Stories about Music from November, 2008
Mexico: High Service Fees for Radiohead Tickets
In Mexico, there are complaints regarding the high Ticketmaster service fees tacked on to the price of Radiohead tickets for the concerts to be held in Mexico City in March 2009 writes El Nahual of México Para Los Mexicanos [es].
Saudi Arabia: Rocking the boat
Muslimah Media Watch introduces us to an all-girl rock band – in Saudi Arabia.
Armenia: Eurovision Contenders
Esctime.com reports on speculation that Armenia's entry for next year's Eurovision Song Contest will either be U.S. rock band System of a Down or local pop singer Aramé. Meanwhile, in a post made at the beginning of the month, Unzipped: Gay Armenia says choosing a singer such as Aramé would...
Azerbaijan: Eurovision Concerns
IN MUTATIONE FORTITUDO expresses it concern with recent local media reports speculating who might represent Azerbaijan in next year's Eurovision international song contest. The blog says that public money should not be wasted on such a competition, especially if the name of a late famous singer is being used to...
Michael Jackson ‘Converts’ to Islam
The King of Pop Michael Jackson has done it again and stories about his alleged conversion to Islam are keeping blogs in the Middle East abuzz with snark comments. Is Jackson's conversion a part of an American conspiracy "to destroy Islam from within," is it a media stunt or has he finally found his true calling?
Egypt: Shaaban Sings for Obama
Shaaban Abdel Rehim, the illiterate Egyptian singer whose songs are mainly about political and social issues, has released a new song about the new American President-Elect Barack Obama. Tarek Amr looks at the blogosphere's reactions to Abdel Rehim's newest hit.
Georgia: Junior Eurovision Success
Unzipped comments on this year's junior Eurovision international music competition and says that Georgia's win was well deserved. The blog notes that Russia gave full points to the country it was recently at war with, but also expresses disappointment with Armenia's entry.
Nepal: Nepathaya
Popular Nepalese music band Nepathaya has a blog where an interview with its soloist Amrit Gurung was published.
Bahamas: Censorship
Simon at Bahama Pundit blogs about “the sensitive issue of censorship.”
Syria: Love is in Stuttgart
Forget politics, Obama or the economic crisis. The new buzz in the Syrian blogosphere is about love. Mariyah, a Syrian blogger from Damascus, has been playing with the hearts of her readers with the most delicate series of posts about the story of Ghassan and Alexandra. It all starts on...
Armenia: Zucchero, Planet X Concert Reviews
As part of her continuing updates on life in the Armenian capital, local blogger La Vida – los WatcheRos includes accounts of two concerts by foreign musicians she saw perform in Yerevan this week. Although both started an hour later than scheduled, the blog says that Italian musician Zucchero was...
Rim Banna – A Voice from Palestine
Clueless came across Rim Banna's work recently and she was moved beyond the words on her blog. Marwa Rakha shares her story.
Mexico: Radiohead Concert in 2009
Mexican blogs like Tinta y Pixeles [es] are buzzing at the announcement that the rock band Radiohead have scheduled a show in Mexico City for March 16, 2009.
Georgia: Dating & Parties
Ben Sweeney’s Weblog continues to experience life as a Fulbright Scholar in Georgia and keeps readers updated on the local culture in the capital, Tbilisi. Yesterday was the turn of dating girls with curfews and cleaning up after parties.
Caribbean: Tributes to Makeba
Jamaica's Abeng News Magazine, Barbados’ Life, Unscripted, on the Rock, and Caribbean blog One Tribe, Many Voices all pay tribute to the late South African musical icon Miriam Makeba.
China: Indie music bands
Steve from the Fool's Mountain introduced a number of indie music bands in China.
Turkey: Crimean Tatar Diaspora
My Simferopol Home writes about the Crimean Tatar diaspora in Turkey.
Morocco: Festival of the Strange
The View from Fez clues us in to Morocco's Festival de l'Etrange (Festival of the Strange), happening in Essaouira in a few weeks.
Guatemala: Marimba Band Touring Italy
The Guatemalan marimba band Sonal Ko Konab’ is currently touring Italy according to the blog Santa Cruz Barillas [es] and they proudly representing, not only their home region, but the entire country.
Jamaica: Farewell to the Dragon – Byron Lee
Despite earlier rumours of his death, Jamaica awoke this morning to the news of the passing of the legendary Byron Lee. Lee, bandleader of the Dragonaires, died at the University Hospital of the West Indies yesterday, November 4, 2008, after a two year battle with cancer. Although the news was...
Kenya: Obama be thy name
Kenyan reggae video for Obama: “Obama Be Thy Name.”