TAKAAT began (and still operate) as the rhythm section to Mdou Moctar, the breakout Nigerien rock band named for its charismatic frontman.
This puts Ahmoudou Madassane (guitar/vocals), bassist Mikey Coltun (the sole American in the group), and drummer Souleymane Ibrahim in the same realm as Calexico. That indie band started out as part of alt-country weirdos Giant Sand, but TAKAAT aren’t seeking to branch out from or expand the sound of their parent outfit. They might have more in common with one of Bob Weir’s non-Dead outfits. Like Weir, Madassane has had to invent his own method of playing rhythm guitar to accommodate a brilliant, dynamic leader–and when that leader’s not in the picture, there’s a lot of space left to fill.
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…Amaika Rude’s album, The Ska and the Abstract Truth, evokes happy head nodding to the tunes found on Oliver Nelson’s masterpiece Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961). The original album, released in February 1961, featured Nelson on saxophone and included such jazz luminaries as Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes. With a lineup like that, is it any wonder why many jazz publications have given it 5-star accolades?
Even listeners in the U.S., where this Cuban-born composer is based, may be less familiar with the music of Tania León than with that of other Latin American composers who have gained popularity lately. This set of four live performances by the London Philharmonic offers a good sampling of her style. It includes three new works performed during her residence with the orchestra, on either side of the age of 80, in the early and mid-2020s. León’s work certainly includes Cuban rhythms, but she builds substantial structures out of them, with her wind sections engaging in vigorous dialogue with the percussion section.
Are we approaching The End? A quick global vibe check points to the affirmative. From non-stop doomscrolling pummeling our neural pathways to climate scientists throwing up their hands in despair, the near future might be a wrap on the world as we know it. Philosophers like Slavoj Žižek and Amador Fernández-Savater have already gone as far as to argue that the apocalypse has already occurred. For so many of us, it feels like we are just drifting through dystopian fallout, waiting out the days until inevitable societal collapse.
Tucked into the Caribbean Sea are the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Saint Lucia. Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France, while Dominica and Saint Lucia are independent nations. All three boast volcanic beaches, high mountain peaks, and lush tropical landscapes — coral reefs, palm trees, and sapphire blue waves make them instantly mesmerizing. The island’s cultural histories, shaped by the displacement of native Arawak peoples, centuries of colonial conflict between Spain, France, and Britain, and the enslavement of West Africans, continue to shape their musical output. Today, modern mixtapes (largely circulating on YouTube) pulse with intercontinental influences such as Angolan kuduro, Portugal’s batida, and trap, to name a few.
One of the traits of what is loosely dubbed as modern classical music is that the classical composition concept serves solely as the base, where other elements are brought in, coming from the musical ideas developed further elsewhere – it could be pop in all its shapes and forms or just a figment of the artists’ imaginations.
DERBY’s debut album Slugger presents an interesting paradox: How can an album this derivative also feel authentic, even original?
At first glance, it seems like 
The progressive post punk ramble and rock of Infinite Games, by 
There’s a reason that 
In November 2025, producers Zev Feldman and George Klabin’s Resonance Records released two unissued live recordings by 
In November 2025, producers Zev Feldman and George Klabin’s Resonance Records released two unissued live recordings by 
With a repertoire of unusual and rarely played regional tunes alongside more familiar session favourites, 
The music is calm, the cover is calm, the effect is calm. After releasing four singles over the course of spring, 
Sikh founder Guru Nanak’s retinue included a Muslim rabab (Afghan lute) player. Inspired by this, Sangat makes a pitch for music as a force for coexistence, between religions and beyond.
Métier describes Ian Pace’s collection of piano works by Michael Finnissy (b. 1946) as a “landmark” recording, and for once the term’s justified. Pace has achieved something remarkable in presenting four CDs of material by the British composer, the pianist’s commanding performances weighing in at almost five hours and complemented by a 52-page booklet featuring in-depth commentaries by Finnissy (a programme note from 2005) and Pace (texts from 2025 based on notes written in 2016). Dominating the collection is Finnissy’s second epic cycle for piano, the four-book Verdi Transcriptions, with the second complete recording of English Country-Tunes (after the composer’s own version) and works inspired by music of the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries…
…include a new bonus track titled “Into Desert”