Showing 1 - 10 of 136
The voice of Zimbabwe
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/05/2024
» Thomas Mapfumo, the Zimbabwean singer, bandleader and songwriter, is one of Africa's most respected musicians known not only for his hypnotic chimerenga music but also for his steadfast support for human rights, political dignity and social justice. Chimerenga is the Shona -- Mapfumo's ethnic group -- word for liberation and is based on the sacred and iconic instrument, the mbira (thumb piano or sanza), which is at the heart of Mapfumo's music.
Kurdish artist tops World Music Chart
Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/05/2024
» The top spot on the Transglobal World Music Chart for May 2024 is held by Turkish-born Kurdish singer, composer and instrumentalist Aynur Dogan. She infuses Kurdish folk music with mainly Western music, and has collaborated Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble among others.
A joyous sound
Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/11/2023
» In 2001, the legendary US Gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama released an album on Peter Gabriel's Real World Records label. It was a hugely popular album which garnered the band a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. It included their version of Tom Wait's song Way Down In The Hole, which was the theme song for the TV miniseries The Wire. Their version is better than Waits' in my view.
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).
Preserving heritage
Life, John Clewley, Published on 22/11/2022
» Field recordings of ancient, traditional music in the Southeast Asia feature in this column. Northern Khmer Spirit Music in Thailand – Kantrum Dongman (Animist Records, 2022) covers the traditional music of "Northern Khmer" people in provinces like Surin, Buri Ram and Si Sa Ket that straddle the Thai-Cambodian border in Thailand's lower Northeast, while Exploring Gong Culture Of Southeast Asia: Massif And Archipelago (Sub Rosa, 2022) covers traditional gong music from 50 different ethnic groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Sulawesi, Vietnam's highlands and northeast Cambodia.
Spellbinding collaboration proves less is more
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/06/2022
» I once had the rare privilege to see the great bluesman and songwriter Earl King, who wrote the New Orleans Mardi Gras anthem Big Chief, perform in a small club in Tokyo. Before he took to the stage another band performed, with a well-known young blues guitarist playing fast action licks and riffs at breakneck speed. In complete contrast, when Earl King played guitar he played far fewer notes, paring down the music to its essentials. I can still remember King's playing, but I can't recall anything the young pretender played.
Rom-com gone wrong
Life, Tatat Bunnag, Published on 13/11/2020
» When you're still single in your 30s and your parents keep pressuring you to find someone to settle down with every time you visit home during the holidays, what would you do? Well, you get yourself a holidate.
Thai tunes get an electronic twist
Life, Published on 10/11/2020
» Sala Sudasiri Sobha is back on track with a live performance by lo-fi electronic duo Nisatiwa on Saturday at 4pm.
Don't @ Her
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 12/04/2020
» As an artist/producer, Arca's always fixed her attention on the negative space between each cavernous, distorted beat.
Go further west
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 23/02/2020
» Throughout their decades-spanning career in the music biz, Pet Shop Boys have always operated within the realm of sophisticated synth-pop that advocates varying degrees of dancefloor abandon. For lyricist Neil Tennant and composer Chris Lowe, however, it's not just about the allure of club culture or pure hedonism. From day one, social consciousness gets woven into the sonic fabric of their music. "In a West End town, a dead-end world/ The East End boys and West End girls," Tennant sings about the class and wealth gap on their 1984 debut single West End Girls.