rescuing musical virtue in distress.
I cover so much contemporary, western music on this site that it is easy to forget that culturally, as well as, geographically, the world is still a very big and diverse place. It is music such as Moon Rituals which makes for the perfect reminder of such a fact. For every chart-seeking pop star with... Continue Reading →
Not all music is made to satisfy the more everyday urges. Yes, we all like an uplifting tune whilst we get ready to go out on a Friday night, a catchy singalong on the jukebox at the bar or a rousing anthem to help us let off steam but as musical iceberg analogies go, that... Continue Reading →
I was, for a long time, concerned about the state of music. Not sonically speaking but that in these darkening and divided times it had lost its true voice. After all rock ’n’ roll, punk, hip-hop, grunge and most other important musical scenes grew out of disenchantment and frustration and if the state of the... Continue Reading →
Reviewing music from the ‘World Music’ category is difficult. You’re challenged by fact that the lyrics to the songs are sung in a language other than English and therefore you lose the chance to write about the words and the stories within these songs. But, as a result, you’re challenged to listen to the music... Continue Reading →
We hear so much about World Music these days, a phrase so broad that it borders on meaningless, just a lazy way of labelling something with a more culturally specific name, be it Balkan folk, Afrobeat or groovesome Latin Salsa. To really qualify for the term surely you would have to be making music which... Continue Reading →
There may be folky, western vibes at the heart of Refugee, but it revels in sonic ideas garnered from across the globe, with a particular love for the sounds of south-east Asia, the tabla drums and flitting flutes adding exotic balance to the more familiar instrumentation. And although I don’t really like the term World... Continue Reading →
Writing about a song that is being sung in a language other than my own has both disadvantages and advantages. On the down side, without that direct lyrical communication the song's narrative and meaning is going to pass me by. But this also leads to the big plus point, that if I don’t have the... Continue Reading →
Some music fits neatly into custom built, generic boxes and there is nothing wrong with that. But fad and fashions come and go, tastes change, music moves on and I find the music which survives, which continues to be relevant, which may even one day be regarded as classic is that which seems to be... Continue Reading →
There are many reasons to cover other peoples songs and in my opinion most of them are not really very honest. I know that you can make an argument for tradition and wanting to honour your favourite songs but for my money, unless you can bring something new to it then all you are doing... Continue Reading →