Africa
On Drums... Stewart Copeland!, BBC Four review - no drummer, no rock'n'rollFriday, 11 January 2019
On Drums was inhabited by a parade of fine-looking young and middle aged multi-ethnic anglophone drummers, all introduced by Stewart Copeland, the American drummer of the Police. In vintage film and contemporary interviews his chosen musicians... Read more... |
The Convert, Young Vic review - Africa's electric cry for justiceSaturday, 15 December 2018
Wow! First, the Black Panther team took cinema by storm; now, they have conquered theatre as well. Or, at least, two of them have. The Convert has been written by actor and playwright Danai Gurira (Okoye), and stars Letitia Wright (Shuri).... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 22 - the autumn's newest global soundsSaturday, 15 September 2018
The latest in Peter Culshaw’s occasional updates in the best of new global music features unreleased tracks from forthcoming autumn releases and re-releases dug up by eccentric crate-diggers. Even more lunatically eclectic than usual we have some... Read more... |
Black Earth Rising, BBC Two review - Blick's new blockbusterTuesday, 11 September 2018
As writer and director, Hugo Blick has brought us two of the twistiest dramas in recent-ish memory (The Shadow Line and The Honourable Woman). Looks like he’s done it again here, if not more so, since the eight-part Black Earth Rising takes as its... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Stella ChiwesheSunday, 09 September 2018
Until now, hearing the extraordinary “Ratidzo” was all-but impossible. The original single is rare and has not been reissued before. It begins with a plaintive whistle which sets the scene for a hypnotic and beautiful rotating pattern of single... Read more... |
WOMAD 2, Charlton Park review - rainbows and rumbaThursday, 02 August 2018
In the days around WOMAD there have been plenty of media about how the “hostile environment” towards migrants has created all sorts of problems for artists attempting to get here from around the world. Certainly, we are being denied some of the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Kamal KeilaSunday, 15 July 2018
Music from Sudan is overshadowed by the country’s recent history. At the end of June 1989, Colonel Omar al-Bashir assumed control and it became a one-party state. Shariah law was introduced. Osama Bin Laden was resident in capital city Khartoum from... Read more... |
CD: AMMAR 808 - Maghreb UnitedMonday, 11 June 2018
Hot in the burning footsteps of Bargou 08, last year’s subtle but daring mix of traditional Tunisian sounds and electronic beats and textures, Sofyann Ben Youssef launches a new project under the name of AMMAR 808, Maghreb United. There is a great... Read more... |
Sancho: An Act of Remembrance, Wilton's Music Hall review - pure entertainmentFriday, 08 June 2018
One space, one person, one story, one voice – the monologue is theatre distilled, the purest form of entertainment. On a stage of packing boxes and boards, over the course of just over an hour, Paterson Joseph relays and plays the life of... Read more... |
Africa: A Journey Into Music, BBC Four review - too little, too late?Saturday, 02 June 2018
BBC Four is the TV music equivalent of those oldsters music mags like Q and Mojo. Have there been five, or is it six, documentaries about Queen on the channel? You can sense the commissioners feeling with this new series they have now done... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: African Scream Contest 2Sunday, 20 May 2018
African Scream Contest 2 opens with a burst of distorted guitar suggesting a parallel-world response to The Chambers Brothers’ “Time Has Come Today”. Then, the song beds in and a James Brown groove plays off against spindly lead-guitar lines also... Read more... |
Taryn Simon: An Occupation of Loss, Islington Green review - divine lamentationTuesday, 24 April 2018
What a superb location for a performance! The flats on the north-east corner of Islington Green back onto a crummy atrium from which a staircase leads down to a vaulted, concrete pit (pictured below). A cross between a car park and a bull ring, or a... Read more... |
