You never know what to expect from London: once you think that you’re used to the city it throws up some real surprises. This usually happens when the city broadens its horizons to embrace previously hidden cultural expressions, and the event at 229 was just one of those. The first...
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Articles
You might not have been lucky enough to witness Fela Kuti perform while he was alive. But now you can experience the rhythmic force that blew his audience away once more at Felabration, hosted by the British Library to mark the Afrobeat master’s birthday. Felabration is a way to pay...
Do you want to nose out how London sounds today and will sound in the near future? Then come down to the Amersham Arms on Saturday, because for more than twelve hours (from 1.30pm to 1.30am) ten bands, workshops and a vibrant community Festival called Crosswires will set the New Cross...
Ukraine has never been so punk and we are not talking about music, but attitude… DakhaBrakha, one of the most exciting and radical representations of the contemporary Eastern European music scene, will visit London tomorrow and shake up Village Underground turning upside down many of your certainties about the art....
One of the most fascinating qualities of the London African Music Festival is the ability to unearth new wonders of the African music scene as well as paying homage to its legends and the musicians who built that scene, spreading it all over the world. Mose Se Sengo ‘Fan Fan’...
Everyone is wondering why these four Oxford-based guys sound so exotic, sing in Zulu and chose to start a project related to traditional South African rhythms like maskanda. But, if you’re in tune with the British music scene, the surname of two of the band members (Steadman) should ring you a bell or...
It’s raining, but we don’t care! The first full day of WOMAD got into full swing this Friday with the wide range of global music we’ve come to expect. The BBC Radio 3 Charlie Gillett Stage played host to probably the youngest band member this year along with her family band...
In support of their debut album, Abyssinia Afterlife, Black Flower ambled on to the stage at a sparsely populated Rich Mix last Saturday and proceeded to transport us to a magical land. As the title of this record suggests, it is an imagined journey through a dream-like garden of the...
For the thirteenth year in a row, London becomes the northernmost African city. Twenty-six acts spread over ten days of “glorious music” and ten London vibrant venues will bring to life the 2015 edition of the London African Music Festival. The event, organized by Joyful Noise since 2003, has always...
Back in the early 1980s, he was arguably the first musician to introduce the British audience to Congolese music. After having displayed his talent all around Africa, he moved from Kinshasa to London and quickly became a sincere music ambassador of his country. Today, thirty years after his move and...
