Showing 1 - 6 of 6
A farewell to legends
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/04/2025
» Veteran singer and much-loved National Artist Pongsri Woranuch, often referred to as the first "Queen of Luk Thung", died on Sunday at the age of 85.
The sounds of Kinshasa
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/02/2025
» Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is one of Africa's centres for music. With a population estimated at 17 million, the city is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures.
Satanic sounds from the jungle
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/07/2024
» In the 1960s in Peru, a funky popular style emerged in the oil-boom cities of the Amazon. It was largely based on Colombian cumbia and Andean tropical music but using the pentatonic scale of Andean music. Additional ingredients include highland huayno, Cuban percussion, psych and surf rock (especially twangy guitars, with as many as three playing together) and plenty of spacey keyboards.
And ya don't stop!
Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/08/2023
» On Aug 11, New York City celebrated the 50th anniversary the birth of hip-hop with exhibitions, concerts and street art across the five boroughs.
Womad festival returns in style
Life, John Clewley, Published on 30/08/2022
» In 1982, the first Womad music festival was held in Shepton Mallet, UK. The organisation, which stands for World Of Music Arts And Dance, was set up in 1980 by English rock star Peter Gabriel (Genesis), Thomas Brooman, Bob Hooton, Mark Kidel, Stephen Pritchard, Martin Elbourne and Jonathan Arthur.
A tribute to Rachid Taha
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/09/2018
» Rachid Taha, the iconoclastic and rebellious singer from Algeria, died last week in a Paris suburb. He was 59 years old. He had emigrated to France at the age of 10 with his family and emerged in the early 1980s with his band Carte de Sejour, which he founded in 1980 in Lyon. In 1986, he made waves with a cynical, mocking cover of chanson icon Charles Trenet's song, Douce France (Sweet France). Adding Arabic oud and drums and jumping into the song with a punkish snarl and biting (new) lyrics, this song set the tone for his entire career.