Sarathy Korwar’s album KALAK, released in November 2022 via The Leaf Label, is a cohesive collection of rhythm-driven soundscapes that set in motion travel towards a past-informed, as-yet unformed future. Cyclical beats and hypnotic melodies lay solid ground for transcendence by trance. Song titles tell us The Past is Not...
Interview
Articles
Rasha Nahas has felt the complexities and challenges of meeting the stereotype of Arab women in Europe. And her newly released album Amrat meaning ‘Sometimes’ reflects on this. As a Palestinian composer living in Berlin, she became heartfelt about singing in Arabic for this LP. This adds a nostalgic sentiment. Diving...
If you’d like to know more about, understand and deep dive into the last two decades of the London grassroots scene, you can’t help but reach out to Adir Tov. The Hackney-based singer/songwriter, guitarist, band-leader, producer and event organiser, better known as Planetman, is one of the most representative characters...
Alostmen, a percussive four-piece from Ghana, made their UK debut at Womad this year following a 2021 Songlines Newcomer of the Year award win. Stevo Atambire, charismatic band leader with a knot of hair coiled across his forehead, belts out the vocals and attacks his kologo. The skin-covered gourd with...
Early in October, the Argentinian electronic music producer and ethnomusicologist Uji (Luis Maurette) shared “Lunay”, giving us a glimpse of a harmonious, calming landscape made of flowing waters, motionless bodies and capturing vocals. The track is the final single taken from Uji’s upcoming album, TIMEBEING, which will be released on...
Son Rompe Pera electrified a sleepy Sunday tent at Womad this year; their high-energy cumbia-punk kicked off an early afternoon tropical dance party. Thrash marimba and infectious rhythms punctuated by searing guitar and wild yells drove a dazed crowd into a joyful frenzy. The band’s passion for the new-from-old sound...
Pascuala Ilabaca wants us to take heed, as she responds to traditional Andean folks songs with a fierce feminist voice. Now she tells us, it is the time to respond to an old rhetoric. Misogyny has no place in the future of her Chilean culture. Her new production Por Qué Se...
We don’t know if a biography of Alex Figueira will ever be published, but if it is, it’s arguably going to be such an intricate, complex and of course, interesting work that its author will eventually end up on the Booker Prize shortlist. Jokes apart, to recall, discern and write...
The Maghreban. Even the name had enough air of mystery about it that you could be forgiven thinking this was the new alter ego of Hussein Sherbini or Maga Bo. The first 15 seconds of ‘Eddies’, the intro of the debut album 01DEAS released on R&S, only confirmed the impression. Not...
To save the world you have to start somewhere… And what’s better than the smooth and soothing sound of a marimba as an inception? At Rhythm Passport, we always look forward and warmly embrace projects aiming to effectively make a real difference through music. Some months ago, at Womex in...
