Stories about Music from November, 2009
One East African Musician beats all odds for a global fan base
Not many know her as Mwanaisha Abdalla but Nyota Ndogo (Kiswahili for Small Star), is a household name in East Africa. She has been collecting fans of her eclectic East African sound for over 4 years now. Her blog on the other hand has been running for 3 years. There is no doubt that the blog has contributed the growth of her online fan base.
Suriname: Seamlessness
“There is a way that Caribbean music or musical interests create a seamlessness between locations”: Blogging at Paramaribo SPAN, Chris Cozier ruminates on seamless spaces created by sound.
Egypt/Gaza: “Trashy” music video clips
‘I wasn’t surprised to see during my my trip to Egypt and Gaza that no one watches music videos anymore. When I asked few people about their choice of boycotting...
Macedonia: Singing Skopjans
An ad hoc choir "Singing Skopjans" performs civic activism through songs, using social media to spread their message.
Zimbabwe: Oliver Mtukudzi honoured
Zimbabwe's biggest music stars Oliver Mtukudzi was last week honoured with a 2009 Cultural Ambassador Award in San Diego in the United States.
Bangladesh: Romanian Song In Bangla Tune
Call that fusion or copying, A Bengali in T.O. informs that the tune of a popular Bangla classic song (written by Radha Romon Dutta in the year 1870!) was used...
Burmese Songs to be Used as Ring Tones in Thailand
A company in Thailand bought more than 100 popular Burmese songs to be sold as ring tones for mobile phones in Thailand.
Japan: British teenager becomes a YouTube star
She is British, blond, slim and cute. Her name is Beckii Cruel [ja] and, at age 14, has become an idol on the Japanese web. Beckii Cruel started to gain...
Japan: Artist and morality
Neojaponisme has a blog post about the protocol for Japanese record labels to pull their artists’ CDs from stores when they are arrested on drug charges or for any other...
Egyptians! Algerians! Wake UP!
From ferocious marketing campaigns to Facebook wars, hacking, and owl burning, the November 14th match between Egypt and Algeria has turned into an ugly war. Marwa Rakha reports from the battlefront.
Egypt: Celebrities sans Diplomacy
Bikya Masr reported two stories a couple of days apart about celebrity blunders and lack of tact. Beyonce was targeted in the first and Salma Hayek spoke out in the second. Marwa Rahka has the story.
Kazakhstan: Jumyr Kylysh or Two Warriors
KZBlog tells about the new album of the Kazakh band Ulytau and says that their style can be described as classical/rock/prog-rock/electronic pop fusion music, influenced by Yes, Metallica, and Bach,...
Bahrain: A New Old Love
Alia Almoayed, from Bahrain, has reconnected with her new old love. Click on the link to find out what it is.
Ukraine: Ruslana and Science Fiction
Science Fiction Observer writes about a science fiction dimension of Ukrainian singer Ruslana's 2007 album.
UK, Poland: “Basia is Back”
the POLSKI blog reports that “Basia, whose voice is familiar to anyone who in the early 1980s danced to Whose Side Are You On?, is back with a new album.”
