Stories about Music from June, 2011
Azerbaijan: Doubts reportedly linger about Eurovision 2012
The Oikotimes, a major Eurovision blog, says that it is still uncertain whether the European Broadcast Union (EBU) is convinced Azerbaijan can host next year's competition. The blog says that it takes more than the oil-rich former Soviet republic spending €100m to do so.
Azerbaijan: Freedom of Eurovision, including for Armenians
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on news from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that it expects Azerbaijan to allow all accredited individuals and ticket holders for next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku unfettered entry into the country with firm guarantees for their security. The blog notes that yesterday, for example,...
Video: Love Story, Short Film, Cellphone
The winner of the Nokia Shorts 2011 film competition, Splitscreen: A Love Story was shot using a mobile phone with HD capabilities. In it we follow two parallel lives through 3 different countries: USA, France and England until they finally meet.
Video: Celebrating the Solstice
The celebrations for Summer and Winter Solstices were full of lanterns, dances, flowers and bonfires. Lets tour around the world to check out the different celebrations: Solstice at Stonehenge, Feast of Saint John's bonfires in Spain, Inti Raymi in Peru, we tripantu in Chile and Kupala Day in Russia or Midsummer's night in Poland.
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: Buju's Prison
“Buju Banton was the one who helped us figure it out. He danced between social commentary and slackness. He transformed himself into a thoughtful prophet”: Attilah Springer says it's “a nightmare when you wake up to realise that the one to offer a place for escape is in prison too.”
China: The significant of singing “red songs”
Jottings from the Granite Studio has a guest post written by YaJun on the political implications of “singing red song campaign”.
Jamaica: Buju Gets 10 Years
As news spreads that reggae icon Buju Banton has been sentenced to 10 years in jail on drug charges, Jamaica Salt comments: “10 years is indeed a long time…but he’s reported to have took the news calmly and he was lucky in a way as the judge threw out an...
Colombia: Video Mapping the City to Hip Hop
In just four days, a creative cast of characters got together in the city of Medellin, Colombia, where they set out to produce videos and place them on a map of the city to reflect topics that affect their communities: militarization, poverty, forced displacement, crimes of state, resistance movements and more.
Armenia: Rapping controversy
Ianyan says that a photoshoot for an Armenian singer is drawing controversy in Armenia. Featuring photographs of Sako Balasanyan (Super Sako) in a “series of photographs featuring violent, misogynistic imagery of a faceless woman and him in various settings,” it also includes a picture of the singer in front of...
Jamaica: Bob's Legacy
“Three decades after his death, the revolutionary Tuff Gong Rastaman is now completely made over and repackaged as the poster boy for the Jamaican tourist industry”: But Jamaica Woman Tongue thinks that “if Marley were a youth today, he would sound a lot like Capleton, Sizzla and Anthony B.”
Puerto Rico: Interview of Le Butcherettes
Music blogger @redod interviews Terri Gender Bender (born Teresa Suárez) [es], leader singer of the Mexican garage-punk band Le Butcherettes.
Latin America: ‘La Furgo-Nana’ On the Road For Children's Rights and Lullabies
A documentary, a ‘transmedia platform’ and a humanitarian project: in ‘La Furgo-Nana’ (“a Volkswagen Type II Bus from 1969″) Maria and Anton are driving through the Pan American highway from Tijuana, Mexico to Ushuaia, Argentina to “transform the difficult reality of Latin American children into a fascinating adventure you will...
Ghana: 1975 Work Song From Ghana postal workers
Listen to a unique 1975 song from Ghana: “The song in question which is accompanied by melodic whistling is simply called “the work song”. It was created by postal workers at the University of Ghana in 1975.”
Trinidad and Tobago: Cruz de Mayo
Guanaguanare blogs about this year's Cruz de Mayo celebrations in Trinidad.
Pakistan: Remembering The Golden Era Of Pop Music
Spring Of Autumn reminisces about the golden era of Pakistan pop music, which was the late 80's and the early 90's.
Taiwan: A Song for Those Pro-Nuclear Power Legislators
Political vlogger 廖小貓(Kitty Liao) made a music video with the names of the legislators who passed the additional budget of the 4th Nuclear Power Plant that is under construction. In the lyrics, Liao asserts: “Remember these legislators who poison Taiwanese people, and don't vote for them!”
Benin: Meet Benin's Rising Star
Chale writes about the rising star of Benin's music: “Kiinzah is certainly one of the rising stars in the African music scene. We discovered the Benin singer recently through a Gabonese Youtube channel, that alone signifies how she's crossed over her country's borders and is making a mark on the...
Lebanon: Lady Gaga's Latest Album Sparks A Rumor
Lady Gaga's latest album, Born This Way, stirred a small storm on Lebanese social networks. An article published by the Sun on June 4th, 2011, and commented by one of the Los Angeles Time blogs , stated that Lebanese authorities had banned the album. Lebanese fans immediately mobilized against this decision forcing the Sûrete Générale in Lebanon to deny the ban.
Lebanon: Raving about Goran Bregovic's concert
Famous Serbo-Croatian musician and composer Goran Bregovic performed in Lebanon on June 12 during the Beirut Music & Art Festival – BMAF. His performance is hailed by his Lebanese fans as “unbelievable” and “amazing”.
Sao Tome and Principe: Hip Hop to Provoke Thought
Abri os olhos São Tomé (Open your eyes Sao Tome) [pt] is an intervention mixed song with “controversial lyrics” by santomean rapper PekaGBoom. On the blog Nação hip Hop (Hip Hop Nation) [pt], PekaGBoom's message is described as an invitation “to meditate”.
China: History of Red Song
David Bandurski from China Media Project translates in partial an article from Southern Weekend about the background of the recent revival of red song culture in China.
