Posted by admin on 11 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: politics, protest, RIP
I’ve often deplored the death of the protest song. So it was stunning to see how big a role music and chanting is playing in the Arab Spring. Shots of men chanting and punching the air in Arabic all sounded alike to me. The horrific murder of Ibrahim Qashoush, however, puts a face and a [...]
Posted by admin on 30 Nov 2010 | Tagged as: news, protest
Collectors will surely swoop on the upcoming auction of Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics for “The Times They Are a-Changing” that will take place in Sotheby’s on December 10, 2010. The song is iconic, defining the mood of protest and change in the sixties. On top of that, the actual manuscript is suitably battered and worn [...]
Posted by admin on 18 Nov 2010 | Tagged as: news, politics, protest
Image via Wikipedia I just read an article in the Hindustan Times about an Indonesia riot sparked by ringtones. According to the report, hundreds of Wamena tribesmen descended on members of the Yoka tribe on Wednesday morning (November 17, 2010) in the Papua provincial capital Jayapura, after learning that Yokas were sharing a ringtone which [...]
Posted by admin on 22 Feb 2010 | Tagged as: awards, events, protest
VALERIO SCANU Per tutte le volte che SANREMO 2010by Roma-eterna I’ve seen audiences get riled up about song contests, but rarely seen an orchestra almost run riot. Italy’s San Remo song contest is a prestigious event that celebrates the classic tradition of Italian canzone. What is surprising is that contestants have to face two juries: [...]
Posted by admin on 28 Dec 2009 | Tagged as: events, protest
Image via Wikipedia Eminem will be back in the UK for a show in 2010, the first in over 5 years. However, organisers were worried that the shows would be boycotted by the powerful Outrage gay rights group, who protested at previous shows and have been very effective in obstructing shows by Jamaican artists with [...]
Posted by admin on 05 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: politics, protest, RIP
Amazon.co.uk WidgetsMercedes Sosa, the Argentinian singer who became the voice of the nueva cancion movement of the 60s and 70s, has died at the age of 74. Sosa was an outspoken singer, who used her voice and art to champion the causes of the poor in South America, even though she tried to distance herself [...]
Posted by admin on 22 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: meanings, news, politics, protest, religion
In a pretty radical move, Sony Entertainment has decided to pull a track by the Malian harp player Toumani Diabete from the upcoming Little Big Planet game. The track “Tapha Niang” contains two lines quoted from the Quran. After a poster on a Sony message board started complaining, the company decided to withdraw the track [...]
Posted by admin on 19 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: news, politics, protest
The issue of homophobic reggae lyrics is back in the news yet again, with an announcement that the German government is considering blacklisting homophobic lyrics from Jamaican performers. Artists such as Elephant Man and TOK are under scrutiny. Censorship is always a touchy issue – but no less touchy than the protection of minorities. So [...]
Posted by admin on 30 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: news, protest
The New York Times ran a short piece about the then 16 year-old Gail Renard who snuck into the bed-in organised John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Montreal in 1969. At one stage, she witnessed some 50 people sing “Give Peace a Chance”. Choirboys included Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg as well as Petula Clark. [...]
Posted by admin on 16 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Eurovision, news, protest
I sometimes wonder if there’s a large book with complaints one can make about Eurovision entries that people pull out every year. French MP Jacques Myard is complaining that France’s Eurovision is partly in English. Post-modern dandy Sebastien Tellier’s “Divine” is in English (of sorts). Almost predictably, a number of politicians have taken it upon [...]