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Dec 4, 2018It's a lovely and deeply creative record that came so late in his career that it appeared to have already been relegated to history.
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The WireApr 5, 2018Lala Belu is his first new recording for decades, and it lives up to the expectation generated by their live appearances. [Apr 2018, p.67]
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Feb 26, 2018Lala Belu rings out with the resilience of a onetime dreamer who’s absorbed disappointment and settled for something close to optimism.
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Feb 23, 2018Tizita, like Lala Belu as a whole, feels like both a victory lap and the beginning of something new. It will be exciting to see what, at 71 years young, Mergia does next.
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Feb 23, 2018Lala Belu finds 2018 Hailu Mergia fired up by the prospect of playing with other talented musicians. The resulting sound is more wild, unpredictable cocktail of ideas that make his past solo releases sound like the demo tapes they were.
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Feb 23, 2018With only six tracks, Lala Belu shows that being hypnotized is what we secretly want.
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MojoFeb 20, 2018These six new tracks flow neatly on from those recorded for Tche Belew 40 years before. [Mar 2018, p.95]
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UncutFeb 20, 2018Surprisingly experimental. [Mar 2018, p.28]
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Q MagazineFeb 20, 2018Any fears his propulsive energy may have waned in exiles are quickly dispelled. [Mar 2018, p.111
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Mar 2, 2018Depending on whether or not you’ve encountered him before, this is either an infectious comeback or one seriously charming introduction.
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Feb 23, 2018It’s not a life-changing body of work, but the biggest achievement of all is that, all these years later, Mergia is still a true original.
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Feb 20, 2018Mergia’s approach is often unorthodox. His melodies, snaking up and down the pentatonic scales of Ethio-jazz, are hypnotic and mysterious.