The April/May 2009 issue of Songlines (#59)
Posted on March 16th, 2009 in Songlines News.
The April/May 2009 issue of Songlines is on sale in the UK from March 20. In this special ‘green’ issue we’ve moved away from plastic and are now using recycled card for our CD covermount; the inside pages are now also printed on 100% recycled post-consumer waste. On top of this, we’ve started offsetting all the carbon emissions of our journalists travelling by plane to cover stories, and have several environmentally-themed articles throughout the issue.
The free CD that comes with the April/May 2009 issue includes the funkiest, most up-to-date sounds from around the planet. Tracks include new music from Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival diva Calypso Rose; classic Congolese soukous and rumba from Ry-Co Jazz; alcohol-fuelled Balkan brass from Goran Bregovic; and the hottest band in world music – and the cover stars – Staff Benda Bilili. As well as these ten tracks, there’s a selection of five Artic-themed tunes from David Buckland, director of cultural climate awareness project Cape Farewell.
The main editorial features include:
• Staff Benda Bilili – the disabled Kinshasa street musicians whose story is incredible. But it’s their music that speaks loudest.
• The Songlines Music Awards – all the nominations for our very own inaugural awards ceremony.
• Slow Music – you’ve heard of the Slow Food movement; now taste the music.
• Calypso Rose – T&T’s calypso superstar talks to Songlines on the eve of her first international release.
• Instruments and Wood – how demand for instruments is putting pressure on international wood stocks, and what’s being done about it.
• Summer Schools – insider accounts of two of the best places to unwind and learn a musical instrument this summer: WOMAD Summer School in England and Labyrinth in Crete.
• Archive Recordings – the vital role sound archives have to play in shaping our communities.
• Sounding Out Cairo – all the best places to see and hear music in the Egyptian capital.
• Festival Profile – Mawazine Festival, Rabat, Morocco.
• Postcard from Addis Ababa.
• Backpage from Jaipur, India.
• Afghan Star – how one reality TV show is changing the face of Afghan music.
• My World – Cape Farewell’s cultured environmentalist, David Buckland.
• News, including music maestro AR Rahman winning two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire, plus the Czech Republic’s Eurovision rap entry.
• Pages from the latest CD, DVD and World Cinema reviews.