Africa
DVD/Blu-ray: Daughters of the DustTuesday, 04 July 2017
Julie Dash’s remarkable 1991 film tells the story of the Peazant family, the descendants of freed slaves who live on the Georgia Sea Islands, an isolated community on the South-Eastern seaboard of the USA, more in touch with African traditions than... Read more... |
Sudan: The Last of the Rhinos, BBC Two review - requiem for disappearing wildlifeThursday, 29 June 2017
“The northern white rhinos are just a symbol of what we do to the natural world,” as one of the contributors to this haunting documentary put it. “We witness them disappearing in front of our eyes.” The programme ended with names of endangered... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Pop MakossaSunday, 11 June 2017
In Summer 1973, Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” peaked at 35 on the American charts. Originally the A-side of a France-only single issued in 1972, the song had been discovered by New York DJ David Mancusso. After Mancusso repeatedly played it, “Soul... Read more... |
CD: Vieux Farka Touré - SambaThursday, 25 May 2017
The river of sound from Mali never stops flowing. War in the Sahara and the constant threat of Jihadists haven’t stopped the ceaseless wave of creativity that surges through the West African country.The Malians speak of music giving courage, of song... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 20 – from Mali to São PauloMonday, 01 May 2017
New global sounds this month include tracks from the scintillating new album from Malian diva Oumou Sangaré, electro-Sufi grooves, Afro-folk from Koral Society, the soundtrack from They Will Have to Kill Us First (about the struggle of... Read more... |
CD: Kasai Allstars & Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste - Around FélicitéFriday, 21 April 2017
This is a bit of a curiosity. Kasai Allstars were bought to our attention by producer Vincent Kenis almost a decade ago, after he’d had great success with those masters of the amplified thumb piano cacophony, Konono 1. Though the Allstars also have... Read more... |
Mulatu Astatke, Jazz CaféSaturday, 08 April 2017
Mulatu Astatke has carved out a particular niche within music. He is a one-off purveyor of what Brian Eno called “jazz from another planet”, smoky, mysterious and playful. He’s about the only artist you could describe as both transcendent and sleazy... Read more... |
CD: King Ayisoba - 1000 Can DieSunday, 02 April 2017
Because so many African albums that get an international release feature tastefully neutered acoustic guitar, pretty scatterings of kora notes, and lyrics centred on some imagined ideal Africa, it is a blessed relief to hear something as punchy,... Read more... |
CD: Tamikrest - KidalWednesday, 08 March 2017
Tamikrest’s fourth album is well-presented, good enough, but a little hamstrung by what have become the clichés of the modern Touareg genre: the lilting rhythms of a camel cruising slowly across the dunes, intertwined guitars that smoothly swirl... Read more... |
Roots, BBC FourThursday, 23 February 2017
Those of us who saw the first, 1977 TV adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots in our teens still remember the shock and horror at its handling of a subject about which we knew little, American slavery. We know a lot more now, but the visceral reaction to... Read more... |
CD: Joel Culpepper - TortoiseWednesday, 08 February 2017
For a young singer like Joel Culpepper, blessed with a fine set of vocal chords and remarkable skill in using them, there is a wellspring of black singing tradition to draw from – from gospel and blues through to soul and contemporary R&B. There... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 17Saturday, 21 January 2017
Another peripatetic global music update from theartsdesk's Peter Culshaw, hosted by Music Box Radio. This edition features forthcoming album releases from hard salsa revivalists La Mambanegra, a remix from heroic desert rockers Tinariwen and electro... Read more... |
