Sometimes it's nice to follow up on musical projects from around the world, we've already introduced to you. Take London/Kenyan Owiny Sigoma Band for instance, who released their third longplayer "Nyanza" last year in August via Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings imprint along with a trailer, previewing the accompanying documentary to the project.
Well, as you may have guessed, the 20-minute documentary was released over a year ago and we just realized, we never actually got around to watching it. What's more, band member and virtuose Luo musician Charles Owoko sadly passed away, shortly before this documentary was released.
The film shows UK band members Louis (bass) and Jesse Hackett (vox/keys) as well as their school friend Tom Skinner (drums) travel to the village of Kisumu in Kenya for the first time ever, to record their third album and visit the home of Joseph Nyamungu (nyatiti) and the late Charles Owoko (nyidongue) in a touching return to the birthplace of Luo music.
AUTHOR: Lev Nordstrom
With temperatures in the Eastern and parts of the Western Hemisphere leaning towards zero these days, who wouldn't want to be a polar bear?!
Just the time for us to return to the vaults and dig up this frosty little gem for you.
Let us fill in the blanks: Back in 2014, the enigmatic artist still known as Joe Fleisch (front-runner of the Jewish Monkeys under his real name Jossi Reich) teamed up with budding French pop arrival Petite Meller, an enticing [...]
November 15th marked Palestinian Independence Day, as proclaimed by Yasser Arafat in 1988. And although this day may have slipped under your radar, MALOX decided to issue a musical statement by premiering the official music video to the title track of their third studio album "Gaza Trip" on this day.
The video features a rare collaboration between two Israeli musicians, aka MALOX, and Palestinian parkour athletes 3run Gaza. Despite ongoing political [...]
"These guys are just like their lyrics: They're hard to nail down, it's as if music somehow happened to them.” – German weekly Die ZEIT
The less we know about something the more curious we get. When it comes to this quartet, hailing from the municipality of Oberammergau, picturesquely situated in the Bavarian Alps, a simple truth proves valid yet again.
Kofelgschroa are four craftsmen and artists, who have been going against the grain for the past eight [...]
If it's answers you are looking for, well, keep on looking. Because providing definite answers to life's most existential questions would be pretentious to say the least and that is not what Istanbul's free-spirited, borderline nihilist, progressive rock outfit Nihil Piraye is all about. The seven-piece ensemble would much rather ask questions, serve up food for thought and do its musical thing.
If we may diverge into existential nihilism for a moment, being [...]
Adorcism in the sociology of religion is defined by Jean-Michel Oughourlian as a "voluntary, desired, and curative possession" and is thus, in a sense, the polar opposite to exorcism. "It consists of practices and attitudes aimed at placating and integrating spiritual entities in a person or place. Unlike exorcism the presence of these entities is regarded as healing, empowering or beneficial. They are not considered necessarily negative, even if they appear [...]
Bringing a potent, technocentric mix of all things 'Eastern' to the table are Parisian tandem Guido Minisky and Hervé Carvalho, alias Acid Arab. The two DJs have fallen deeply in love with the soundscapes of North Africa, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Ethiopia or even Mumbai, blending their finds with the club sounds they know best to create havoc on dancefloors across the globe:
“We are fascinated by eastern music and its codes, such as complex rhythmic [...]
Wow, what a trip! Fresh off the heels of their recent China Tour, with a string of shows in Beijing, Guizhou, Guangzhou and finally Shenzhen (as part of the OCT-LOFT Jazz Festival), MALOX just dropped a new 20-minute reminder of all the additional fun they had along the way. Watch the video below to see them explore a raucously wild sax 'n' drums face-off with the local Red Scarf crew, during a live improv session at Shenzhen's Old Heaven Book Store, [...]
Over the course of his amazing career, Grammy-nominated Israeli bass player and master producer Yossi Fine has worked with numerous greats the likes of David Bowie, Lou Reed, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Vieux Farka Toure and many more, while producing over 40 albums, some of which went on to receive multiple gold and platinum certifications.
His latest project sees him join forces with acclaimed Israeli percussionist Ben Aylon, aka One Man Tribe, who has [...]
West Coast jazz mavericks The Pyramids and their mesmerizing frontman Idris Ackamoor will be playing 16 gigs across Europe this November. Following an almost 30-year hiatus and facing a growing demand for their inspirational output by vinyl lovers and jazz fans around the globe, the group reunited and signed to German label Disko B, where they released their new "Otherworldly" LP in 2012, as well as three albums from their super rare back catalogue. Having [...]
Hot on the heels of his latest solo album "6am" Tel Aviv musical mastermind Kutiman uploads yet another sonic installment, taking his British Council supported #mixthecity series to the German port city of Hamburg.
His latest composition features an upbeat groove collage of the city's finest sights and sounds, with local artists the likes of bass player Hervé Jeanne, Elbtonal Percussion, cellist Saerom Park of Ensemble Resonanz, violinist Angelika Bachmann [...]
Yes, we're late, but never too late to share some love...
For the past days, Cologne has been host to the first ever Urban Africa Festival, a hub for urban culture and a gathering of lifestyles, artists and artistic forms of expression, stemming from several African metropolises. Hosted by none other than the prolific rapper/director Wanlov the Kubolor (hailing from Ghana and part of the notorious FOKN BOIS) the festival features a special lineup, [...]
Stunning, Ukrainian born Israeli singer/songwriter Marina Maximilian is quite the provocative type. And we mean that in a positive sense. Her art tends to explore the extremes and so it comes as no surprise that she teamed up with APE Records' prodigious Tamir Muskat to produce her latest single "My Boy", a rhythm-driven, pulsating pop ballad that is equally appealing to the eye.
"Tamir's crazy beat painted a scene in my head, some mysterious environment [...]