Monday, April 7, 2025 from World Music Central.org
(headline image: Ra di Spina, Alexsandra Ida Mauro and Laura Cuomo) Ra di Spina is a musical project founded by the talented singer and ethnomusicologist… The post Spinning Voices: Ra di Spina Weaves Polyphony into Southern Italian...Monday, April 7, 2025 from World Music Central.org
Zamrock pioneers WITCH return with the single “Queenless King,” the first release from their forthcoming album Sogolo, due June 13 via Partisan Records. The title,… The post Zambia’s WITCH Reignites With “Queenless King” first...Monday, April 7, 2025 from World Music Central.org
Helene Cronin – Maybe New Mexico (self-release, 2025) Helene Cronin’s Maybe New Mexico is her most personal album to date, presenting an intimate, acoustic-driven sound.… The post Helene Cronin’s ‘Maybe New Mexico’: A Roadmap of...Sunday, April 6, 2025 from World Music Central.org
Malian artist Niarela Papou gives his country’s wassulu music an extra danceable twist on “Sigui,” where instruments like the traditional kamalé ngoni lute are prominent… The post Tradition Plus first appeared on World Music Central .Sunday, April 6, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Royal Opera’s new associate director on her obsession with Peter Grimes, winning over tech-sceptics and the joy of school matinee shows Born in London, where she still lives, to an artist mother and musician father, Netia Jones is the...Sunday, April 6, 2025 from World Music Central.org
Frigg – Dreamscapes (Bafe’s Factory, 2025) Remarkable Finnish folk ensemble Frigg is celebrating 25 years with the release of Dreamscapes, an album that expands their… The post Frigg – Dreamscapes: A Silver Anniversary...Saturday, April 5, 2025 from World Music Central.org
(headline image: Alana, winners of 2024 Runas contest – Photo by David Bermejo) The Ortigueira International Celtic World Festival in Galicia, Spain, has officially opened… The post Runas Competition: Ortigueira Festival...Saturday, April 5, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Blue Note) There are hits and misses as 15 performers including Dodie, Mxmtoon and Ezra Collective’s Ife Ogunjobi give their personal take on Baker’s unique sound Possessing a whisper-soft voice and sweetly melodic trumpet tone, Chet...Saturday, April 5, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
The radio DJ talks about missing grungy old music festivals, doing all the cleaning at home, and being brought up without ambition by his dad, John Peel Music was playing before I was even born. I was born into the sound. My dad [radio...Saturday, April 5, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Village Underground, London The laser-focused spoken-word performer returns to the musical stage with new tracks focusing on their identity – but wider concerns are never far away “This has been a performance piece about how technology...Saturday, April 5, 2025 from World Music Central.org
(headline image: Amadou & Mariam – Photo by Julio Bandit) Amadou Bagayoko, guitarist and vocalist of the acclaimed Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, passed away… The post Amadou of Malian Duo Amadou & Mariam Dies at 70...Saturday, April 5, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
This visceral post-punk New York band deliver blood, sweat and music of manic brilliance Exuding glamour, spectacle and pathos, Model/Actriz create a ferocious mix of industrial rock, dance-punk and pop that’s often sexy and disturbing...Saturday, April 5, 2025 from World Music Central.org
Rafael Energía Dominicana returns with “Una Mujer Buena (El Cuerno),” a new single that mixes classic Dominican bachata with modern production elements. The track is… The post Rafael Energía Dominicana Hits Home With “Una Mujer...Friday, April 4, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Rap mogul has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and sex trafficking as trial begins in Manhattan on 5 May Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with a new federal indictment on Friday charging the hip-hop mogul with five criminal counts...Friday, April 4, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
In 1985, a star-studded lineup of Black UK musicians, including Aswad, Dennis Brown and Janet Kay, recorded a charity single to raise funds for famine-stricken Ethiopia. Why are their efforts so little known? The Ethiopian famine...Friday, April 4, 2025 from World Music Central.org
With a style rather reminiscent of Manu Dibango, France’s Hoagnan gives us “Mama Afreeka,” which starts off jazzy before bringing in an African undercurrent that… The post Gettin’ Freeky first appeared on World Music Central .Friday, April 4, 2025 from World Music Central.org
Born Cheikh Ibrahima Ousmane Fame in Mbour, Senegal, Cheikh Ibra Fam grew up amid constant relocation due to his father’s role as director of the… The post How Senegal’s Cheikh Ibra Fam Found His Voice Between Roots and...Thursday, April 3, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Ninja Tune) After losing their frontman, the band’s third studio album shows how resilient and adaptable they are, with luscious melodies, fantastical lyrics and lots of recorders The last time Black Country, New Road released a studio...Wednesday, April 2, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
The ex-member of Brother Beyond now writes chart-toppers for stars. Why has he decided to make a musical of seedy, gutter-life classic Midnight Cowboy, a film he can’t bear? Troop into Eg White’s living room, past the bright, spacious...Tuesday, April 1, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
The British-Guyanese singer topped the reggae chart with 1978’s Walk Away, but despite work with Robert Plant and others, she’s rarely returned to the studio. This interview might change that… In December 1978, Marie Pierre was at No 1...Monday, March 31, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
A revelation at Pontins fuelled the producer to avant garde acclaim. But with ‘sublime’ sounds came struggles with substances. Her intense new album peels back the plaster ‘Kissed by a witch, I got hexed!” Aya howls through a storm of...Monday, March 31, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Don’t live like everyone else! Angela Jaeger met every act going in punk, in New York and London – and had crushes on them all. Now 65, she talks us through her thrill-filled diaries There is nothing new to discover, surely, about the...Sunday, March 30, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
The O2, London From rollerskating around the stage wearing a union jack suit to feeding cocktail cherries to women in the audience, Usher wears middle age incredibly well Early on during the first show of Usher’s London residency, the...Saturday, March 29, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Matador) Consummate chronicler of 21st-century sensuality Mike Hadreas returns to his indie roots on a convivial seventh album stalked by death and desire Death stalks the seventh studio album by feted US singer-songwriter Perfume...Saturday, March 29, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
An otherworldly voice and the UK’s favourite antidepressants are unlikely companions in this remarkable Scottish singer-songwriter’s work Every so often, a new voice comes along with the alchemical combination of fragile beauty and...Friday, March 28, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Ninja Tune) Yukimi Nagano’s first record without the Swedish synth-pop band is a light but pleasurable affair It seems barely credible, but next year is Little Dragon ’s 30th birthday. Although Yukimi Nagano has fronted the Swedish...Friday, March 28, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Island) A return to their inglorious past for the British folk rockers comes served with an extra helping of self-indulgence In the wake of the 2021 exit of banjo player (and son of the co-founder of GB News) Winston Marshall, Mumford...Friday, March 28, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Down the Road) The bluegrass star and band reconvene with a new co-vocalist on this slick yet understated set drawing on old-time roots and more recent concerns Arcadia is big news in US roots music. In the 14 years since Union...Friday, March 28, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Merge) Frightening fates await the protagonists of Dan Bejar’s 14th album, but the mercurial Canadian’s perspective and lavish instrumentation are a reminder of beauty’s potential If Dan Bejar’s musically shifting Destroyer project has...Friday, March 28, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(ECM) Considering water as balm and curse, life and storm: the fabulous Greek singer and collaborators transport us across centuries and countries Savina Yannatou is a fabulous Greek singer whose work over the last five decades hasn’t...Friday, March 28, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
With her Diamonds and Rust album turning 50, we rate the standout tracks from the American folk singer and political activist As with a lot of her 60s peers, Joan Baez seemed slightly out of place in the 80s. She only released two studio...Thursday, March 27, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
(Geffen/Polydor) The Virginia songwriter gets lost in understatement on a loved-up album about her relationship with bandmate Julien Baker, shrouding sharp lyrics in shy melodies Last February, the American “indie rock supergroup”...Saturday, March 22, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Aviva Studios, Manchester The ever out-there British artist tours her latest album, Eusexua, with a show whose mix of club vibe, winged beast props and prime back catalogue delights and confounds Somewhere between a gig, a cutting-edge...Saturday, March 22, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
The charismatic German-born, London-raised busker turned songwriter is a natural in the spotlight He has only released a handful of songs, but Sebastian Schub ’s talent was obvious from the off. The singer-guitarist-pianist-songwriter’s...Friday, March 21, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Playhouse, Nottingham There’s no slowing down for the avant art-rock octogenarian as he forgoes predictability to showcase the staggering breadth and depth of his songcraft John Cale is 83 years old. Live, it would be more than...Thursday, March 20, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Koko, London From scorned lovers to campfire heartbreak and outlaw vengeance, the charmingly tipsy singer takes the crowd on a JD-swigging journey through the Old West It’s hard to think of an artist whose fortunes changed as abruptly as...Wednesday, March 19, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Aviva Studios, Manchester Featuring whips, chains, swords and dragons, this versatile three-act extravaganza showcases the singer’s unique catalogue of abstract pop At Manchester’s sold-out Aviva Studios, smoke curls around a giant,...Saturday, March 15, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
The French producer-performer crafts club bangers with classical flourishes, while channeling her rural upbringing You may think that club beats and baroque arrangements wouldn’t mix well, but Oklou is proving otherwise. Marylou Mayniel,...Friday, March 7, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Ayers’ genre-bending jazz-funk sound produced one fantastic album after another – and then found a new lease of life in hip-hop sampling • Roy Ayers, jazz-funk pioneer behind Everybody Loves the Sunshine, dies aged 84 There’s a sense in...Friday, March 7, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
James was the lead songwriter for the trailblazing British punks’ first album Damned Damned Damned and went on to collaborate with artists such as Iggy Pop Brian James, the founding guitarist of trailblazing British punks the Damned, has...Thursday, March 6, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Charles Chambers was a key innovator in dance music, speeding up beats and adding raunchy lyrics, and inspiring Daft Punk and Justice DJ Funk, the producer who coined the term “ghetto house” and was one of the Chicago scene’s key...Monday, March 3, 2025 from World music | The Guardian
Singer, who met Dean when she was 18, says ‘words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years’ Carl Dean, devoted husband of Dolly Parton and also the inspiration behind Parton’s hit Jolene, died on Monday. He was 82....Thursday, June 1, 2023 from World music | The Guardian
In a second feature marking 40 years of the Smiths, fans including Andy Burnham and Connie Constance consider how and why the band have endured • ‘An astounding rush of real-time creativity’: 40 years of the Smiths’ Peel Sessions John...Thursday, March 1, 2018 from Songlines World Music News
Amadou & Mariam, Ken Boothe and Dobet Gnahoré are among the first acts announced for this year’s WOMAD Charlton Park Festival from July 26-29 The first wave of names have been announced for this year’s WOMAD at Charlton...