Songlines

Archived since Spring 1999 Complete Archive Monthly

193 issues

Launched in 1999, Songlines is the leading magazine covering traditional, contemporary, folk and fusion music from around the world. Each edition is packed with the latest album reviews, artist interviews, festival profiles and travel adventures from every corner of the globe. Music is about culture, politics, history and the environment and Songlines is your essential guide to it all.

If you’re new to Songlines, download our Aug/Sept 2014 issue (#102) for free. Features include an interview with Afrobeat pioneers Tony Allen & Orlando Julius, as they both celebrate 50-year careers with new albums.

There is also an interview with Scottish author, avid music consumer and vinyl addict Ian Rankin, who speaks to Jo Frost (Songlines editor) about how he’s always willing to take a punt on new music, especially if there’s a good story behind it.

Also featured in the trial issue: a feature on Israeli musician Idan Raichel and his collaboration with Malian musician Vieux Farka Touré; Malian jeli singer Kassé Mady Diabaté; and violinists Anna Phoebe and Jyotsna Srikanth. We also pick our Essential 10 Afrobeat albums that you must own, plus Chris Moss provides a Beginner’s Guide to salsa superstar Rubén Blades.

Latest issue

Heads up for the April 2023 issue (#186) of Songlines, hitting the shelves and packed full of world music wonders. Our cover hero for the month is late master Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré – we speak to Oumou Sangaré, his son Vieux and other friends and acolytes to find out what made him so special – while inside we talk to ballad revivalists Hack-Poets Guild and Senegal’s finest, Baaba Maal, before catching up with enigmatic gwo ka legend Polobi and taking a deep dive into the aboriginal music of Taiwan. All this, plus a Beginner’s Guide to the recently departed Gal Costa, a Dispatch from Angola where the death of a kuduro legend sparked scenes not seen for half a century, as well as the usual competition, news and a wealth of expert reviews on albums from around the globe. And if all that wasn’t enough, April’s incredible Top of the World album (available as a CD and download) reads the riot act on weary lugholes, featuring hot cuts from, among others, Moonlight Benjamin, Ali Farka Touré, Catriona Price and King Ayisoba, with five bonus tracks boasting music from Stick in the Wheel, Baaba Maal, Shovel Dance Collective and more.

Subjects: International, Music

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  • First Issue: Spring 1999
  • Latest Issue: April 2023
  • Issue Count: 193
  • Published: Monthly
  • ISSN: 2059-6782