Tour Be Or Not Tour Be?

Established back in 2006, the 20-something-piece Berlin-based Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra (AMEO) is definitely a musical force to be reckoned with. Unlike your average large ensemble, AMEO has created a whole new and genre-bending musical language that quite literally "dwarfs anything heretofore experienced" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). With a penchant for experimentation this group of self-organized, like-minded and in-demand musicians, hailing from various [...]

Afghanistan suffered immensely under the Taliban regime and subsequent insurgencies, which took their toll on the country's rich cultural diversity and musical traditions. Music was forbidden under Taliban rule, but survived at the hands of master musicians, who continue to pass along their invaluable knowledge to younger generations.

One such project is "Safar" (meaning journey) that marks a continued musical exchange between the University of Music FRANZ [...]

Today marks the official release day of "High Words", album number two by the crowd-pleasing Jewish Monkeys and well, what more can we say than: we are such proud parents!

Never ones to shy away from giving, this band of middle-aged crooners, psychoanalysts and self-proclaimed womanizers picked this day to air the brand new music video to their album track "Pupik". The clip tells a tale of love in the time of social networks, beautifully brought to life by [...]

Hold onto your seats everyone as the Jewish Monkeys are about to officially drop album number two tomorrow! That's right, "High Words" is just around the bend and you can already stream/download the masterpiece in full via Bandcamp. Yes, word on the streets rings true as the mischievous bunch is back with a Yiddish vengeance that is very much contagious.

Among the latest mishpoche to have caught the proverbial Fever is Ukrainian-born/Berlin-based all-rounder* [...]

With only a week to go before their highly anticipated sophomore album's official release, the Jewish Monkeys are revving up the promo engine or as The Jerusalem Post called it, Monkeying Around. In a recent interview with Ariel Dominique Hendelman of the leading Israeli English newspaper, Ran Bagno (accordion) and Gael Zaidner (vocals) shared their thoughts on the band, talked about a momentous performance in front of Syrian refugees and hinted at the fact [...]

"Rough Romanian Soul" is the title to their debut album and that is exactly what the Berlin-based quartet Zmei3 formed around two Romanian immigrants delivers. Classically trained vocalist Paula Turcas and band leader Mihai Victor Iliescu on guitar are joined by master vibraphonist Oli Bott and the full sound of double bass player Arnulf Ballhorn as the group conjures up a powerful blend of urban music inspired by its rural Romanian heritage. Recorded live [...]

Sad news reached us last week, as an obituary page in the New York Times informed us of Louis Sarno's passing. Aged 62, the New Jersey-born Sarno had devoted himself to studying and most importantly preserving the music of the Bayaka, a pygmy tribe in the Central African Republic. Sarno spent nearly half of his life with the tribe, fully immersing himself in their culture, their language and most notably their music, which is what drew him there in the first [...]

Drawn in at first by the vibrant artwork, young singer and multi-instrumentalist Derya Yıldırım's voice on this Anatolian psych-pop sensation's debut EP literally struck us like a lightning bolt. Which brings us to the rest of this 'outernational' five-piece, alias Grup Şimşek (Turkish transl. 'lightning'), composed of British drummer Greta Eacott (G-Bop Orchestra / One-Take Records) as well as three quarters of the respectable Orchestre du Montplaisant [...]

Back in 2011, Tunisia played a significant role in the uprising now known as the Arab Spring with its own revolution, which resulted in the ousting of then president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and lead to the implementation of a democratic parliamentary system. Around the same time, Tunisian singer/songwriter Emel Mathlouthi landed a viral hit with her powerful song "Kelmti Horra" (Arabic transl. 'my word is free'), which went on to become an anthem of sorts [...]

Brace yourselves for acclaimed Malian chanteuse and tireless women's rights activist Oumou Sangaré's brand new album "Mogoya", which translates to "human relations" and releases May 19th on No Format. "Mogoya" is her first musical offering since her 2009 album "Sera". Last week Sangaré joined the Paris-based Radio Nova crew to perform two songs off her forthcoming album. Watch the live performance here, which included the lead single "Yere Faga", [...]

March Madness! Hot on the heels of their recent, raucous tour of 'Doitschland', which capped off with a sold-out show in their hometown of Frankfurt, the Jewish Monkeys continue to unleash new heat off their forthcoming sophomore full-length "High Words", to be released officially next month on April 28th!

Following the release of the first heated album preview "Fever" they now premier the companion video to the album's title track, filmed at the same [...]

Available as of today is a different project of sorts, different in the sense of what we usually post on here and different in the literal sense, as in 'I am not sure I have ever heard anything quite like this before'. Hailing from Umlazi, Durban, South African rapper Simiso Zwane, aka Okmalumkoolkat, puts forth his second "Holy Oxygen" instalment on Vienna-based left-field electronic imprint Affine Records, featuring relentless and forward-thinking production [...]