world music
theartsdesk on Vinyl 58: Joy Division, Alma, Prince, African Head Charge, Wargirl and much moreFriday, 10 July 2020
Lockdown’s easing and the record shops are opening here and there. So, to help vinyl junkies on their way, here’s 7000 words of reviews, capturing the best of the last couple of months’ releases on plastic. As ever, the sounds go everywhere, from... Read more... |
Album: Khruangbin - MordechaiWednesday, 24 June 2020
There’s a moment halfway through Khruangbin’s latest album that succinctly sums up the melting-pot model this band have made their own. It’s “Pelota”, a Spanish-influenced song, based on a Japanese film, played by a Texan three-piece with a Thai... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Edikanfo - The Pace SettersSunday, 31 May 2020
Ghana was visited by two British musicians in the early Eighties. One was Mick Fleetwood, who recorded the Visitor album in Accra during January and February 1981. The other was Brian Eno, who came to the country in late 1980 to attend the National... Read more... |
Album: Bab L'Bluz - NaydaSaturday, 30 May 2020
Bab L’Bluz are a Franco-Moroccan band, They’re the latest in a succession of musicians - going back to the pioneers Nass El Ghiwane, and the recently departed Rachid Taha - to have created a vibrant fusion of traditional sounds from the Maghreb with... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Damily - Madagascar Cassette ArchivesSunday, 17 May 2020
Outside his home country Madagascar, Damily was first heard via a couple of tracks on the 2004 French compilation album Tsapiky, Panorama D'une Jeune Musique De Tulear, an overview of the tsapiky dance music of the south-west of the island. He’d... Read more... |
One World: Together at Home livestream review - all eight hours of it!Monday, 20 April 2020
What times. They cancelled Glastonbury. Festival season 2020 disappeared. Then certain potions and compounds associated with festivaling ran dry. Well, the latter exist, of course. There’s a fellow over the road who’s still selling talcum powder and... Read more... |
theartdesk on Vinyl Lockdown Special 2: Luke Haines, Finnish jazz, cosmic country, blues and moreFriday, 10 April 2020
Welcome to the second of our lockdown specials. It’s a small but vital dip into what’s new on plastic. Other than that, theartsdesk on Vinyl wishes you well in these strange times. Stay at home, play records, turn up the volume.Various Cadence... Read more... |
Joe Boyd's Recording HeavenWednesday, 08 April 2020
When it comes to making records, I love deadlines. Embarking on an open-ended project, particularly with the infinite number of overdubs made possible by ProTools, is my idea of hell. Back in the Nineties, I once spent an afternoon combining vocal... Read more... |
Oliver Craske: Indian Sun, The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar review - a master receives masterly treatmentThursday, 02 April 2020
Ravi Shankar was one of the giants of 20th century music. A musician, composer and teacher, he had an extraordinarily fruitful career that spanned nine decades and reached the entire world. He did more to build a bridge between the music and... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 27 - direct from Sāo Paulo with guest stars including Chico CésarTuesday, 17 March 2020
The latest edition of Peter Culshaw’s global music radio update was recorded on the road in São Paulo, Brazil, featuring some of the most interesting local musicians a couple of weeks ago – before the virus tsunami hit (Brazil was behind the curve,... Read more... |
Album: Moonlight Benjamin - SimidoThursday, 20 February 2020
Moonlight Benjamin, the fierce and deep-voiced vocalist from Haiti, is a powerful presence on stage. On her second album, she is once again supported by a tight cohort of French musicians led by guitarist Matthis Pascal, who has written the music... Read more... |
The Hu, O2 Academy, Bristol review - heavy metal meets throat-singingWednesday, 12 February 2020
There is natural logic in the unholy marriage between heavy metal and Mongolian throat singing. The Hu are not to be confused with The Who – although John Entwistle’s vocals on “Boris the Spider” were an early manifestation of the "death growl" in... Read more... |
