Back in 2013, the story of Songhoy Blues made the headlines. After being forced to move to Bamako by a jihadist group that banned music in northern Mali, Garba Touré founded the band “to recreate that lost ambience of the north and make all the refugees relive those northern songs”....
Tag Archives: Rock
Looking for something interesting to do on Monday evening? Catch a free gig from Argentine band El Plan De La Mariposa – it’s their first ever London show, and a chance to see them play a rare acoustic set at the Magic Garden Pub, Battersea. The band is definitely a...
![Preview: Field Day @ Victoria Park [London, 3rd June 2017]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/fd17_web-square_170424_full23b-335x335.jpg)
Field Day Festival returns for its 11th year this coming June. Held in Victoria Park, East London as has become its tradition, this time however it will take place on the Saturday only, rather than lasting for two days as it has in the past. Fear not though, as despite...
Last year, the first edition of Borderless festival, closed the London summer season in style with an amazing line-up throughout a two-month span. 2017 promises to be much the same. Even if it will all happen in Spring and will be less broad considering the number or shows (from 14 to...
Who’d have imagined that the cimbalom could be so groovy? If you’re not used to the sound of the Hungarian dulcimer and the energetic way in which Balázs Unger, founder member of CimbaliBand, plays it. Be ready for something special, be ready to be amazed. In a few days’ time,...
If there’s a genre-defying band par excellence, it has to be Baba Zula. Throughout its 20-year story, celebrated this year with XX (double-CD released by Glitterbeat that we recently reviewed), the Istanbul-based project has introduced its audience to an entirely new perspective of Turkish music. Today, its hypnotic blend of traditional,...
![Album Review: Bargou 08 – Targ [Glitterbeat Records, 17th Febaruary 2017]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/a2748431087_10-335x335.jpg)
When you think of Tunisia, nothing less than the ruins of a great civilization, those of Carthage for example, come to mind. Think of a barren valley and a village, instead, between the mountains Northwest Tunisia and its border with Algeria, when contemplating Targ, by Nidhal Yahyaoui and his band...
![Album Review: The Comet is Coming – Channel The Spirits [The Leaf Label, 1st April 2016]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/a1117541435_10-335x335.jpg)
When the sound of a band needs more than one word to be defined, it’s usually a good sign. The Comet is Coming’s new album Channel The Spirits slips between the borders of very different genres – jazz, acid, electronica, psychedelic rock, shaping the band’s very own definition of sound...
![Preview: Punkt Festival @ Rich Mix [London, 11th February 2017]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/punkt_ad_600x150_2017-335x84.jpg)
Shoreditch cultural hub Rich Mix is bringing Norwegian Punkt Festival to London for the very first time. The festival, known at home in Kristiansand as Punkt Festivalen, is a unique one, where live performances are remixed and reinterpreted at the same time in different spaces. An uniqueness that has captivated...
In a year where world politics has seen neighbouring countries close their curtains and shut their doors, music is an increasingly important platform for cross-cultural celebration. Gaye Su Akyol is an artist originating from the Black Sea Coast, who unwittingly seems to be achieving just that. Through fusing her own...