Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Modernising Mexican groove
Life, John Clewley, Published on 28/03/2026
» The Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS), founded in 2004 by Mexico City-based DJ and record producer Camilo Lara, is a project to bring together fusions of folk and traditional music with digital production and electronica. MIS started as a side project, based on Lara's own remixing of popular tracks.
Blessed be the funk
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/06/2025
» Last week, two giants of US popular music passed away. Beach Boys legend, composer/songwriter Brian Wilson, and funk pioneer Sly Stone of Sly & The Family Stone fame.
A tribute to Jamaican heritage
Life, John Clewley, Published on 30/01/2024
» Studio One, one of Jamaica's most influential recording studios and labels, was founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in the 1950s on Brentford Road, Kingston. His first recordings were made in 1963 and for the next 20 years, he would help reshape Jamaican popular music and propel it around the world.
Motown memories
Life, John Clewley, Published on 22/10/2019
» Songwriters pen the hits but the singers or bands are the big stars, and sometimes the producers are the ones who get the credit. I grew up with the Great American Songbook or "American Standards" at home, played on the piano by my father while we sang the lyrics. These were the songs that featured in Broadway theatre and in Hollywood musicals. What are now known as standards were crafted by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer and Richard Rogers.
Memories of Sudanese music
Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/04/2019
» Sudan is in the news for another political upheaval, one of the many that have plagued what was once Africa's largest country, a nation with a deep and fascinating musical culture.
Her soul is immortal
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/08/2018
» Singer, composer, social activist and "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin died last week. She was 76 years old. I was spinning vinyl last week at a DJ night when the news filtered through. I didn't have any of her music with me but nonetheless let everyone know that one of the greats had gone; cue to clubbers quickly searching on their smart phones for news on the First Lady of Soul.