Showing 1 - 10 of 18
African voodoo vibes are resurrected on Antoine Dougbe Et L'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
Life, John Clewley, Published on 14/03/2026
» Benin is little known for its influence on African popular music. It is better known as the home of vodun, an ancient religion native to West Africa and the root of the syncretic religion voodoo found in Haiti and New Orleans.
Live gem resurfaces
Life, John Clewley, Published on 11/03/2025
» Cameroonian musician, composer and songwriter Manu Dibango passed away in 2020 at the age of 86. His career and life were extraordinary. He was one of the most celebrated African musicians alongside Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Fela Kuti, Frnaco and Youssou N'Dour. He was known as the most sampled of all African musicians.
The beat goes on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/12/2023
» Molam continues to evolve with time. Musicians, especially from Isan, are experimenting with new musical combinations, creating new hybrids and sounds.
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.
Country comes to the city
Life, John Clewley, Published on 31/01/2023
» The All-Thidsa Molam Band was in Bangkok this past weekend to perform at the Thailand International Jazz Conference. World Beat caught up with band last Friday when they played two sets at Isan Spicy BBQ, a rooftop bar at the Jim Thompson Art Center.
When East meets West
Life, John Clewley, Published on 17/01/2023
» In 2017, the Japanese band Minyo Crusaders released their debut album, Echoes Of Japan (P-Vine, Japan), to great acclaim. The band's reworking and updating of Japanese folk music, or minyo, on a rhythmic bed of Caribbean, Latin and Afrobeat was truly inspired, and perhaps pointed the way for other fusion bands in East and Southeast Asia. The aim was to revive minyo as "music for the people", as quoted by World Music Central.
House of the rising Son
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/09/2022
» Son House is regarded as one of the greats of early blues, along with early recording stars like Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. He made 78rpm records in the 1930s but a spell in penitentiary halted his career and by the 1940s he had abandoned recording. It wasn't until 1964 that Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro "rediscovered" him working at a gas station. He was completely unaware of the interest in folk blues at the time (Skip James and Bukka White were already playing crossover folk clubs).
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.
The country king
Life, John Clewley, Published on 01/03/2022
» In July 1973, songwriter and DJ Surin Paksiri organised a pleng luk thung concert at the Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. He wanted to hold the event in a park or at a big cinema, but both of those options were too expensive. He settled on the boxing stadium, and he called the concert "Luk Thung Isan vs. Luk Thung Pak Klang" (Isan Country Music vs. Central Country Music).
Nora dance gets Unesco nod
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/12/2021
» Nora, a traditional folk dance-drama from southern Thailand, was awarded intangible cultural heritage status by Unesco last week. The distinctive dance form joins khon and Thai traditional massage on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.