Catch Benjamin Zephaniah and The Revolutionary Minds playing Hackney venue EartH on Wednesday 25th September as part of the seventeenth London African Music Festival! Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is best known as a “dub poet”, but he’s worked across lots of genres, from poetry to music and from novels...
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On Sunday 11th August 2019 at 7:30pm, Malian group Songhoy Blues will play their distinctive brand of desert groove rock in the beautiful surroundings of the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre, as part of Nile Rodgers’ Meltdown Festrival. Although they can certainly be described as a desert blues...
The first reason to go and see DakhaBrakha on 26th July is that, of all the many UK gigs I went to in 2018, their show was by far the most memorable, and my personal favourite. Their concert at Southbank Centre in October last year swung between vivid peaks and...
On Saturday 13th July, Somerset House presents a concert from Sons of Kemet with Sampa the Great and D Double E. This is part of its impressive 2019 Summer series (which includes the likes of Rosalía, Nao, and Jacob Banks). Sons of Kemet’s 2018 album, Your Queen is a Reptile, still...
Wednesday 30th January sees the return of Imagining Ireland to the Barbican. Imagining Ireland exists to expose the hidden gems of Irish talent to a UK audience and to deepen the audience’s understanding of what it means to be Irish today. Their first show, which premiered at the Barbican in...
On Thursday 25th October, Mokoomba came all the way from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe to play to a rather diverse crowd at St Mary’s Church, Walthamstow. The night began with myself and my friend exhausted from work, sat slumped on one of the church pews lined with bibles near the...
DakhaBrakha means ‘give/take’ in the old Ukrainian language. And it’s true, we see a real ‘give and take’ with the band’s influences – taking Ukrainian folk music and putting their own unique and theatrical spin on it. Often accompanied by Indian, Arabic, African, Russian and Australian traditional instrumentation, their music...
Four-piece traditional group Lankum fuse obscure, whimsical and unsettling songs of the past with their own strong sure sound. Their lyrics often depict the feelings of those left behind in post-recession Ireland. Like their contemporaries Stick in the Wheel, they bring a raw, punk edge to traditional songs; each word smacks of...
Ladysmith Black Mambazo need little introduction; as one of the world’s most iconic musical groups they have been spreading their message of peace, love and harmony since the early 60s. Known for their joyous singing and beautifully layered harmonies, the all-male, a cappella singing group are a major part of...
On Monday 5th March, a rather interesting group of musicians came together on the Barbican stage to present Imagining Ireland, a showcase, or – as Serious and The National Concert Hall presented it – a snapshot, of Irish music today. The first half of the evening began quite safely, with...
