RSS feedArchive for June, 2009
Manu Dibango withdraws from Glastonbury concert
Posted on June 25th, 2009 in Songlines Blog by Songlines.
Cameroonian sax man Manu Dibango has had to pull out of his Glastonbury gig due to unforeseen circumstances. Dibango had been scheduled to play on the JazzWorld stage at 9pm on Sunday June 28.
His concert slot will be filled by Malian blues duo Amadou & Mariam who are also playing a gig earlier in the day at the Pyramid Stage.
Songlines Exclusive: listen to the new Tinariwen album in advance of the UK release date
Posted on June 22nd, 2009 in Songlines Blog by Songlines.
The fourth album from Mali’s Touareg blues rockers Tinariwen – Imidiwan:Companions – is released on Independiente on June 29. But you can hear the whole album right now exclusively through Songlines by following the link below.
With a rock’n’roll backstory to put most to shame, Tinariwen’s founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib discovered the electric guitar and the sounds of American and British rock’n’roll in the Libyan training camps Colonel Gaddafi set up to train Touareg tribesmen fighting against the central government in Mali in the 90s.
Tinariwen eventually became an important part of the Touareg rebellion, playing to the fighters before they went into battle. Their rolling desert blues with raw guitar licks found a following in the global world music scene and their popularity has since spilled out into the mainstream, where they are being championing by the likes of Radiohead and Bono and supporting the Rolling Stones in concert.
Over recent years, the chord linking US rock’n’roll back through the blues to West African traditional music has become increasingly visible, thanks to Western collaborators like Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal and Robert Plant. What Tinariwen have done so well is to take up that link from the other side and create a fantastic fusion of the two estranged traditions that is bringing great Malian rock’n’roll to the US, the UK and the world.
Hear the new Tinariwen album Imidiwan:Companions now exclusively through Songlines:
http://soundcloud.com/songlines/sets/tinariwen-imidiwan-companions
Free Download
The Guardian is offering a free download of the track ‘Lulla’ from the new album:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/audio/2009/jun/11/tinariwen-lulla-download
Feel the summer heat at Blaze festival in and around the Barbican in London
Posted on June 14th, 2009 in World Music by Songlines.
CREATE 09 brings together arts, music and culture in the five host boroughs of the London 2012 Olympics. It is an umbrella for a host of festivals, live music events and community street parties happening across Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest boroughs.
Part of the festivities, that will run each summer towards the Olympics, is a new summer music and dance series by the Barbican called Blaze. Kicking off on June 19, Blaze takes place both at the Barbican and out in the leafy surroundings of Paradise Gardens in Victoria Park and the cool atmosphere of Cargo in London’s east end.
Top world music names on this summer’s bill include tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussein, Cuban legends Orquesta Aragón and Los Van Van, veteran Argentine tangueros Café de los Maestros, flamenco songstress Carmen Linares and Balkan brass titans Boban Markovic and Goran Bregovic.
July 2009 issue of Songlines (#61) is on sale in the UK from June 12
Posted on June 11th, 2009 in Songlines Blog by Songlines.
The July 2009 issue of Songlines is on sale in the UK from June 12 and includes our regular Top of the World CD with ten tracks from the finest new releases from around the planet, plus a bonus free CD, World Music from Catalonia, showcasing the musical creativity of the region.
The Top of the World CD includes tracks from the drummer behind Afro-beat, Tony Allen; klezmer innovators Oi Va Voi; experimental US string quartet Kronos Quartet; Cape Verdean singer Lura; and Chinese-Kazakh alt-country from Mamer. There’s also a selection of five tracks selected by Underworld’s Karl Hyde.
The main editorial features include:
• Baaba Maal – Senegal’s singer and cultural ambassador returns after an eight year recording break.
• Café de los Maestros – Oscar-winner Gustavo Santaolalla’s ambitious project bringing together Argentina’s original tango masters.
• Mamane Barka – The one-man crusade to protect Niger’s biram instrument from extinction.
• The Kalevala – Simon Broughton travels around the Russian/Finnish border in search of a legend.
• Lollywood – We look back at the golden age of Pakistan’s film industry and the music it spawned.
• WOMAD Abu Dhabi – Special news report from the first WOMAD festival in the United Arab Emirates.
• Sounding Out Marrakech – all the best places to see and hear music in the legendary Moroccan city.
• Beginner’s Guide to world dance pioneers Transglobal Underground.
• Postcard from Blanchisseuse, Trinidad.
• Jewish Cultural Festival, Krakow.
• Backpage from Shanghai, China.
• My World – Underworld’s Karl Hyde.
• News, including the summer’s musical highlights across London.
• Reviews of the latest CD, DVD and World Cinema releases.
