Stories about Music from October, 2008
Bangladesh: Rickshawpuller as pop idol
Mark Dummett reports that Omar Ali, a rickshaw puller from an impoverished village became Bangladesh’s new music star.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Price of Progress
Maximilian Forte, writing at Review of the Indigenous Caribbean Center, posts a video of Trinidadian calypsonian King Austin's song Progress, which he calls “a critique of the ideology and practice of progress, from the vantage points of environmental unsustainability, exploitation, inequality, and the resultant social strife.”
Angola: A post dedicated to prize winner musician Paulo Flores
Luanda born musician Paulo Flores has won the Angolan National Prize for Arts and Culture. Koluki [pt] takes the opportunity to “dedicate a post to some of his music, focusing on some duets I consider particularly well done.” Hear the selected songs on her blog.
Barbados, U.S.A.: Behind Barack
Barbados Underground says that most Caribbean people support Barack Obama for U.S. President.
Bangladesh: A blog about the movie “Monpura”
‘Monpura’ is a recent Bangladeshi cinema that has own the hearts of many Bangladeshis especially the youth. Here is a blog dedicated to everything about the movie. Faizul Khan Tanim reviews its popular soundtrack.
Serbia: Milan Mladenovic
Belgraded writes about Milan Mladenovic – “one of the greatest musicians from ex-Yu” – and a Facebook initiative to name a street in Belgrade after him.
Japan: The Illegal Download Explained, on 2-Channel
Over the last years, the sometimes raucous nature of the Japanese Internet has repeatedly come under fire over concerns about issues such as harmful content and copyright infringement. Now the spotlight is back again, with news that legislation to ban downloads of copyrighted content is moving ahead as planned, despite earlier delays.
Brazil: A Musical Doctrine
Lou Gold, from VisionShare, blogs (in English and Portuguese) and posts some videos about the musical doctrine of Santo Daime and his personal happiness about the recent visit of an important Daime family and its musical entourage to Brasilia, Brazil.
Trinidad & Tobago: Steelpan Goes Wii
The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society is tickled that Instrument #29 on Wii Music is none other than the steelpan!
Poland: Notes on the Countryside, Politics, Etc.
Sylwia Presley writes about her parents’ village in Poland and ‘golden Polish fall’, among other things: “There is a sense of magic in the fact that Poles do not clear the paths from leaves – it makes the parks look like a golden carpet at this time of the year.”
Lithuania: Orchestrating disharmony?
Viola in Vilnius posts a snapshot of the organizational disharmonies of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra wholly compensated by musical excellence.
Caribbean: Remembering Alton Ellis
Jamaican musician Alton Ellis, the "godfather of rocksteady", died on Friday 10 October, 2008. Jamaican bloggers look back at his career and pay tribute to a musical legend.
Myanmar: Burmese Songs
Dawn sings couple of Burmese songs for her blog readers.
Lusosphere: The origins of the American Banjo in Africa
Emerson Santiago [pt] writes at Patafurdia Magazine about akonting, the musical instrument found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. “The Portuguese colonizers and the North American slaves owners began to call the instrument “Banjo”, coming from the Quimbundo word “m'banza” (language of the second largest ethnic group in...
Brazil: The country pays homage to the Samba master
If he was alive today, Cartola, one of the key figures in samba music, would be celebrating 100 years this October 11. Cartola composed over 500 songs, deeply loved by Brazilians, who today published their favorite song or poem, videos, photos and bits and pieces of the history of this legend.
Costa Rica: Disappointment in Latin American Idol Results
Cristian Cambronero of Fusil de Chispas writes about the grand finale of Latin American Idol, where Costa Rican Maria Jose was up to the last minute singing for the first place. Much to the national disappointment, she didn't win, ending the three months of nail biting as Panama's singer walked...
Syria: Celebrating Bach
Prometheus, [Ar] from Syria, introduces his readers to his favourite composer – Johann Sebastian Bach.
Nicaragua: Bands without legal documents receiving sponsorships
Nicaraguan blogger Ingrid Bergman denounces several bands for apparently not having any legal conformation documents and having no problem in spite of this to snag juicy sponsorships. In the blog Sweet Orchid , the author points out local bands such as Milly Majuc , Carga Cerrada and División Urbana are...
