Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Cambodian rock via LA
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/11/2023
» Los Angeles-based band Dengue Fever has released a new studio album, Ting Mong (Tuk Tuk Records, USA), their first for eight years. The release marks the Cambodian-US band's 20th anniversary since their acclaimed self-titled debut in 2003.
Let the good times roll
Life, John Clewley, Published on 06/06/2023
» Last month, one of the great explorers and producers of American vernacular music, Chris Strachwitz, passed away. He was 91 years old. He was the founder and co-owner (with Tom Diamant) of Arhoolie Records which since its first release in 1960, Texas Sharecropper And Songster by Texan bluesman Mance Lipscomb, has put out an astonishing 44,000 records.
The ballad of Junior Parker
Life, John Clewley, Published on 06/07/2021
» Train I ride sixteen coaches long, Train I ride sixteen coaches long, Well, that long black train carries my baby home …
The lost tapes of Somalia
Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/08/2017
» The Horn of Africa is a peninsula that juts into the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, lying to the south of the Gulf of Aden. The major countries in the Horn include Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. And in terms of music, only Ethiopia's rich musical culture is known outside the region, thanks in part to the wonderful Ethiopiques' reissue series, the fame of jazz great Mulatu Astatke and the use of Ethiopian jazz in Hollywood movie soundtracks.
Boogie down one last time
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/01/2015
» Johnny Otis was one of the pioneers of R&B, a key but often neglected figure in the development of rock'n'roll. Otis passed away, aged 90, at his home in California in 2012, after a lifetime in show business as a performer and band leader, composer, arranger, producer, disc jockey, nightclub owner, talent scout, political activist and cartoonist. He had over 20 R&B and pop hits between 1948-60 and was responsible for the discovery of Etta James, Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson and Little Esther Jones, among others.
Beats from two continents
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/05/2014
» African and European bands dominate the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s Top 20 World Music Charts Europe for May. West African and music from the horn of Africa have taken most of the African rankings, while Spain and “middle” Europe fill up most of the rest of the charts. Unfortunately, no bands or compilations from this region made it onto the charts but with the official release of Sound Of Siam 2 on the Soundway last week in London, next month’s chart will, I predict, have at least one album featuring music from Southeast Asia.