Stories about Music from June, 2006
Brazil: Caetano Veloso's Biography
France-based Togolese bloggerKangni Alem writes (Fr): “Even though modesty is not Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso's forte, he has great talent as an agitator. He also exhibits phenomenal memory in the intellectual autobiography that was prompted by the New York Times to recount the birth of the artistic and musical movement...
Iran: Pet Shop Boys & Executed Gays
KlaghSia writes that British band Pet Shop Boys has dedicated his new album to two executed Iranian homosexual teenagers (Persian). According to the blogger Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Mahroni were executed one year ago in Mashad.
Rapping in USA – First impressions
K'Naan: Rapping about war He describes his first impression of America as “strange”, recalling the time his family first landed in New York. “I remember asking my father, ‘so this is America, huh?’ How is it possible that there's this great big building that's vacant and there's homeless people sleeping...
Somalia: Rap about war
Harowo.com on Somali rapper: “K'Naan: Rapping about war” ” K'Naan's own story is more remarkable than most, involving a harrowing odyssey that would see him exiled from his war-torn country before living in New York's Harlem district and eventually settling Toronto. Having grown up in an artistic family within the...
Voices from Central Asia and the Caucasus
Standing at the edge of the abyss close to Kyrgyzstan's Pik Lenin, let's not waste any time to present you the highlights from two weeks of online conversation from Central Asia and the Caucasus. Armenia: Onnik Krikorian posts another one of his indispensable roundups from the Armenian blogosphere on his...
Spain: Music: CC Licensed Compilation
Eduardo Arcos and Fernando Casale both comment on the release of a Creative Commons-licensed compilation by the Spanish newspaper El País. The album is freely available for download.
Brazil: Gilles Peterson’s Podcast
Claudio recommends the podcast of Gilles Peterson: “Each podcast is 30 minutes long and devoted to a different theme, with interviews and live sessions. Covered are Baile Funk, Roots & Samba, Bossa Nova, The Rodrigues Family, Hip Hop and Electronica.”
Japan: PM goes to Graceland
Perhaps having realized his trips to the Yasukuni war shrine were losing him votes, as seen on Mutantfrog, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is making a trip to a different, more widely-accepted shrine.
China: Hopes, one day
Journalist-blogger Taras posts a list [zh] today of all the things he hopes yet to do: 1. Be a foreign correspondent in any country; 2. Find the one thing that he likes most to do in this life; 3. Figure out women's hearts; 4. Learn how to play pizzazzy songs...
Pakistan: Rock and the Underground
Asma covers the rock scene in Islamabad. Watch out for the take on underground rock. “Here, bands remain underground only because financial constraints, lack of contacts, sponsorships and media attention, and discouragement from parents cause them to remain smothered down there. Most Western UG bands prefer remaining proudly unheard of...
Morocco: Essaouira Gnawa Music Festival
Samir talks about the huge success of Essaouira Gnawa and world music festival. He said: “Once again Essaouira has turned on a world class music festival. More than 500.000 people attended between June 22 through 25. Last year's record of 450.000 was easily beaten.”
Jamaica: More meetings with Bob
In reponse to a post about his encouters with Bob Marley, Geoffrey Philp receives a note from dub poet Malachi Smith about his own meetings with the reggae superstar.
Colombia, Argentina: Music: Lulacruza
Fernando Casale features the duo Lulacruza. “This Colombian-Argentinean duo is formed by Alejandra Ortiz and Luis Maurette, who met in the city of Boston while they were studying at the Berklee College of Music.”
Guyana: Scenic music video
Living Guyana links to a music video showing scenes of the Guyanese landscape, both rural and urban.
Serbia: War Criminal's Concert and the Country's Image
Viktor of Belgrade Blog writes about Serbia's image abroad. He also links to the text on a concert by a “Serbian war-criminal,” written by the Serbian writer Jasmina Tesanovic for BoingBoing: “There is no excuse for going to Ceca's concert (“Ideally Bad”) but I found one: I took a foreigner...
Azerbaijan: Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
Onnik Krikorian writes about Azeri jazz musician Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, an album of whose he picked up for a friend. He remarks that it is “good to see that music can actually cross geopolitical borders, especially when the two countries in question are Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
Argentina: Translation of Qué Vachaché
Robert Wright admits that he's not the world's biggest fan of tango, but a few songs have grabbed his attention and here he offers an English translation of “Qué vachaché” written by Enrique Santos Discépolo and popularized by Tita Merello.
Palestine: Roger Waters and The Wall!
Cultural icon and rock-god Roger Waters, co-founder and frontman of the legendary rock group Pink Floyd, spray painted “Tear Down The Wall” and “No Thought Control” on Israel’s Separation wall. Nadeem has the details.
Africa: music, football, dance
Soul on Ice goes from strength to strength and is fast becomming spokesblog for music and football Africaine……..Musik, Dance, Football
Czech Republic: Karel Gott's Museum
My Czech Republic Blog writes about the country's legendary singer, Karel Gott, considered by some the “Sinatra of the East,” and his own new museum, Gottland, which opens this month.
Singapore: Bollywood Dancing
Pari at Daisyinthesdust blog is talking about her Bollywood dancing experience. “Thoughts of performing the kinds of dance moves I see in Bollywood movies threatened to leave me in hysterics. I like the style as it is carefree and leaves a lot to self-expression rather than precision. Trouble is that...
