• LIFE

  Universal language

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 24/10/2023

  » The Transglobal World Music Chart for October has some excellent new releases for the coming cool season. And if there is a theme that runs through the Top 20, it is one of reflection and understanding in a world that is full of pain and hurt. This is exemplified by the No.1 album Jarak Qaribak by Dudu Tassa and Jonny Greenwood.

• LIFE

  Horns of Africa

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/11/2018

  » Summer and autumn releases are out and there are some fascinating new albums that are well worth checking out. The European Broadcast Union's Top Ten World Music Chart for November features hits from the Horn of Africa, Turkey, Zimbabwe and Colombia.

• LIFE

  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.

• LIFE

  Preserving heritage

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 22/11/2022

  » Field recordings of ancient, traditional music in the Southeast Asia feature in this column. Northern Khmer Spirit Music in Thailand – Kantrum Dongman (Animist Records, 2022) covers the traditional music of "Northern Khmer" people in provinces like Surin, Buri Ram and Si Sa Ket that straddle the Thai-Cambodian border in Thailand's lower Northeast, while Exploring Gong Culture Of Southeast Asia: Massif And Archipelago (Sub Rosa, 2022) covers traditional gong music from 50 different ethnic groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Sulawesi, Vietnam's highlands and northeast Cambodia.

• LIFE

  Latin soul with a Thai twist

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/03/2022

  » Amaru Tribe, a Latin band based in Melbourne, Australia, released their second studio album, Between Two Worlds, on March 18. The band visited Thailand in 2019 for a mini-tour, which culminated in a full band concert at Studio Lam, for which they jammed with phin and khaen players from Toom Turn Molam Band.

• LIFE

  Return of Doumbia

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 20/07/2021

  » Over the past half-century, the land-locked West African nation Mali has produced some terrific singers and bands.

• LIFE

  Honouring a pioneer

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/08/2020

  » Sonia Pottinger was a trailblazing pioneer in Jamaica's male-dominated music industry as she played an important role in the development of popular music in the Caribbean island. She was the first female record producer in Jamaica and her pinnacle came during the 1960s, beginning with the ska era after which she made a transition to rocksteady and finally reggae.

• LIFE

  Cumbia comes to Bangkok

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 05/11/2019

  » Amaru Tribe, a Latin cumbia band based in Melbourne, Australia, made their full-band debut in Bangkok on Oct 23 at Studio Lam. The six-member outfit come from Australia, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela, but all have been resident in Australia for many years.

• LIFE

  Sugarcane workers' blues

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 15/08/2017

  » On a recent trip to the UK, World Beat enjoyed a stopover in Manchester to check out interesting vinyl and scope new releases. Additionally, in Pwllheli, North Wales, where some of my family resides, I was also able to go crate-digging in the five charity shops in the town, which is about the size of Buriram. A short drive down the coast to Portmadog to Cobb Records was also part of the musical itinerary. Here are a few of the highlights.

• LIFE

  Last band standing

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/11/2019

  » I first heard Orchestre Les Mangelepa's seductive and sweet sound on one of their songs from the late 1970s, Embakasi, which was a nationwide hit in Kenya and beyond. Initially, I thought they had recorded the song in what was then Zaire but in fact they were expatriate Congolese musicians who had settled in Nairobi, Kenya, mainly to take advantage of the sophisticated recording industry that had developed around East Africa's biggest commercial centre.

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