Stories about Music from March, 2010
Nigeria: The New Afrika Shrine one of top small venues
More kudos to Lagos as [The New Afrika] Shrine is named as one of the top small music venues in the world. I am not sure what the reviewer means “its not for the faint-hearted”…” writes Sokari.
The Virtual Choir: Technology, Collaboration and Music
Composer Eric Whitacre , after seeing a Youtube video of a young soprano singing his song "Sleep" wondered: What if he could get people, regardless of where they were in the world, to record themselves signing all the other parts of his a capella choir piece? So he did, and following, you will be able to see the various results of this great experiment of online collaboration with the Virtual Choir.
Barbados, Jamaica: Dancehall Show Cancelled
Barbados’ Boyce Voice blogs about “the On again, Off again, On again, Off again Show AKA Vybz Kartel Movado Show”, saying: “I feel for the event promoters…they were…bullied by the authorities”; while Barbados Free Press is proud of the “unequivocal message” delivered by the Prime Minister: “We the people of...
Sri Lanka: The Akon Controversy
A recent video of R&B singer-songwriter Akon featuring a group of scantly clad women dancing at a pool party in front of a Buddha statue caused much uproar in Sri Lanka. This became a hot topic in the Sri Lankan blogosphere.
China: Singing farewell to Google
Google has formally closed its mainland Chinese search engine and rival Baidu will not need long to pick up the slack; nonetheless, former users of Google.cn search braved the cold air to show their support outside the company's Beijing headquarters, singing an anti-Internet censorship protest song while they were at it.
Barbados, Jamaica: Feeling the “Vybz”
Boyce Voice and B.C. Pires blog about the public outcry surrounding the appearance of Jamaican dancehall performers, Vybz Kartel and Mavado, in Barbados.
Guyana: I & I
Guyana-Gyal has a theory about “how tongues all over the world latch on to the I-Talk.”
Chile: Tu Sunami jabs at President, quakes and aftershocks
From Chile, a video mashup by tintoweno mixes McHammer, Storm Troopers and the Chilean president Sebastián Piñera as comic relief: adding humor to the tense situation lived in Chile as they still experience very strong aftershocks after the February 27th 8.8 earthquake. The video's name, Tu Sunami refers the President's ...
Macedonia: International Women's Day in the Blogosphere
International Women's Day is not an official public holiday in Macedonia, but is widely observed through interpersonal interactions and at some workplaces. This year, a number of bloggers used the occasion to draw attention to gender issues or to find creative ways to congratulate women online.
The Balkans: Byzantine Nostalgia
Similar to Yugo-nostalgia, the nostalgia for the common Byzantine past can sometimes transcend some of the barriers erected through modern nationalism and racism in the Balkans.
Russia: Soviet Singer Becomes Internet Meme
A wordless song “I'm Glad I'm Finally Returning Home” performed by Soviet singer Eduard Hill became the recent Internet meme on English-speaking blogosphere. The Youtube video for the song counts about 2 mln. views, 13 thousand comments and 96 video replies.
Macedonia: Most Popular Pop Songs on YouTube
Igor Mihajlovski published [MKD] an interesting analysis of number of views of Macedonian pop songs on YouTube, sorting them by time periods (1945-1979, 1980-1999, 2000-2010). He included videos of the late international star Toshe Proeski, whose interpretation of folk song “Zajdi zajdi” is the ‘winner’ with almost 4 million views....
Nicaragua: The Passing of Musician Salvador Cardenal
Nicaraguan musician Salvador Cardenal passed away on March 8, 2010 after a lengthy illness. His official blog [es] is collecting memories of his life in music, as well as receiving messages from his fans.
Nicaragua: Poor Health of Salvador Cardenal
The poor health of Nicaraguan musician Salvador Cardenal [es] was on the mind of Central American blogger Julia Ardón, who is a fan of his voice and his lyrics.
Cuba: Gorki Re-Entry?
Repeating Islands notes that Cuban punk rocker Gorki Águila, “known for raunchy lyrics criticizing Fidel Castro says he will try to return to the island after an 11-month absence.”
Russia: Music Critic Banned From “Echo Moskvy”
A renowned Russian music critic Artemiy Troitskiy has been banned from a liberal radio station “Echo Moskvy.” Troitskiy wrote on his blog that the reason for the ban was his decision to play a rap song about the car accident involving oil tycoon Anatoliy Barkov.
Trinidad & Tobago: Choosing the Road March
“Do people wine in a trance brought about by alcohol or are they gyrating on strings manipulated by the whims and fancies of deejays ‘pre-lured’ with blue notes?” Underground Trini Artiste has a few questions about the process of selecting the Road March.
Poland: Potential Internet Access Restrictions Boosting Creativity
Earlier this year, the Polish PM met with Polish bloggers to discuss the government's proposal to introduce the Registry of Banned Websites and Services. The result was the withdrawal of the above-mentioned proposal. The threat of any restrictions on the Polish web kicked off a series of creative reactions to the issue.
