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  • 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

    Amid chaos, world music still rocks

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/01/2021

    » Riding high at the top of this month's Transglobal World Music Chart is the Isreali-Persian singer, songwriter and social activist Liraz Charhi.

  • LIFE

    Mesmerising molam

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 09/05/2017

    » Twenty-five years ago I joined a team from the Japan Foundation on a tour of Isan to meet and talk to molam artists, as part of a project on Lao music in the region. We met up with the then-president of the Molam Association, National Artist Kane Dalao, and his two female molam partners, Boonpeng Faiphewchai and Chaweewan Damnoen (both later awarded national artist status), and joined the trio as they performed concerts in villages for social ceremonies like weddings in and around Khon Kaen.

  • LIFE

    Her soul is immortal

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/08/2018

    » Singer, composer, social activist and "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin died last week. She was 76 years old. I was spinning vinyl last week at a DJ night when the news filtered through. I didn't have any of her music with me but nonetheless let everyone know that one of the greats had gone; cue to clubbers quickly searching on their smart phones for news on the First Lady of Soul.

  • LIFE

    A timeless musician

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 26/09/2023

    » Eliades Ochoa was a key member of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club, which was established in 1996 and organised into a stellar ensemble of Cuban musicians, many of whom performed Cuban music of the 1940s and 1950s -- bolero, son and danzon. An album was released to great acclaim and a film documentary of the group garnered an Academy Award for director Wim Wenders.

  • LIFE

    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.

  • LIFE

    The sound of a new era

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/01/2024

    » It's been eight years since Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band released their last studio album Planet Lam, in 2016. This followed their debut album 21st Century Molam, released in 2014. In early December, the band soft-launched a vinyl version of their new album Arayalam on the Zudrangma Records label.

  • LIFE

    Top tunes this June

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 20/06/2023

    » Veteran kora master Toumani Diabaté and Kayhan Kalhor soar to the top spot on the June edition of the Transglobal World Music Chart with a new release on Real World, The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere. Diabaté is well-known for his cross-cultural collaborations, from his early days with Ketama, a flamenco, jazz, West Africa fusion, to later work with the London Symphony Orchestra (Korolen), while Kalhor is an award-winning Kurdish-Iranian master of the kamancheh (fiddle) and setar (lute).

  • LIFE

    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.

  • LIFE

    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.

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