Stories about Music from March, 2008
Caucasus: Eurovision Song Contest Fever… and Politics
It might be considered a little cheesy, but the South Caucasus takes participation in the annual Eurovision song contest very seriously indeed. Not only does the competition represent the region moving closer to Europe, but given that this year has proven to be a political turbulent one it might also provide people here with a welcome break from rigged votes and post-election unrest.
Haiti, Jamaica: Haitian Reggae
“Bigga Haitian hails from a ‘fiery land,’ often characterized with turmoil. The general decline of political ‘correctness’ in Haiti sometimes seems to be so tragic, that all good news associated with the country is refreshing”: YardFlex.com blogs about the latest Haitian musical sensation.
Armenia: Politics & Eurovision
Spectacular Self-Indulgence reports that the venue for yesterday's final to select Armenia's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest was changed because of the current state of emergency in the country. The blog is furious, but more about interfering with a Eurovision final than the political situation.
Jamaica: Homophobia
“What’s at the crux of such bigotry? Our homophobia can be so extreme that a man who has only one woman is suspect. And there in lies the subtext, that our Homophobia is not really homophobia at all but a crisis in manliness”: Marlon James dissects the issue of homophobia...
Lithuania: Music Censorship?
Babel in Vilnius reports that “music censorship in Lithuania is very lax.”
Japan: American enka singer makes waves
The first ever American-born enka singer, Jero, has become the talk of the Japanese blogosphere the past weeks as he made his debut with the single “Umiyuki (Ocean Snow)”. The single came in fourth on the Oricon music chart, setting a record in the enka as well as Top 10...
Ukraine, UK: More on Olena Franchuk's New House
Ukrainiana writes about the new owner of “Britain’s highest priced mansion”: ex-president Kuchma's daughter Olena Franchuk.
China: Bjork Declares Independence for Tibet?
Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist confirmed the report that Bjork yelled for Tibet independence in her concert at Shanghai. Adam from Danwei translated bits of discussion at local discussion board.
Iran:Rap music and Iranian mythology
Here you can watch and listen to a fabulous persian rap song by Taham,from Shahnameh.The song talks about Rostam and Sohrab,two mythic figures created 1000 years ago by Ferdowsi.
China: No more free lunch, even at here?
Now the fire has been burned to right outside the door. Is the litigation of movie makers in U.S agasint Xunlei in China a start of a fire that is bound to burn down the pirate paradise, or itself a scheme resulted from the drastic trade conflict of the two powers?
Trinidad & Tobago: “No” to Violent Music
Keith in Trinidad admires the example being set by a young radio DJ who is calling for the local entertainment industry to take a stand against violent music after the recent murder of a schoolboy by one of his classmates.