RSS feedArchive for July, 2009
Andy Kershaw returns with an exclusive Songlines playlist
Posted on July 22nd, 2009 in Recent Posts by Songlines.
Andy Kershaw has put together a special playlist for the CD on the next issue of Songlines (#62). Not content with picking tracks from currently available CDs, he wanted to include some unavailable treasures. So we have Ali Farka Touré, the great Malian guitarist and singer, recorded in Kershaw’s kitchen on his first visit to London in 1987. We have an unreleased track by Touareg rockers Tinariwen and a hard to find calypso by Grynner from Barbados.
In addition, there’s a track from the late Ernie Payne, who supported Robert Plant at concerts organised by Kershaw on the Isle of Man in 2006, and music from the extraordinary Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili, still to make their UK debut. The selection clearly shows Kershaw’s ear for distinctive music.
Andy Kershaw says:
“I’d like to thank Songlines readers and writers for their support and messages of goodwill over the last couple of years. I’ve now rediscovered my enthusiasm, energy and curiosity for everything, particularly music. And I’ve never been in such unbeatable physical and emotional shape – I’m raring to get back to doing radio. It’s been a pleasure to put together for Songlines this little selection of rarities. I would like to thank all the artists and labels for kindly making these tracks available.”
Kershaw has been one of the pioneers and principal promoters of world music in Britain over 24 years, bringing an enthusiastic audience to his shows on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 3. He’s currently writing No Off Switch (Serpent’s Tail), an autobiography about his life in music and adventures as a foreign correspondent around the world.
Kershaw’s playlist in detail:
1. Ali Farka Touré: ‘Kadi Kadi’. A live recording in Kershaw’s kitchen in 1987. “It was like a social occasion and his UK media launch,” recounts Kershaw. “Ali sat on his amp and played his black electric guitar in the kitchen of my one-bedroom flat and I ran a cassette on my trusty Sony Walkman Professional. It’s a wonderful record of his first visit to the UK.” Courtesy of Dean Craven at Radio 3, who rediscovered the archived recording.
2. Grynner: ‘Get Out de Way’. This won Grynner the Calypso Monarch title in the Barbados Crop Over festival in 1990. “I adore the line: ‘The ugly man is the only man whose music we want to hear’,” says Kershaw. “Let’s say Grynner, like me, is not classically handsome, so it’s like a mission statement. For both of us.” Courtesy of Eddy Grant’s Ice Records.
3. Tinariwen: ‘Amous Idjraout Assouf d’Alwa’. An unreleased song by the wonderful Touareg rockers Tinariwen. “There’s a sense of righteousness and menace about them like The Clash,” says Kershaw. This song of nostalgia and sadness was recorded in the sessions for Aman Iman – made available thanks to Independiente and Andy Morgan.
4. Ernie Payne: ‘Curse of Hamm’. Kershaw was knocked out when he first heard the CD Coercion Street by American singer Ernie Payne and sent it to Robert Plant. He liked it so much he asked Payne to support him in concert on the Isle of Man and in the US. Sadly Payne died in 2007. Courtesy of Jan Mittendorp and Black & Tan Records.
5. Staff Benda Bilili: ‘Marguerite’. From Congo, Staff Benda Bilili are a group of musicians disabled by polio who get about in customised wheelchairs and live in the grounds of Kinshasa Zoo. Their music is warm-hearted and glorious. They make their UK debut at London’s Barbican on November 10. Courtesy of Crammed Discs.
There is also an excerpt from another of Kershaw’s selections, John Martyn’s ‘Johnny Too Bad’, on next issue’s Songlines podcast, available through iTunes from July 23. Courtesy of Island Records.
The August/September issue of Songlines (#62) will be on sale in the UK from July 24. Excerpts from each track can be heard on the Songlines interactive sampler at http://www.songlines.co.uk/interactive/062
WOMAD 2009 on July 24-26
Posted on July 22nd, 2009 in News by Songlines.
WOMAD Festival returns to Charlton Park, near Malmesbury in a leafy corner of Wiltshire on July 24-26 with a line-up of the biggest names in world music today.
Alongside such eclectic delights as the Taste the World tent where artists turn their hand to cooking the world’s cuisines, the Drum and Dance tent with yoga to salsa sessions and the luxurious WOMAD spa and cocktail bar, there is a one-off show from WOMAD co-founder Peter Gabriel and music from Mercury Music Prize-nominated Rachel Unthank & the Winterset, Aboriginal Australian collective the Black Arm Band, Ethiopiques with golden era legend Mahmoud Ahmed, Alèmayèhu Eshèté and Gétatchèw Mèkurya, Malian singer-songwriters Oumou Sangaré and Rokia Traoré, US jazzman Roy Ayers, Senegalese legend Youssou N’Dour et le Super Etoile de Dakar, Argentine tanguero Melingo and old time Cuban guajiro Eliades Ochoa.
The Songlines Tent
As usual, Songlines will be at the festival with subscriptions, CDs and exclusive artist signings, so do come and find us.
www.womad.org
Mexican giants Café Tacuba play 20:20 to mark 20 years
Posted on July 12th, 2009 in News by Songlines.
Mexico’s legendary band Café Tacuba is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. This veritable institution of the Latino music scene has decided to mark the occasion with 20 concerts in 20 cities across the world.
Having played in capitals across the Americas, they are bringing their rock, ska and Mexican folk sounds to London for only the third time for a concert on July 23 at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town. It will however, be the second visit this year from lead singer Rubán Albarrán, who took part in the Spanish Bombs event at the Barbican in April in homage to the Clash.
The tour ends on July 25 at Sala Razzmatazz in Barcelona, Spain.
