Stories about Music from September, 2010
Nigeria: This Bitch of a Life Tour
This Bitch of a Life Tour in Nigeria: ““Fela: This Bitch of a Life” is a moving account of Fela, told from the inside. During his stay in Nigeria, Carlos will read from the book, discuss Fela and his times with Very Special Guests…”
Jamaica: Back to Court for Banton
Jamaican bloggers - nay, regional bloggers - have been following dancehall music icon Buju Banton's drug possession court case with great interest. Yesterday, news broke that the jury was evenly divided on what his fate should be. The judge has since declared a mistrial, which means that the singer will head back to court later this year.
UK: Interview With Donald Newholm On ‘History of USSR’ Tetris Song
A Good Treaty interviews Donald Newholm of Pig With The Face Of A Boy about the band's popular song, “A Complete History of the Soviet Union As Told By A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris” (the YouTube video to this song has been viewed over 500,000 times).
Hungary: “Roma Reports”
“Roma reports” at Pestiside.hu: a video about a “Roma fashion show” recently held in Budapest; and a Romanian Roma music video that “seems to have… borrowed quite a bit” from a Hungarian Roma music video.
Music: CD Brings together banned and censored musicians
Listen to the Banned is a music CD bringing together musicians who have been banned, censored or imprisoned due to their music. It features artists from Afghanistan, Cote D’Ivoire, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, Turkey, Uighurstan and Zimbabwe.
Trinidad & Tobago: Parang Time
Simply Trini Cooking blogs about Parang – “one of Trinidad and Tobago's folk music that seems in a remarkable way to stay true to its original form” – here and here.
Uruguay: A Weekend Celebrating the Country's Heritage
Every year, Uruguayans dedicate a whole weekend to remember their heritage during the so-called “día del Patrimonio” (Heritage Day); they attend different cultural events and visit historic sites and venues. To commemorate the weekend, Todo Por la Misma Plata [es] shares three videos of Uruguayan musicians.
Russia: Shnurov's “Khimki Forest” Song
A Good Treaty writes about and translates Sergei Shnurov's “Khimki Forest” song, “an obvious satire of liberal-leaning musicians prone to activist art.”
China: Tibetan writer awaiting trial
An update in the case of imprisoned writer Tagyal and the latest hit single from hip-hop group Green Dragon are among the stories in Dechen Pamba's roundup of the Tibetan blogging scene at High Peaks Pure Earth.
Tanzania: Music in Tanzanian Politics
As Tanzania prepares for 2010 General Elections, Elsie blogs about innovative use of music in politics in Tanzania.
Venezuela: Web Videos Encouraging Citizens to Vote
Venezuelans will be voting on September 26th to renew the whole body of the National Assembly, the unicameral legislative body which substituted the Congress, and online, dozens of people are making and remixing videos urging citizens to vote.
Macedonia, Greece: Porcupine Tree Concert in Thessaloniki
Macedonian blogs Baba mi Trajanka (My Grandma Trajanka) and Voodoo Lounge published a multimedia reportage [MKD] and a favorable review [MKD] about the concert of a UK progressive rock band Porcupine Tree near Thessaloniki, in neighboring Greece, attended by youth from all over the region.
USA and Ghana: The most powerful black men on twitter
Abena links to a list of the “100 Most Powerful Black Men on Twitter“, but is disappointed that so many of the names come from the entertainment industry. “Are black men with the most impact on the planet likely to be rappers and sportsmen?” she asks.
In Destino Cuba [ES], blogger Carlos Manuel Álvarez Rodríguez writes about the concert Cuban singer and songwriter Silvio Rodríguez offered in Havana dedicated to the bicentennial of Chile's independence: “Something is always absent in concerts. There is a desire to capture everything, but this is impossible in a theater with...
Jamaica: Banton Preps For Trial
YardFlex.com is following the Buju Banton drug possession case which goes to trial in the U.S. on Monday. In light of news that two co-defendants have turned state witnesses, the blog says: “The next couple of days will be crucial as Buju and his lawyers hunker down and prepare to...
Caribbean: Farewell, Arrow
Caribbean bloggers are mourning the loss of one of the region's soca music pioneers - Alphonsus Cassell, better known as “Arrow” - whose mega-hit, Hot, Hot, Hot is largely credited with taking soca to a global audience. News reports confirm that the singer had been ailing from cancer for some time; bloggers' tributes have been both touching and personal...
Guyana: Gold Rush?
Guyana-Gyal thinks the gold rush must be on again – at least judging from the influx of foreigners – and each of them, she says, “got their own winning technique.”
South Africa: Listen to Benguela's Meridian
Sean's Music Monday features Meridian from the album The Black Southeaster by a Cape Town based group Benguela.
South Africa: Listen to the Black Southeaster
Sean's Music Monday features Meridian from the album The Black Southeaster by a Cape Town based group Benguela.
Martinique: Grande Dame Passes On
The Caribbean Review of Books acknowledges the passing of “Jenny Alpha, Martiniquan singer and ‘grande dame de la culture créole’.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Happy Birthday, Alice Yard
Pleasure says of Alice Yard's fourth anniversary: “The contribution of this space, at formal, anecdotal and social levels, cannot be underestimated. It has been a place for the arts, in a country where the arts are all too often left bereft.”
