Israel's Groove Scene

In line with the recent protests in Iran, French daily La Libération published an article earlier this month detailing the continued censorship of music recorded before the revolution of 1979, during the reign of the Shah. Such is the music by the likes of Gougoush, Ramesh, Zia, Shahram, Shabpareh or Mohammad Nouri that to this day, along with the usual pop music suspects from the Western hemisphere, remains forbidden.

Ever since the revolution, all [...]

We are officially back from a short holiday hiatus and are slowly but surely ready for a new year rich in musical discoveries from around the globe. To start things off in a more mellow 'back to work' kind of way we decided to point you to the young, London-based Kokoroko Afrobeat Collective, an 8-piece combo of young jazz musicians led by trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey. In their compositions, the band (composed of Maurice-Grey, Cassie Kinoshi (saxophone), [...]

Only a few more days to go and 2017 is history as we eagerly await the joy and the pain and most importantly the music that 2018 has in store for us. But before we make the jump, we would like to highlight one more essential release by ways of Genevan-based imprint WRWTFWW (We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want) Records and NYC's Palto Flats.

Earlier this year, the two collaborated on a highly sought-after reissue of Midori Takada's ambient holy grail LP "[...]

Another weekend in sight and the holiday season is officially upon us... So here's us wishing you all happy and peaceful holidays!

That being said, we would like to show our appreciation by presenting you with this the one-hour clip of Gili Yalo's blazing live performance from this year's Trans Musicales festival, which took place earlier this month in Rennes, France. And what a show it was!

If you didn't know, Gili Yalo just released his self-entitled debut [...]

As the days grow shorter and this year draws to a close, we find ourselves thoroughly enjoying the distinctly introspective listening experience that acclaimed Malian-born chanteuse Fatoumata Diawara's astonishing 2011 debut album "Fatou" (World Circuit Records) has to offer, her only solo full-length to date. Success was quick to follow, as Diawara toured with Damon Albarn's Africa Express supergroup, performed alongside Paul McCartney in London, collaborated [...]

15 years in the making, 2017 has been quite the year for Danish sample gods Den Sorte Skole. After laying the groundwork at the tail end of 2015 with the release of their acclaimed longplayer "Indians & Cowboys" and subsequently reeling in a Danish Grammy, the duo delivered a mind-melting performance on the Roskilde Orange Stage in front of 60,000 people last summer and were just nominated to receive the 2018 Steppeulven Danish Critic's Award as 'Live Band Of [...]

Shantel and Jewish Monkeys' frontman Josef Reich go way back. It may or may not come as a surprise then, that Shantel took matters into his own to hands to deliver a feverish remix of the band's single "Fever" off their latest album "High Words", just days before the Jewish Monkeys return the love and open for Shantel at four shows in Austria and Germany, starting this week. Check below for all four dates.

In any case, and because we want to share a bit of [...]

Frankfurt's one and only 'disko partizani Shantel is currently touring Europe with his famed Bucovina Club Orkestar to celebrate "Shantology - 30 Years of Club Guerilla".

Supporting him at the last four upcoming shows in Austria and Germany are non other than our very own Jewish Monkeys:

December 14, (AT) Vienna, WUK
December 15, (AT) Innsbruck, Treibhaus
December 16, (D) Munich, Muffathalle
December 17, (D) Frankfurt, Batschkapp

It's a family affair!

Tel Aviv is on the rise, especially when it comes to its formidable electronic music scene with acts the likes of Red Axes (Garzen Records) or re-issue labels such as Fortuna Records paving the way. Earlier this year, the previously unheralded Tel Aviv-based producer Alek Lee (aka Ori Kenneth), who coincidentally also directed Malox's "Walk Like an Egyptian" video, rightfully gathered sudden worldwide recognition for his highly infectious "Sfarot" EP.

Set to [...]

Black Friday will be our downfall, that is unless we take this and every other day to celebrate and support new, upcoming and already existing releases by artists, who, let's be honest, would for the most part not be able to do what they do, without some financial backing. That being said, today marks the much-awaited release of Tel Aviv-based and Ethiopia-born artist Gili Yalo's debut solo LP on the equally promising new imprint Dead Sea Recordings.

We warned [...]

In case you didn't know, this amazing find was the first cassette tape that got Brian Shimkovitz's infamous Awesome Tapes From Africa imprint rolling as well as the blog's inaugural post back in 2011. Originally released in Ghana in 1994, Ata Kak's "Obaa Sima" and its unique Afrodisco aesthetic went more or less unheard of for a rough 21 years. Of the 50 tapes produced at the time, only three actually sold, which in no way does this infectious, funkified [...]

Please excuse a short excourse, but this seems to be just the right place and time: We recently stumbled upon a stunning trailer, shared by the Instruments for Africa organisation for "cultural preservation, education and reconciliation in Mali". The clip features several glimpses of different Malian cultural rites and festivities, all accompanied by bold colours, chants and rhythms and is introduced with a quote by Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté, [...]