It's outstanding to honor those who have made significant contributions to society. Great people ought to be honored in every way possible. The motivation behind Mariaa Siga's "Mame Bamba" tribute to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba is obvious, but there are other reasons for the song's existence as well. Poet, brave resistance fighter, and nonviolent theist Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba founded the Mouridist and Touba movements. That aspect of...

Near Death Experience's single, "Shake," arrived not so much as music, but as a sudden, urgent insistence. It’s London psych-rock-soul alright, but brewed with something fiercely immediate, demanding attention like a ringing telephone in an empty room. The core quartet – Ian Whiteling guiding the trip with vocals and guitar fuzz, Joshua Van Ness laying down a heartbeat that feels both frantic and locked-in,...