MATTHEW HAWKINS applauds a psychotherapist’s disection of William Blake
Global Routes with Tony Burke: December 2, 2024
Two new releases from Burkina Faso and Niger, one from French-based Afro Latin The Bongo Hop, and rare Mexican bootlegs
Aboubakar Traore
[Courtesy of Ballantyne Communications] 
New releases from Christina Alden and Alex Patterson, Odette Michell, Clementine Lovell
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America
Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet
GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today
RON JACOBS welcomes a timely homage to one of the IWW and CPUSA’s most effective orators
THE second album from Burkina Faso born Aboubakar Traore and his band Balima, Sababu (Zephyrus Records), continues to expand the boundaries of West African music, marrying Traore’s Burkinabe heritage with a blend of pan-African rhythms, soulful jazz and a dash of reggae.
Traore learned the intricacies of the kamele ngoni (the young man’s harp) and here he takes a political stance on the inequities faced in Africa, particularly its exploitation by the global north. Traore stresses the importance for African countries to regain their autonomy and power to prevent young people undertaking dangerous migration routes to the west.
The album contains a celebration of pride in Africa with music that transcends borders while remaining deeply rooted in Burkina Faso.
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