· March, 2007

Stories about Music from March, 2007

Bahrain: When ‘moderate’ means ‘acquiescent’

This week some Bahraini bloggers took part in an evening regarding the role of blogging in cultural development, and the literary aspect of online writing in particular. Hisham Khalifa has posted his introduction to the evening: Culture is not created by governments, kings, queens or presidents. It’s not created by...

Jamaica: African/Brazilian Connection

  30 March 2007

Geoffrey Philp's Blogspot covers Joel Gondim's presentation “Color, Identity, and Candomblé in Brazil,” in which he explores how the African connection to Brazil manifests itself in food, music, and religion.

Arabisc: Job Hunting in Bahrain?

Bahraini blogger Silverooo, who has just graduated from university, may have hit the jackpot and will soon be making more money than any other graduate her age. Her idea? The guide you see on the left – Job Hunting in Bahrain for Dummies. And the blogger knows what she is...

Zimbabwe: taking gospel too far!

  29 March 2007

Is putting your hands up in the air illegal in Zimbabwe?: The Media and Information Commission (MIC) whose business it is to accredit newspapers and journalists think some gospel music producers have taken the gospel too far. According to The Standard newspaper, Geoffrey Chaparadza who was involved in the production...

Morocco: El Bicho and Darga Perform April 1st

Chadstoune is happy Moroccan band Darga and Spanish band El Bicho will be performing in Casablanca on April 1. Says the blogger: Says the blogger [Fr}: “El Bicho is one of the best bets of flamenco fusion based on daring mix of music! ” and “Darga is a group united...

Kyrgyzstan: Svetlana Nazarenko

  21 March 2007

Tolkun Umaraliev reports that Svetlana Nazarenko, a native of Bishkek who is the lead singer of the Russian band Gorod 312 (ru), has been awarded the honorary title “Honored Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic.”

Latvia: Ukrainian and Russian Folk Music

  21 March 2007

Dykun posts a video and writes on a Ukrainian and Russian folk music performance in Riga, Latvia: “they performed together a show of russian and ukrainian wedding songs and rituals, with the structure of a ukrainian cossack marrying a russian bride. […] presented are typical wedding songs and a re-enactment...

Chile: Censorship, Victor Jara and Los Tres

  21 March 2007

In his inimitable style, Tomás Dinges ties together the popularity of Mexican Rancheras and American hits, Chile's feudal history, the oppressive days of the dictatorship, the brutal murder of Victor Jara, and the censorship of video images by the producers of the massive concert recently held by Chilean folk-rock superheroes...

German “Open Music” Band Dedicates a Concert for Peru

  21 March 2007

[Editors Note: The following post originally appeared on the weblog of Creative Commons Peru and was translated into english by Juliana Rincón Parra. We've already seen a rural Ecuadorean “techno-folklorist” become an international celebrity by using YouTube and a weblog. Now a small German band is reaching out to bloggers...

Kazakhstan: Nauryz Soundtrack

  20 March 2007

Depending on who the community, Navruz, the Persian holiday marking the beginning of spring that is celebrated in Iran, Central Asia, and elsewhere, is today or tomorrow. News from the Caravan has a soundtrack for Nauryz for those who want to add a little Kazakh flavor to their celebrations.

Palestine: Hip Hip Concert

Palestinian blogger Imaan, who is now based in Sweden, gives us a detailed account of how she was able to finish her housework, arrange for her children to be looked after and slip with a friend to attend a Palestinian hiphop concert here. “Here's what I liked most about them;...

Trinidad & Tobago: A podcast returns

  18 March 2007

Caribbean Free Radio returns with its first podcast in 200-plus days, a look behind the scenes at the repeat performance of the annual Carnival show by the rapso band 3canal.

Electronic arts scene mingles with marginalized communities in Colombia

  16 March 2007

Take electronic media, a community with a violent history and music, and you have the necessary ingredients to make a Pixelazo. “Pixelazo is the new Colombian node in the Pixelache festival network. The first Pixelazo event will be organised by Intermundos.org in collaboration with Pixelache Helsinki and several Colombian collaborators.”...

Bahrain: A better literary life for civil servants?

We begin this week's review of Bahrain's blogs with Lulu's review of Bahrain's second annual Spring of Culture. Regarding the music/poetry/dance performance headlined by Marcel Khalife, and which caused controversy because of the dance element, she says: I'm all for the arts & freedom of expression, of course, but if...

Brazil: Hip Hop and Education

  15 March 2007

On a program by Brazil's Ministry of Culture to use hip hop as a way to keep kids in school, Made in Brazil writes: “I had not read about the program before even though it was conceived by minister of Culture Gilberto Gil in 2003, but I highly agree that...

Palestine: It's All in the Kuffiyeh

Trent Reznor, lead singer of one of the greatest bands of this generation, Nine Inch Nails, rocks the kuffiyeh (black and white head gear associated with Palestine) in his latest video – “Survivalism”, writes Nadeem at Kabobfest. “Given the fact that he's a well-known/outspoken anti-war activist who's already both hip...

Guinea-Conakry: standing up to a power-hungry President

  13 March 2007

The technological revolution that enables ordinary citizens to capture and upload video footage on the web has been slow to take root in West Africa. Up to now we haven’t featured any video content from this part of the world on the Human Rights Video Hub Pilot. So this week...