songlines

If your impression of Norwegian folk singing is romantic ‘tra-la-las’, then Hekate will swiftly upend expectations with their gnarly micro harmonies that weave in and out, clashing and merging to create a wonderfully luxuriant body of sound. The Greek goddess Hekate is closely associated with the underworld and magic, and is often depicted with three distinct forms. It’s a fitting name for the trio of Synnøve Brøndbo Plassen, Malin Victoria Alander and Silje Risdal Liahagen. ‘Heks’, as Plassen points out, is also the Norwegian word for ‘witch’ or, more elaborately, “strong, smart women who were called witches because they had an opinion or because they could do something really creative.” Hekate are certainly creating waves within the Norwegian folk music scene since making their live debut in March 2023 at…

THE CENTRE Le Grand Kallé et l’African Jazz ‘Indépendance Cha Cha’ (Surboum African Jazz, 1960) This is an important part of my history. I’ve seen how Congolese music has evolved – from 45s, radio and live performance to being rediscovered through compilations. This song holds continental significance because it was embraced as Africa’s unofficial anthem for independence, and is remembered to this day. To Africans, ‘Indépendance Cha Cha’ was more than melody and lyrics; it was a renaissance. The confidence behind Le Grand Kallé’s production united the peoples of Africa in solidarity and freedom. I was just a boy at the start of my musical journey when I first heard it, but I remember the feeling that music could be part of our freedom, our independence and our history. Le…

On May 1, the US government issued a statement regarding their funding of the country’s two largest public broadcasters, PBS and NPR. The statement said that neither of the broadcasters present “a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens”, and as such, it instructed “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS.” These broadcasters provide non-commercial programming across the US, reaching almost 42 million people each week, with popular global music shows including PBS’ Global Village, NPR’s Alt.Latino show and NPR’s hugely popular Tiny Desk Concerts series, Following the government’s call to cut funding, US musician Mike Horn, aka Seawind of Battery, launched a compilation, Save the Waves: People for Public Media, featuring artists such as Elkhorn, Bill MacKay and Joseph Allred, to raise money for…

US singer and musician Molly Tuttle discusses a bold new album which sees her get personal and have some of the most fun she’s had on record… We have an in-depth chat with Scottish smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul about her latest release, discover why Angolan DJ and producer Vanyfox is making waves in Lisbon and get a thorough introduction to Carnatic music thanks to one of the genre’s legends, L Shankar. We travel to Tallinn, Estonia for the country’s remarkable Song and Dance Celebration which brings tens of thousands of singers to the capital for four days of folk music, and we hear how Glastonbury, behind the big names, is platforming Indigenous and marginalised voices.…

magsubscriptions.com/music-songlines subscriptions@markallengroup.com +44 (0) 1722 716 997 Discover the world through music Songlines is the definitive magazine for world music – music that has its roots in all parts of the globe, from Mali to Mexico, India to Iraq. Whether this music is defined as traditional, contemporary, folk or fusion, Songlines is the only publication to truly represent and embrace it. Why should you subscribe? 10 new issues each year delivered to your door or digital devices Subscriber-only CD or track downloads with every issue, featuring the best music from around the world Expert music reviews and global dispatches Access to every issue in our digital archive and 7,500+ album reviews in our online database From £79 a year Subscribe today at magsubscriptions.com/music-songlines Stated subscription rate based on Annual Direct Debit…

What are you listening to at the moment? Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee. What are your all-time favourite albums, and why? Hard one. Construcão by Chico Buarque – I love its complexity and beautiful arrangements. I really love The Kinks’ Something Else, too. It’s so psychedelic, but incredibly pop at the same time, just beautiful. The self-titled João Gilberto album is incredibly sweet, and The Clash’s first album from 1977 always hits the spot. What’s the first album you ever bought? Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill. Which musician (living or dead) do you most admire, and why? Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, João Gilberto and Tom Jobim for their geniality and for the pillars they created in Brazilian music. I love David Byrne too, for his uniqueness and unapologetic melodic and lyric…

TOP OF THE WORLD TRACK 5 Zoë Aqua In a Sea of Stars Adhyâropa Records It’s gutsy to start off a live fiddle album with a ten-minute absolute barn-burner suite, but klezmer fiddler Zoë Aqua has chutzpah for days. Already a spectacular, mesmerising fiddler, her new album, In a Sea of Stars, takes her skill forward by bringing her original compositions into the lost world of Jewish fiddlers in Transylvania. Recorded live at two old Romanian synagogues following a Fulbright scholarship, there’s an unbelievable power to her playing. It’s so ferocious that I found myself turning it down because I couldn’t handle it, moved to tears over her reclamation not only of a tradition lost following World War II and decades of assimilation, but of the land itself. Her playing…

First up, how was Glastonbury? Glastonbury was an incredible experience — I had never seen so many people gathered around music in one place. Even though we played on a small stage (Lore, located in the Shangri-La area), we had a really great crowd. We’re definitely planning to come back in a couple of years. What can you tell us about your current live show? We are three members: Guadalupe, who sings and plays Colombian folk percussion; Julián Ramírez on percussion and backing vocals; and myself on the Akai MPC, Akai Force, percussion and vocals. We travel with the tambor alegre, tambora, drum machines and various instruments from traditional Colombian music. You’re based in Medellín, right? What drew you to the music of Colombia’s Caribbean coast, which is such a…

The Button Factory is one of Dublin’s institutions. From their vast upcoming calendar we’ve picked out manguebeat moguls Nação Zumbi, playing on 29 JUL. Ireland’s largest independent festival, All Together Now, will be celebrating its sixth year from 31 JUL to 3 AUG. Don’t miss Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Arooj Aftab… An internationally renowned venue for traditional Irish music, The Cobblestone pub hosts live music, dance classes and more seven days a week. Little Whelan’s, the more intimate sister venue of the legendary Whelan’s, is set to host blues icon Doc Maclean on 8 AUG. American vocalist Hannah Frances is making her Irish debut at BelloBar on 29 AUG. Old-school jazz vibes at The Sugar Club, who host Tamil Nadu-raised and New York-born vocalist ganavya on 7 OCT. Americana mainstays…

In May, JMI (Jewish Music Institute) unveiled its newly restored archive — a sonic portrait of Jewish diaspora life, drawn from decades of recordings donated by families, collectors and communities. Thousands of vinyl records, shellacs, cassettes and manuscript scores have now been cleaned, catalogued and brought together for the first time. One of the most evocative sections documents Sephardic Jewish traditions from North Africa and the Middle East, offering intimate glimpses into ritual and everyday life. Hagadah captures a Jerusalem family in 1953 reciting the Passover story, weaving Hallel (Psalms 113–118) into traditional Yemenite chant. In La Haggada (1963), Moroccan cantor Samy Elmaghribi and his children retell the Seder in French. A 1983 LP recorded by Henrietta Yurchenco in Morocco preserves women’s Ladino wedding ballads and men’s devotional piyyutim in…

TOP OF THE WORLD TRACKS 01 Duo Ruut ‘Hobusemäng’ From Ilmateade on Duo Ruut Incantatory Estonian pair harness the fortunes of fate on their second fulllength, with skittering chimes from a 42-string kannel and interweaving twopart vocal harmonies. See p58 02 Poor Creature ‘All Smiles Tonight’ From All Smiles Tonight on River Lea Records Ruth Clinton’s alluring invocations steer TB Ransom’s much-covered country waltz into twisted reverie territory, swaddled by fluttering strings and accordion drones. See p59 03 Brìghde Chaimbeul ‘Duan’ From Sunwise on tak:til/Glitterbeat Field recordings of far-off fireworks, arrhythmic percussion and Chaimbeul’s polyphonic pipe swirl combine gloriously for this immersive salute to the New Year. See p56 04 Raphael Rogiński & Ružičnjak Tajni ‘Po moru je plovila galija’ From Bura on Instant Classic Rogiński’s creaky guitar sketches fidget…

From the fertile ashes of the legendary Moishe’s Bagel rises a thrilling new trio: Triptic. Eclectic, energetic and thoroughly intoxicating, Triptic dive deep into a fertile melting pot of folk influences and global sounds on their soon-to-be-released debut. A triptych, of course, is a work of art in three parts – an apt name for the trio of Greg Lawson (fiddle and mandolin), Phil Alexander (piano and accordion) and Mario Caribé (guitar and bass) – who came together following Moishe’s Bagel’s final concert in 2022. After a suggestion by the Edinburgh-based Soundhouse project, Lawson, Alexander and Caribé reunited for a gig at the Edinburgh Festival in 2023 (then performing under the moniker The Band with No Name). Since then, they’ve adopted a new moniker, and the enthusiasm for the Triptic…

Orkney Folk Festival takes place in Stromness and other locations around Orkney. I just caught the last of its four days (May 25, 2025), which proved to be one of the most inspiring in my music-seeking life. There were seven shows even before the grand finale of three simultaneous four-hour concerts in three Stromness venues. I was at Farewell Concert One in Stromness Town Hall, an incredible evening featuring eight artists – and unbeatable value with almost four hours of music for just £26. For one night, it was like the entire Lorient festival in Brittany with artists from all over the Celtic world and beyond. The superb local band were Fara, named after a small Orkney island, with three fiddlers – violins were predominant throughout the evening – and…

Various Artists Fish & Poi: Hawaiian Independent 78rpm Discs ca. 1945-56 (2023) This collection of authentic island music is as utterly charming as it is surprising, with beautiful lap steel guitar and wonderful harmonies. Various Artists Anastenaria: Thracian Firewalking Ritual Music (2021) Ritual music from north-eastern Greece which utilises voice, hand percussion and fiddle to create beautifully hypnotic soundscapes. Hafouz Achir Effendi Beautiful Howling Journey: Popular Songs in Constantinople 1905-07 (2021) These recordings more than live up to their evocative title – a beguiling, occasionally poignant, set of circular, swaying performances.…

When Louis Moholo left South Africa in 1964 with Chris McGregor’s jazz sextet the Blue Notes, the drummer did not know he was going into an exile that would last for decades. The band had been invited to play at a festival in France and having tasted freedom decided not to return home to deal with the pass laws and other daily indignities which apartheid heaped upon a multi-racial band. Born in Langa township in Cape Town, by the age of 16 he was leading his own band The Chordettes before joining Dudu Pukwana’s Jazz Giants and then McGregor’s Blue Notes. Settling in London, by the late 1960s the Blue Notes had expanded into the Brotherhood of Breath big band, powered by Moholo’s indestructible beat. Together with Mongezi Feza and…

Eighteen years ago, Africa Express made its dazzling public debut with a surprise five-hour takeover of Glastonbury’s Park Stage. The project began as Damon Albarn’s radical idea to break down musical and cultural barriers, creating space for artists from across the globe to collaborate on an equal footing. Since then, Africa Express has carved out a space for spontaneous, cross-cultural collaboration, staging impromptu sessions anywhere from Addis Ababa to Johannesburg, refugee camps and train platforms. Each project is an experiment in shared authorship, where no single voice dominates and every artist gets a chance to lead. Bahidorá, the collective’s sixth album and their first since 2019’s Egoli, continues in that spirit. Recorded in just one week during an invitation from Mexico’s Bahidorá Festival, the record captures the joyful chaos and…

Here’s an intriguing quartet of some recent reggae releases, mostly out of studios far from Jamaica and not even on celebrated UK-based reggae labels, but all touch bass with the Kingston motherlode, which is what gives them their strong musical core. From France comes Scientist meets Blanc du Blanc with Before the Beginning (Soul Selects Records ★★★). So that’s Scientist, the legendary ‘Dub Chemist’, cooking up “a sonic transmission from the edge of space-time” with Blanc du Blanc, a dub shamanic spirit (soi-disant). In spite of the hype, the sinuous science-fiction dub vibe of ‘Waiting: Supernova Showdown’ or the West Coast baroque dub of ‘Taming Power of the Small: Dance of the Celestial Beings’ definitely launch the dub satisfyingly out of Earth’s atmosphere. Mellow Mood’s seventh new album in 20…

Danú June 21, 2025 Irish Cultural Centre, London “Fasten your seatbelts, get ready for take-off,” warns Danú’s founding member, melodeon player Benny McCarthy, and he’s only half joking. As the crack seven-piece, who are celebrating 30 years of music making, launch into the opening tune to a full house at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, they demonstrate that, in the right hands, music really can take off and take the whole room along with it. And so it was with the group gear-shift from jig to reel, and what feels like a musical handbrake turn and getaway, a rhythmic dive under the high, keening wind of the main tune. Even singer Nell Ní Chróinín looks taken aback by the reel’s driving energy, and that sense of release continues throughout…

Before the British First Fleet founded the Colony of New South Wales at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, Indigenous societies, and the ceremonies that formally codified their legal systems, were the only governmental structures to have existed in Australia. Their reach was largely demarcated by various intersecting traits, including distinct regional natural environments, systems of social organisation, and styles of ceremonial song, dance and design. While generally known in English as ‘songlines’ today, Australia retains many distinct regional styles of public ceremonial song and dance that are rarely known by name outside their home communities. These include kab kar from East Torres Strait, na from West Torres Strait, apalech from West Cape York, manikay from Northeast Arnhem Land, kun-borrk from West Arnhem Land, yoi from the Tiwi Islands, purlapa…

“In 1981, Topic Records – the world’s oldest active independent recording company – issued a press release to announce the arrival of a new British folk album. One sentence from that statement, attributed to Topic boss Tony Engle, stood out: “This is a record that actually advances music.” It could be argued that there have been comparatively few albums that have achieved this since the music industry as we know it began. But, in this case, Engle was prophetic. “It was a milestone,” music historian Ken Hunt reflected. “It was the fulfilment of the greatness that many had long believed Gaughan was capable of delivering.” Released in November 1981, the album in question, Handful of Earth, featured ten new recordings by folk artist Dick Gaughan. Born Richard Peter Gaughan in…

The Cuban son is the foundation of salsa music, capturing hearts worldwide since its inception in the early 1900s. One inescapable classic of the form is ‘A La Loma de Belén’, written by Juana María González, the wife of Felipe Neri Cabrera, a singer and percussionist with the legendary ensemble Sexteto Habanero. Cabrera’s group popularised the song in the 1920s. Their version, with vocals, tres, guitars, and percussion playing the clave rhythm that underpins all salsa, is indicative of son’s early style. ‘A La Loma de Belén’ is thoroughly cubano in both style and subject. While its title translates as ‘To the Hill of Bethlehem’, it’s not a religious ode to the Holy Land. Instead, it refers to the Belén district in Havana, known for its rich cultural heritage and…

It began in 1964 as a French-themed discotheque in the basement of a restaurant on Greek Street. Its Greek Cypriot owner called it Les Cousins (punters thought Les Cousins was the name of the man who ran it) and put up pictures of racing cars on the walls. It failed to take off. In April 1965, it reopened as a folk club, rapidly attracting the up-and-coming of the folk world to its small stage. Bert Jansch had a residency, Paul Simon played there, as did legends like Davey Graham and Sandy Denny. While places like the Troubadour focused on traditional music, Les Cousins was more anything-goes. It had the Matheou family, too, who ran the upstairs restaurant, and gave succour to the waifs and strays who took those dark basement…

It was August 2012, and it was still Ukraine. I had just crossed the country from Lviv, recording the sounds of the Carpathians. I had passed through Kyiv to film Dakha Brakha, wandered into forgotten villages to capture the lives of ageing farmers, and fallen deeply in love with Odessa, where echoes of Yiddish songs could still be heard. My friend Anna was from there, and together we set off on a journey to the Crimean Peninsula, drawn by the music of the region’s many ethnic minorities. And there were so many – from the Tatars returned from Siberian exile to the Krymchaks still holding on, from Greek villages to stories whispered in Bulgarian. Everything seemed to float in a dignified and tragic ancestry, suspended in the memories of a…

Eliza Carthy & The Restitution (above) were in magnificent form at July 4’s Gate to Southwell Festival in Nottinghamshire, where they were last minute replacements for injured headliner Richard Thompson. Carthy used the opportunity to preview songs from Frenemies, a new Restitution band album planned for release in 2026, including ‘Mr Sits in the Dark’, a new song she’s written about her father Martin. PAUL SLADE The 100th birthday of Clifton Chenier (1925–1987), the so-called ‘King of Zydeco’ will be celebrated by not one, but two releases in 2025. First off, Valcour have just released A Tribute to the King of Zydeco, featuring Chenier songs covered by artists including Taj Mahal, The Rolling Stones, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Molly Tuttle. Then, in November, Smithsonian Folkways will release Clifton Chenier:…

Avi Avital has taken the mandolin into prestigious venues where it has rarely been heard before: Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie. This September brings another significant milestone for the Israeli virtuoso and his eight-stringed companion: the BBC Proms. “It’s been on my bucket list for years,” he says. “The BBC Proms is a festival in the full meaning of the word.” Avital started playing mandolin as a child, discovering the instrument by chance at a neighbour’s house in Be’er Sheva. “The mandolin is the perfect instrument for a kid. It’s sweet and intuitive. That’s why I fell in love with it.” While Avital has made a name playing baroque concertos by the likes of Vivaldi and Bach, he will embrace the Proms as an opportunity to showcase…

Mádé Kuti p10 We have three vinyl copies of Mádé Kuti’s Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From? to give away. To win one, tell us: What is the name of Mádé Kuti’s famous father? Africa Express p36 We have three LPs of the collective’s Africa Express presents… Bahidorá. Bag one by telling us: Which country hosts the Bahidorá Festival? Rough Music p68 To land one of two hardback copies of LizWilliams’ Rough Music: Folk Customs, Transgression & Alternative Britain tell us: In which month do Jack in the Green festivities traditionally take place? COMPETITIONS Submit your entry for each competition via the website: songlines.co.uk/competitions. Winners will be chosen at random. Only one entry per competition per household. No cash alternatives. If you would prefer not to be sent details…

Hailu Mergia is a musician treasured and adored by fans of Ethio-jazz globally, but his music almost disappeared before label boss Brian Shimkovitz found an old cassette of his work. Born in 1946 in the Shewa province of Ethiopia, Mergia learnt to play the accordion by the age of 14 and then became a virtuosic keyboardist. He would absorb the traditional music of his homeland while becoming fascinated by the international sounds of contemporary jazz and funk. By the mid-1970s, with Ethiopia in the grip of the military junta known as the Derg, Mergia was gigging almost every night. Despite the extraordinarily challenging circumstances, the live music scene in Addis Ababa was booming, with gigs mainly taking place in hotels. For those who could access it, the Hilton Hotel became…

To remind Songlines readers of the long history of morris dancing’s public denigration, including th the media’s patronising bewilderment at this regular pastime, is, I appreciate, a negative way in which to begin an article intending to extol its virtues. But, bear with me; I, too, was once among the ranks of sneerers and scoffers. Growing up in North Oxfordshire, home turf for Cotswold morris (the sticks-and-handkerchiefs kind), I fell into this lazy consensus as a child. I shuddered as the reflections of the morris men – for I only remember men from this period – shone in the pub windows. My friends and I ran into, quite literally, a herd of morris “beasts” in Banbury town centre one Saturday afternoon and hid in a toy shop, to the bemusement…

A delightful romp through barn-burning bluegrass, Missy Raines & Allegheny’s new album, Love & Trouble (****), is a great outing from one of my favourite imprints, Compass Records. Founded by Alison Brown, it’s a label that truly supports women in bluegrass, especially female bandleaders like Raines. Known as one of the best bluegrass bassists, Raines knows how to pick talent, featuring hot young artists like fiddler Ellie Hakanson and mandolinist Tristan Scroggins. She writes great songs and features fascinating cuts from other songwriters here as well. What’s nice is that she doesn’t shy away from hard topics, like most others in bluegrass. ‘Coal Black Water’ for example is about fracking in Appalachia. Her band can do it all, from the best bluegrass music around to a surprisingly adventurous chamber jazz…

Sam Kelly’s Dreamers Dawn (Navigator ★★★) sees the Lost Boy bandleader and BBC Folk Award Horizon winner mixing originals and traditional songs, with ‘The Bold Privateer’ opening on the front foot. The title-track is a paean to live music and that floating, fleeting festival feel, with various Lost Boys in supporting musical roles. A dangerously speedy banjo sets ‘Gallows Pole’ careering through to its denouement as a righteous highlight, while the closing ‘Dark Eyed Sailor’ tremulously brings it on home with a beautiful take on a beautiful ballad. With Kelly, the tradition meets a strong pop sensibility, and they fruitfully multiply. Dave Flynn’s Celtic Guitar Master (Frisbee Records ★★★★) draws from four albums, from his 2006 debut Draíocht (Gaelic for ‘Magic’) to 2023’s A Curious Compendium of Crooked Irish Tunes,…

Was there a particular duet that sparked the idea for the album? Definitely. I first composed ‘Souffle #1’ for Archie Shepp. I was thinking about him and the melody came to my mind. Then I thought I would love to record this with him, and the idea to make an album of duets came to my mind. How did you choose the other musicians on the album? I wanted to share music with musicians whose playing I enjoyed, because something in their musical personality connected with my own practice. How fixed were the arrangements prior to recording? For each piece we had one rehearsal before recording and although the compositions did not change, everyone was free to propose elements of interpretation. Sylvain [Rifflet] suggested he play the last ostinato with…

Songlines’ pick of the bunch… UPCOMING UK & IRELAND Campfire Club The close-to-nature festival experience from The Nest Collective continues with performances from Three Cane Whale, Francesca Louise & Samuel Sharp in London 18 JUL and Brighton 19 JUL and Joshua Burnside & Iona Lane in London 1 AUG and Brighton 2 AUG. Edinburgh Folk and Food Festival The expanded Edinburgh Food Festival, taking place 18–28 JUL, now features a stellar line-up of live folk music, with performances from Duncan Chisholm, The Unthanks, Eliza Carthy and the Restitution, The East Pointers and more. Le Vent Du Nord Unmissable folk music from the Quebec band and winners of the Songlines’ Americas award in 2023. 18 JUL The Ship Hotel, Dolgellau, Wales; 19 JUL St James Church, Emsworth; 20 JUL Gulbenkian Arts…

What’s exciting you in Dublin music-wise right now? I’m loving the band Search Results and the circles they are moving in. The Bonk are always doing really great stuff, and also engage in an interesting scene that draws heads from outside Dublin, such as FIXITY, Nudy Boy Nature and new sensations The Distant Yoke, who provided me with the best gig I saw all year last summer. Gilla Band are one of my favourite bands of all time, who just happen to be based in Dublin and are still pressing their own path forward with zero compromise. We should all feel blessed and lucky in the Dublin scene that these fellas are still here. The traditional music scene is incredibly vibrant in Dublin, and I got way more into it…