Showing 1 - 10 of 14
Rhythms of the Northeast
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/02/2026
» The first Maha Morlum Festival, a showcase soft power event, was held in Maha Sarakham from Feb 13-14 and World Beat travelled to the Isan province to enjoy the two-day, one-night immersive experience promised by the event's organisers.
Bridging cultures
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/06/2024
» In 2011, Iraqi musician, actor and writer Ahmed Moneka was working as an artist and actor. He studied at Baghdad's Institute of Fine Art and, according to Canada's The Globe And Mail, he was the first black TV presenter in the country. His father, also a well-known comedy actor, was the pioneer. Moneka went into the "family business".
Celebrating three decades of discovery
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/02/2024
» World Beat celebrates 30 years on the music trail this month. The column started in Feb 1994 when Chuan Leekpai of the Democrat Party was in his first term as Prime Minister.
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.
Remembering an icon
Life, John Clewley, Published on 01/08/2023
» On July 13, luk thung singer, actor, movie/TV producer and label owner Phanom Nopporn passed away in hospital at the age of 77. One of the giants of the "country music" genre, fans and stars of the luk thung industry attended his funeral on July 18 at Wat Bang Rak Noi Ban Sai in Nonthaburi.
The vinyl comeback
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/04/2023
» Music fans and "crate diggers" enjoyed Record Store Day (RSD) last weekend. The inaugural event was first held in the US in 2007, on the third Saturday of April and on Black Friday in November. The idea, according to USA Today, was to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store" and indie outlets banded together with the support of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and the Alliance of Independent Media Stores.
Compilation honours legacy of Jamaican giant
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/09/2022
» A year after the death of legendary Jamaican reggae musician and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, the good folks at Trojan Records have released the very first posthumous anthology of the influential artist's unparalleled career, King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces From The Upsetter Ark-ive).
Tale of the tape
Life, John Clewley, Published on 30/03/2021
» Lou Ottens, inventor of the humble cassette tape, died on March 11. He was 94. Ottens was a Dutch design engineer who worked as a product development officer for Philips. Before the cassette tape, he created the company's first portable tape recorder (reel-to-reel) and it was his irritation with the lack portability and clumsiness of reel-to-reel tape recorders that led him onto a path to the cassette tape. From 1963 to the late 1980s, 100 billion cassette tapes were sold.
Amid chaos, world music still rocks
Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/01/2021
» Riding high at the top of this month's Transglobal World Music Chart is the Isreali-Persian singer, songwriter and social activist Liraz Charhi.
What 2020 has already brought
Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/01/2020
» Likay in Klong Toey seemed like a good way to kick off the New Year. I spotted a very small stage while I was down at the market earlier last week. It was in the old part of the market, which is about to be upgraded. I asked around and was told that the likay troupe Mere Da Tam was performing last Saturday, in the early evening.