Showing 1 - 10 of 11
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.
A new oud masterpiece
Life, John Clewley, Published on 30/08/2025
» This month's Transglobal World Music Chart has plenty of interesting new albums, with many released to coincide with the summer festival season in Europe and North America.
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.
The beat of Soweto
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/07/2023
» Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde, known as the "Lion Of Soweto", was not allowed to leave South Africa until the mid-1980s, when he was invited to perform at a pioneering festival of music in Angouleme, France, along with the three Mahotella Queens, the musical engine the Makgone Tsohle Band, and producer and saxophonist West Nkosi.
Mambo madness
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/08/2022
» Latin music has been circling the globe for more than a century, creating dance crazes and inspiring local forms of music. From tango to reggaeton, with stops for mambo, rumba, son and salsa, bolero, Latin jazz and more, the Latin music juggernaut just keeps rolling on.
Farewell to an Indian legend
Life, John Clewley, Published on 15/02/2022
» Lata Mangeshkar, one of India's most famous singers, has died at the age of 92. Sometimes called the "Queen Of Melody" or the "Nightingale Of India", she was, with her sister Asha Bhosle, one of the most influential Bollywood playback singers. Her career spanned 70 years, during which time she recorded songs in 36 Indian languages as well as in English, Russian, Dutch and Swahili.
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.
Tracing the roots of zouk
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/12/2020
» In 1983, Kassav', a band from the Antilles in the Caribbean, released Zouk La Se Sel Medikamen Non Ni (Zouk Is The Only Medicine We Have). It became the first Antillean record to sell 100,000 copies. Kassav' went on to top the French pop charts with a string of gold albums, drew bigger crowds at their concerts than Prince and put Antillean music firmly on the international musical map.
Keep on rockin' in a lockdown
Life, John Clewley, Published on 14/04/2020
» The sonic landscape of my life in central Bangkok has changed dramatically over the past few weeks of social distancing. Gone are the sounds of construction drills, booming pile drivers, honking horns, unmuffled motorcyles and throbbing tuk-tuks. I can hear birdsong of all kinds in the mornings and, at dusk, the whirring and squeaking of different bat species as they zoom around hunting for insects.
End on a high
Life, John Clewley, Published on 24/12/2019
» The entertainment business is in full swing as we come to the end of 2019 with lots of concerts and end-of-year parties not only in Bangkok but also around the country. Word Beat has been out and about to join in the fun. Here are some recent highlights.