Showing 1 - 10 of 19
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".
Echoes of Isan
Life, John Clewley, Published on 12/03/2024
» Sombat Simla is one of Thailand's top khaen players. He's been bending the notes of his khaen baet (eight rows of double pipes, sixteen in total) for more than 50 years.
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.
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.
Sounds like Thainess
Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/09/2020
» I went to my first concerts in six months last week. The Department of Cultural Promotion held a week-long series of shows from Sept 15-20 as part of a festival that featured national artists from the Kingdom's four regions.
Irish shenanigans on Sukhumvit
Life, John Clewley, Published on 03/03/2020
» Irish music takes centre stage in this edition of the column. Long-time Bangkok resident Prof Mick Moloney featured in a previous column on the Sunday music programme at the Mercy Center in Klong Toey, Bangkok. It was a fun trip, but I didn't have the chance to see Mick play his beloved tenor banjo and sing some Irish songs.