Category: .The Quietus
-
Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba, Ba Power
Ba Power is an album which again showcases the incredible dexterity of Malian heavyweight Bassekou Kouyaté’s ngoni instrument. Kouyaté affectionately describes playing the banjo-like lute as his family’s “only mission”; his grandfathers, father and now sons are all ngoni players. This mission has, however, been taken to new places under…
-
NEXT STOP SOWETO VOL. 4
NEXT STOP SOWETO VOL. 4 Clyde Macfarlane , February 6th, 2015 14:43 Strut records continue their acclaimed South African series with Next Stop Soweto Volume 4, a compilation of recordings from 1975 to 1985. Life was tough for these musicians. The apartheid regime was in its prime, and black artists…
-
Jabula Happiness: an interview with Julian Bahula
Jabula Happiness: Julian Bahula Interviewed Clyde Macfarlane , January 21st, 2015 11:00 Julian Bahula with his Order of Ikhamanga in Gold, by Alexis Maryon When 1983 saw Nelson Mandela turn 65 in prison, few people in England understood what he or the ANC represented, and newspapers were reluctant to report…
-
Verckys Et l’Orchestre Vévé, CONGOLESE FUNK, AFROBEAT & PSYCHEDELIC RUMBA 1969-1978
Verckys Et l’Orchestre Vévé CONGOLESE FUNK, AFROBEAT & PSYCHEDELIC RUMBA 1969-1978 Clyde Macfarlane , January 14th, 2015 16:04 When James Brown arrived in Kinshasa for Mohamed Ali and George Foreman’s rumble in the jungle fight, the world was ready to tune in. The Godfather of Soul was joining BB King,…
-
Sumy, TRYIN TO SURVIVE
Sumy TRYIN TO SURVIVE Clyde Macfarlane , January 30th, 2015 14:17 With a population of just half a million, Suriname is one of South America’s overlooked countries, and is probably best known for exporting Dutch football stars. Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink were all born in its…
-
Jon Hassell & Brian Eno, FOURTH WORLD MUSIC VOL. 1: POSSIBLE MUSICS
Jon Hassell & Brian Eno FOURTH WORLD MUSIC VOL. 1: POSSIBLE MUSICS Clyde Macfarlane , November 13th, 2014 14:04 Until extraterrestrial relations are cemented, the term “world music” will be lazy and meaningless. What isn’t world music? A track made from the regular pulses of neutron stars, perhaps? David Byrne,…
I'm Clyde Macfarlane, an NCTJ qualified journalist and illustrator. 