Stories about Music from June, 2007
Ukraine, Russia: Serhiy Taftay's Guitar
uaMuzik tells the tale of one Ukrainian musician's legendary guitar.
Ukraine: Erotic Symbolism in Folk Songs Lecture
A Ukrainian Diaspora ethnologist will give a lecture in Kyiv on Aug. 25 on the erotic symbolism in Ukrainian folk songs, Nash Holos reports.
Russia: Chechen “Daimohk” to Perform in the U.S.
“Daimohk, a children’s dance group based in Grozny and trained by the former first dancer of the Chechen national theatre, will be visiting the US for their first ever tour there,” A Step At A Time reports.
Eastern & Central Europe: Feral's Back; Czech Lustration
Illyrian Gazette posts an update on the fate of Feral Tribune (it's back and financially secure), and writes about lustration and music in the Czech Republic.
Manu Dibango's “Soul Makossa,” the original “Thriller”
Alain Mabanckou writes about famed Cameroonian musician (Fr) Manu Dibango, whose Soul Makossa has “all the rhythm, all the atmosphere” of Michael Jackson's album Thriller, although it debuted 11 years before.
Slovenia: Photos of Musician Tadej Kenig
Dancing Photography – Borut Peterlin posts photos of Tadej Kenig, a renowned Slovenian clarinetist, “photographed as a shepherd, in a concert suit playing a clarinet to the sheep.”
Ukraine: Ukrainian Music Blog
The history of Ukrainian band Mandry and more – at Ukrainian Musical Matters blog.
If Bloggers attended the Conference on the Caribbean…
This past week (June 18-21) leaders of CARICOM met with President George W. Bush and other top U.S. government officials in Washington as part of the Conference on the Caribbean. Official word from the U.S. Press Secretary is that: “The Conference on the Caribbean continues an important dialogue between the...
Jamaica: The Roots of Dancehall
Always wanted to find out more about dancehall music? Geoffrey Philp interviews Jamaican music journalist Trevor “Boots” Harris.
Lebanon: Almost Non-Political Questions
What are we eating? Why are our banks flourishing? Who are those clearing cluster bombs? How will Brazil help in recycling Lebanese wastes? Where are some of the children who were caught in the crossfire? What about some music? These are some of the questions answered in this week’s selections from the Lebanese blogosphere.
Oman: Blogging Back on Track
Are Omani bloggers are dying breed? What kind of service do you expect when you buy an expensive washing machine? And have you heard the latest song written after the deadly tropical cyclone Gonu hit Omani shores? These are just some of the topics discussed in Riyadh Al Balushi's latest coverage of Omani blogs.
Morocco: On Hip Hop Music
Moroccan hip hip music is here to stay, according to The View from Fez.
Jordan: DAM Rocks Amman
In their first concert in an Arab country, Palestinian hip hop trio DAM, rocked Amman last night as part of the Fete De La Musique (Music Day) series of concerts that took place across the city, writes Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah.
Hungary: “Gloomy Sunday” in Budapest
Pestcentric writes about a Budapest restaurant where “arguably the most famous Hungarian song was written: ‘Gloomy Sunday.’ Rezső Seress wrote the original lyrics here back in the 1930s.” What's known to the world, though, is “a watered-down translation of an already softened reinterpretation.”
Damaged Arab Music
“Nothing has damaged music and arts in the Arab world more than Prince Walid Bin Talal,” writes Dr Asad Abu Khalil or the Angry Arab.
Afghan Whispers:Education, music, wonderful nature and freedom
Sun Leaf talks about the painful situation of Afghanistan's education system. The blogger says Compared to other countries in Asia, the Afghan education situation is startling. The statistics below show that tremendous challenges remain. One of the poorest measures includes funding or implementing short-term education projects, which are abrubtly brought...
Serbia, Finland: Marija Serifovich's Infamous Quote
Belgrade 2.0 posts a video of a press conference with Marija Serifovic, who won this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, at which she makes the following remark about Finland: “erm, the country didn’t particularly suit me, and I don’t like those yellowish, “see-through” people… I despise them…” Bloggers discuss...
Ukraine: Elton John and the Fake Philanthropists
Ukrainiana writes about Ukraine's horrifying AIDS statistics and the wrong crowd that Elton John has gotten himself into.
Ukraine: Elton John and Kids With AIDS
Michelle Knisley of Greetings from Kiev attended Elton John's AIDS awareness concert, along with approximately 200,000 other people. Before the concert, she happened to watch a TV clip about the orphanage she used to work at and recognized two girls with AIDS she once played with.
China: BeijingF__kingOlympia
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI reports on a punk song, BeijingF__kingOlympia, by a Jiangxi underground band, aka Punk God widely circulated in China. Department of Culture of Shanxi Province has issued a notice to stop the illegal transmission of the song.
Ukraine: Elton John to Sing in Kyiv
uaMuzik and Nash Holos write about Elton John's upcoming concert in Kyiv.