Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Top tunes this June
Life, John Clewley, Published on 20/06/2023
» Veteran kora master Toumani Diabaté and Kayhan Kalhor soar to the top spot on the June edition of the Transglobal World Music Chart with a new release on Real World, The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere. Diabaté is well-known for his cross-cultural collaborations, from his early days with Ketama, a flamenco, jazz, West Africa fusion, to later work with the London Symphony Orchestra (Korolen), while Kalhor is an award-winning Kurdish-Iranian master of the kamancheh (fiddle) and setar (lute).
The sound of the Balkans
Life, John Clewley, Published on 28/02/2023
» One of the Balkan's best-known bands is Mostar Sevdah Reunion, whose 12th studio album Lady Sings The Balkan Blues (Snail Records, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is currently riding high on the World Music charts. The band is something of a Bosnian institution, carrying the torch for updated versions of folk music, in this case, sevdalinka music of Bosnian Muslims.
Culture shock and crocodile encounters
Life, Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 22/06/2022
» Jatenipat Ketpradit, aka JKBOY, works full-time in interior design and spends his leisure time taking photographs in remote areas such as the Altai Mountains in Mongolia, Siberut Island in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
Summer vibes
Life, John Clewley, Published on 24/05/2022
» The Thai entertainment scene got a welcome boost this past week with news that bars, clubs and pubs will reopen from June 1, albeit with a closing time of midnight. The government also announced that the lifting of restrictions would apply to 31 provinces that have successfully controlled potential outbreaks of Covid-19, with the other 46 provinces still under Covid-based surveillance and restrictions.
Drowning in love
Life, Sawarin Suwichakornpong, Published on 01/10/2021
» Not very often are the subjects of identity, race, racism told through a candid story of love. Open Water, a highly acclaimed novel by 27-year-old British-Ghanaian author Caleb Azumah Nelson is one of the few books that attempts to do just this, and with great effect.
Keep on rockin' in a lockdown
Life, John Clewley, Published on 14/04/2020
» The sonic landscape of my life in central Bangkok has changed dramatically over the past few weeks of social distancing. Gone are the sounds of construction drills, booming pile drivers, honking horns, unmuffled motorcyles and throbbing tuk-tuks. I can hear birdsong of all kinds in the mornings and, at dusk, the whirring and squeaking of different bat species as they zoom around hunting for insects.
Love that dare not speak its name
Life, Published on 20/02/2020
» Last month, Opera Siam presented the world premiere of Helena Citronova, a bold new opera written and directed by celebrated Thai composer Somtow Sucharitkul at Thailand Cultural Centre.
Just hold on and keep pedalling
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 16/02/2020
» "We were all really jaded by the end of the last album. We'd done four albums in five years and it'd pretty much been non-stop. You do start to lose the love of it,"
Find your inner mystic
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 02/02/2020
» It's been nearly half-a-decade since Dan Deacon's last album, Gliss Riffer, was unleashed onto the world. On that acclaimed 2015 release, the Baltimore-based composer tackled and found solace in the finality of life through head-spinning highlights like When I Was Done Dying and Sheathed Wings. It was also the first album since his debut LP, Spiderman Of The Rings, that he recorded and produced himself.
Mature Musicality
Life, Published on 25/09/2019
» Somtow Sucharitkul and Siam Sinfonietta earlier this month gave a wonderful concert in the Czech Republic's capital, Prague, as part of their European tour. The event was significant for several reasons. It marked the premiere on the Old Continent of Voraprach Wongsathapornpat's piece Temples Of Kyoto, Trisdee Na Patalung's Restoration, and Somtow's Helena Citrónová suite. For many of the young musicians, the tour occasioned their first performance in Europe and "their first time encountering the particular warmth of the Czechs and the intensity of their love for music". The excited audience at Prague's Academy of Performing Arts (HAMU) bestowed a long standing ovation on Somtow and Sinfonietta for their mature musicality.