Stories about music and the musicians who make it
For the ECONOMIST: “EVERYDAY Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone”, a recent film by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, is a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Fishbone, a funk, ska, metal, punk and reggae band from Los Angeles. They rose to fame in the late 1980s but have spent the past two decades in obscurity, bouncing from one [...]
For the ECONOMIST: IT IS easy to understand why soul music is enjoying a revival. Faced with cuts in social spending and a sluggish economy, listeners in Britain may find solace in Adele’s throaty songs of heartache. Two wars, a recession and rising education costs in America have been more than enough to get people [...]
In the crowd at a recent Dum Dum Girls show at the Islington Academy in North London was an unexpected number of over-40 male fans.
For the NEW YORK TIMES: After more than three decades of showcasing independent film in Park City, Utah, the Sundance Film Festival will for the first time take place in London under the moniker Sundance London. The festival, which will include screenings of 14 selected films, discussions, Q&As, and musical performances, will take place at [...]
A recent show at London’s Jazz Cafe featuring a high-profile beatboxer and DJ got me thinking about shifting trends in hip hop, and how important good sound quality is.
Audio sources:
Shlomo Live on Jools Holland, from Canal de Joales11
Live footage of QBert and Reeps One @ Jazz Cafe by Droppin’ Science
DJ Shadow from the film “Scratch,” from Cargoplex
For the NEW YORK TIMES: Ninety-piece orchestras, solo artists, conductors, choirs and D.J.’s will gather in London starting on Friday to perform a host of new works that aim to set new parameters for what orchestral music can or should be. Reverb 2012 will host a series of contemporary classical performances from Friday through March [...]
Small, boutique record labels, eager to find new sounds to promote and develop, are showing more interest in artists and bands from Africa and the African diaspora. I spoke to some of these labels for my story at the Economist, but here’s a quick discussion about a few of the musicians working with these labels, along with their music:
For the THE ECONOMIST: ETTA JAMES had a rare voice—one that could convey a lifetime of experience without showing signs of age. Sometimes dusky, with a bit of a growl, it was also confident, powerful and clear. So a song like “At Last”, her signature tune, written in 1941 and recorded by Ms James in [...]
The wide appeal of the music of the Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone, who wrote for spaghetti western films such as “Fistful of Dollars,” Brian de Palma’s “The Untouchables” and hundreds of other films, is evidenced by the wide array of artists who pay homage to him. They range from the producer Danger Mouse, who with [...]
AS THE music industry searches for new voices and talent, entrepreneurs are pinning their hopes on emerging African artists both from the continent and the diaspora. Africa Unsigned is an Amsterdam-based start-up music label founded by Pim Betist that promotes African artists. Under Mr Betist’s watch, Africa Unsigned has invested €525,000 (about $725,000) in helping [...]
