DOCSLIB.ORG

English Folk Music As World Music. In: International Association for the Study of Popular Music Conference, 13­17 Jul 2009, University of Liverpool

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
English Folk Music As World Music. In: International Association for the Study of Popular Music Conference, 13­17 Jul 2009, University of Liverpool Winter, T and Keegan-Phipps, S (2009) English Folk Music as World Music. In: International Association for the Study of Popular Music Conference, 13-17 Jul 2009, University of Liverpool. Downloaded from: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/6272/ Usage guidelines Please refer to the usage guidelines at http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/policies.html or alternatively contact [email protected]. Conference Proceedings Edited by Geoff Stahl and Alex Gyde International Association for the Study of Popular Music IASPM09 - LIVERPOOL (QJOLVK)RON0XVLFDV:RUOG0XVLF 'U7ULVK:LQWHUDQG'U6LPRQ.HHJDQ3KLSSV here has been, building over the last 10 years or PRYHPHQWWRZDUGVZRUOGPXVLFZLWKVSHFL¿FUHIHUHQFH Tso, a resurgence of interest in English folk arts to the band The Imagined Village, before going on to – that is, in folk or traditional music, and dance that consider what it means for English folk music to be H[SOLFLWO\RIWHQHPSKDWLFDOO\LGHQWL¿HVLWVHOIDVEnglish. reframed in this way, and in particular to examine the Folk festivals in England have become increasingly constructions of Englishness that are associated with popular; an increasing number of professional folk it. acts are foregrounding their Englishness; and it is now easier to secure bookings for English bands in England The discourse of ‘English folk music as world music’ WKDQIRU,ULVKRU&HOWLFLGHQWL¿HGEDQGV $ODQ%HDUPDQ has emerged and developed over the last decade. It LQWHUYLHZ 0DUFK 7KH SUR¿OH RI IRON KDV appears to enter into public circulation in April 1997 with increased beyond the boundaries of the folk scene: folk the publication of an issue of Folk Roots magazine with artists have been nominated for Mercury Music Awards the headline reading ‘England: last undiscovered exotic (Rachel Unthank in 2009; Seth Lakeman in 2006); the RXWSRVWRI:RUOG0XVLF¶)RONURRWV QRZI5RRWV LVD young English folk musician Jim Moray supported pop world music magazine produced in England; the lead VWDU:LOO<RXQJRQKLV8.WRXUDQGWKH%%& article, by music journalist Colin Irwin, ‘celebrates a proms featured a ‘folk day’ in which English acts were FXOWXUHHYHU\ELWDVH[RWLFDVWKHPRVWGLVWDQWRI:RUOG SURPLQHQW7KHPHGLDSUR¿OHRIIRONKDVVKLIWHGWRRZLWK Music destinations’ (Irwin, 1997, p. 36), and argues that greater media visibility for folk within arts and cultural Folk Roots has brought its readers exotic music from all programming (such as BBC2’s The Culture Show) and over the globe, but has ignored the exotic within its own popular entertainment shows (for example: Later with culture – England. Emphasising the bizarre and the Jools Holland; The Paul O’Grady Show). eccentric within English traditions, the cover features images of the Bacup Britannia coconut dancers, men This paper will examine a related tendency towards with blacked up faces, white hooped skirts, feathers and the framing of English folk or traditional music as world coconuts on their heads. The article itself is illustrated PXVLF :H ZLOO GHVFULEH WKLV GLVFXUVLYH DQG LGLRPDWLF with images including the antler-wearing Abbots Bromley 493 Horn Dancers, ‘the single most bizarre curio in a nation closely associated with this alignment of English folk full of them’ (Irwin, 1997, p. 37) (1). with world music, and is unique in that it is arguably born directly out of this discourse. Launched in 2007 In 1997 Folk Roots was able to characterise English DWWKH:20$'ZRUOGPXVLFIHVWLYDOWKHEDQGLVWKH traditional culture as ‘undiscovered’ within the world brainchild of world music producer and musician music industry. In subsequent years, however, it has Simon Emmerson. Emmerson’s professional musical become well and truly discovered by the genre: we background began in popular music during the 1980s, now see, for example, the booking of some higher- ZKHQ KH SOD\HG ZLWK WKH MD]]VRXO JURXS :RUNLQJ SUR¿OH (QJOLVK IRON DFWV LQ ZRUOG PXVLF FRQWH[WV VXFK :HHN +RZHYHU KLV PRVW VLJQL¿FDQW ZRUN KDV EHHQ DV WKH :20$' IHVWLYDOV DQG ZH DOVR VHH (QJOLVK as a producer and performer in the world music folk acts beginning sometimes to describe themselves genre: in 1992 he produced Manu Dibango’s acid jazz in this way. For example, the band Bellowhead had album Polysonik, and in 1996 he was nominated for WKH GHVFULSWRU µ(QJOLVK :RUOG 0XVLF¶ DWWDFKHG WR WKHLU a Grammy Award for his production of Baaba Maal’s website in 2007. In contradistinction to the conventional album Firin’ in Fouta; in the early 1990s he formed the positioning of English folk music, the world music genre globally successful fusion act Afro Celt Sound System can be generally regarded as a more commercially- who have gone on to sell over 1.2 million albums and orientated cultural realm – an integral facet of the wider UHFHLYHWZR*UDPP\$ZDUGQRPLQDWLRQV 5HDO:RUOG mainstream music industry (see for instance: Taylor, Records, 2009). 1997; Frith 2000; Feld, 2005) The current resurgence of English folk music is occurring in close alignment with The Imagined Village project has encompassed an a developing ‘folk industry’ (of which detailed discussion album and live touring performances since 2007. The falls outside the scope of this paper), and it is possible project claims to to track the allegiance of English folk music with world music as a move into a more mainstream cultural ‘recast age-old traditions in the shape of the context. WZHQW\¿UVWFHQWXU\$GDULQJPL[RIDQFLHQWDQG The Imagined Village PRGHUQ7KH,PDJLQHG9LOODJHIXVHV¿GGOHVDQG squeezebox with dub beats and sitars.’ The band The Imagined Village is the act perhaps most (The Imagined Village, 2009) 494 As this statement suggests, the band draws on a large early- and mid-twentieth century. The Young Coppers pool of musicians and performers, all of whom explicitly DUH KRZHYHU WKH ¿UVW WR DFNQRZOHGJH WKDW WKH\ DUH identify themselves as ‘English’, but who fall into three not renowned for their singing abilities per se – rather, generic categories: English folk musicians; world music they present themselves simply as ordinary people who performers; and those most readily associated with enjoy singing. Clearly, then, they are involved in the :HVWHUQSRSPXVLF(QJOLVKIRONPXVLFLVUHSUHVHQWHG Imagined Village project because of who they are (or here by a number of artists. The involvement of father- what they represent) rather than what they can do. and-daughter team Martin and Eliza Carthy is particularly FHQWUDOWKH:DWHUVRQ&DUWK\IDPLO\ RIZKLFKWKH\DUH :RUOG 0XVLF SHUIRUPHUV LQYROYHG LQ WKH ,PDJLQHG the most visible members) is often referred to as the Village include the Dhol Foundation front-man “Royal Family” of English folk music, and very closely and prolific percussionist, Johnny Kalsi; the associated with the second period of revival (1950- singer Sheila Chandra; and performance poet 1970s); Eliza is also well known for her combination of Benjamin Zephaniah. The members of Transglobal folk and popular music styles in earlier albums (such as Underground are heavily involved in producing Red Rice 7KH\DUHMRLQHGE\&KULV:RRG ¿GGOHU sequencing for the project, whilst their sitar player, singer, guitarist and outspoken, self-styled champion Sheema Mukherjee takes a particularly prominent of English traditional music and culture). Also involved role in the band’s music and live performances. Pop are two Ceilidh (traditional English social dance) bands, musicians involved include the popular Brit-Pop artist the Gloworms and the Tiger Moths, representing the 3DXO:HOOHU DOWKRXJKKHRQO\VLQJVOHDGYRFDOVRQ younger and older generations, respectively. one track of the album, and never appears live with the group) and the kit-drummer Andy Gangadeen, Finally, English folk music is represented in the project formerly a drummer for Lisa Stansfield and The by The Young Coppers, who are presented as the Spice Girls. Finally, a central figure to the Imagined seventh generation of a family of traditional singers. Village’s live performances is the singer-songwriter Here, they are offered as the embodiment of a direct and left-wing activist Billy Bragg, whose outspoken link with preindustrial rural England: singers from political orientations have enabled his bridging – in earlier generations of the Copper family have played recent years – of the divide between the English folk important roles in the revival movements of both the music culture and pop music. 495 Since its inception, The Imagined Village has obtained a QRW¿[HGEXWLQWKHSURFHVVRIEHLQJQHJRWLDWHG7KH FRQVLGHUDEOHSUR¿OHZLWKLQWKHQDWLRQDOPHGLDWKHWRXULQJ debate around Englishness is acknowledged as a band has appeared live on the popular television music political one, too. The Imagined Village doesn’t speak programme Later with Jools Holland, and was awarded DVDXQL¿HGIURQWRQWKLVEXWRQHRIWKHGRPLQDQWYRLFHV the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Song is that of Billy Bragg, who has written a book on English in 2008. The project is signed to the world music label identity and is associated with the endorsement of a 5HDO:RUOG5HFRUGVDQGVLQFHLWVSUHPLHUDW:20$' left wing ‘radical patriotism’ that seeks to reclaim the KDV DSSHDUHG DW ERWK )RON DQG :RUOG 0XVLF IHVWLYDOV celebration of English identity from the domain of the nationally – although it has not toured outside of extreme right (2). England. Secondly, a pervasive discourse around the couching That this is a project to do with Englishness is very much of English folk music as world music is the notion of foregrounded by the band. They have made it their Englishness as a lost identity – an identity that needs mission to generate debate about the nature of English WR EH UHGLVFRYHUHG
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jane Cornwell Speaks to Simon Emmerson, One of the Original Co-Founders of Afro Celt Sound System, and Fellow Member Johnny
    AFRO CELT SOUND SYSTEM quarter of a century ago in Dakar, Senegal, a “It was frustrating,” confesses Emmerson, “going onstage respected British producer, guitarist and self- and playing the same set over and over again. My mates were described “East End New Age lager lout” stood like, ‘Hey, it’s good to see you reliving the spirit of the 90s!’ I recording a West African melody that sounded, to felt like we’d become a nostalgia band.” Bringing it Back Ahis ears, just like a traditional Irish air. Convinced there was ACSS had always been a supergroup whose line-up more to this than mere coincidence, he set in motion a chain expanded and evolved around its four core members (for Jane Cornwell speaks to Simon Emmerson, one of the original of events that would culminate in over one-and-a-half million years, Emmerson, Irish sean nós singer Iarla Ó’Lionáird, Irish album sales, two Grammy nominations, several world tours bodhrán and whistle player James McNally and engineer/ co-founders of Afro Celt Sound System, and fellow member Johnny and a couple of A-list film soundtracks. And it ain’t over yet. programmer Martin Russell), with artists ranging from Peter Kalsi about their long-awaited return to the studio and stage Last month a new, reinvigorated Afro Celt Sound System Gabriel and Robert Plant to Sinéad O’Connor and Mundy gi!ed us !e Source, their first album in a decade. It’s a work guesting on di$erent albums. that comes full circle, being as fluid and organic as their 1996 While a 20th anniversary album of new material was long debut, Volume 1: Sound Magic, and bigging up the African in the o%ng, various wildly successful projects by individual side of their migh" Afro-Celtic collaborations, as their debut members made getting together tricky.
    [Show full text]
  • An Anthropological Perspective on Eastern and Western Folk Music
    An Anthropological Perspective on Eastern and Western Folk Music Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Gurczak, Adam Stanley Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 21:02:58 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625002 AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON EASTERN AND WESTERN FOLK MUSIC By ADAM STANLEY GURCZAK ____________________ A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelors Degree With Honors in Music Performance THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MAY 2017 Approved by: _________________________ Dr. Philip Alejo Department of Music EASTERN AND WESTERN FOLK MUSIC 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 2 ARTIST’S STATEMENT 2 INTRODUCTION 3 ARGENTINE TANGO 4 PRE-TANGO HISTORY: RISE OF THE GAUCHOS 5 A BORDELLO UPBRINGING 5 THE ROOTS AND RHYTHMS OF TANGO 8 A WORLDWIDE SENSATION 9 THE FOREFATHERS OF TANGO 11 CHINESE TRADITIONAL MUSIC 13 THE PHILOSOPHY OF MUSIC 14 INSTRUMENTS OF THE EARTH 16 THE SOUND OF SCHOLARS 18 KOREAN GUGAK 21 GUGAK: A NATIONAL IDENTITY 22 SHAMANS, SINAWI, AND SANJO 24 NOBLE COURTS AND FARMYARDS 28 AMERICAN BLUEGRASS 30 GRASSROOTS, BLUEGRASS, AND BLUES 30 THE POLYNATION OF BLUEGRASS 33 CONCLUSION 36 BIBLIOGRAPHY 37 EASTERN AND WESTERN FOLK MUSIC 2 ABSTRACT The birth of folk music has always depended on the social, political, and cultural conditions of a particular country and its people.
    [Show full text]
  • Durham Research Online
    Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 05 August 2016 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Leante, Laura (2009) 'Urban Myth : bhangra and the dhol craze in the UK.', in Music in motion : diversity and dialogue in Europe. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, pp. 191-207. Further information on publisher's website: http://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-1074-1/ Publisher's copyright statement: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License. Additional information: Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk (revised version – November 2008) 1 “Urban myth”: bhangra and the dhol craze in the UK Bhangra is believed to have originated in western Punjab (in today’s Pakistan) as a rural male dance performed to the rhythm of the dhol, a large double-headed barrel drum, to celebrate the spring harvest.
    [Show full text]
  • Lotus Infuses Downtown Bloomington with Global
    FOR MORE INFORMATION: [email protected] || 812-336-6599 || lotusfest.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 8/26/2016 LOTUS INFUSES DOWNTOWN BLOOMINGTON WITH GLOBAL MUSIC Over 30 international artists come together in Bloomington, Indiana, for the 23rd annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival. – COMPLETE EVENT DETAILS – Bloomington, Indiana: The Lotus World Music & Arts Festival returns to Bloomington, Indiana, September 15-18. Over 30 international artists from six continents and 20 countries take the stage in eight downtown venues including boisterous, pavement-quaking, outdoor dance tents, contemplative church venues, and historic theaters. Representing countries from A (Argentina) to Z (Zimbabwe), when Lotus performers come together for the four-day festival, Bloomington’s streets fill with palpable energy and an eclectic blend of global sound and spectacle. Through music, dance, art, and food, Lotus embraces and celebrates cultural diversity. The 2016 Lotus World Music & Arts Festival lineup includes artists from as far away as Finland, Sudan, Ghana, Lithuania, Mongolia, Ireland, Columbia, Sweden, India, and Israel….to as nearby as Virginia, Vermont, and Indiana. Music genres vary from traditional and folk, to electronic dance music, hip- hop-inflected swing, reggae, tamburitza, African retro-pop, and several uniquely branded fusions. Though US music fans may not yet recognize many names from the Lotus lineup, Lotus is known for helping to debut world artists into the US scene. Many 2016 Lotus artists have recently been recognized in both
    [Show full text]
  • Indo 91 0 1302899078 203
    Andrew N. Weintraub. Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia's Most Popular Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010. Photographs, musical notation, glossary, bibliography, index. 258+ pp. R. Anderson Sutton At last, a book on dangdut, and an excellent one. It is hard to imagine that anyone with experience in Indonesia over the past thirty-five years could be unaware of dangdut and its pervasive presence in the Indonesian soundscape. The importance of this music was first recognized in the international scholarly world by William Frederick in his landmark article on Rhoma Irama in the pages of this journal almost thirty years ago.1 Other scholars have devoted chapters to dangdut,2 but it is only with this meticulously researched and engagingly written book-length study by Andrew Weintraub that we have the important combination of perspectives—historical, musicological, sociological, gender, and media/cultural studies—that this rich and multifaceted form of expression deserves. Weintraub offers this highly informative study under the rubric of "dangdut stories," modestly pointing to the "incomplete and selective" nature of the stories he tells. But what he has accomplished is nothing short of a tour de force, giving us a very readable history of this genre, and untangling much about its diverse origins and the multiplicity of paths it has taken into the first decade of the twenty-first century. Near the outset, following three telling vignettes of dangdut events he observed, Weintraub explains that the book is a "musical and social history of dangdut within a range of broader narratives about class, gender, ethnicity, and nation in post­ independence Indonesia" (p.
    [Show full text]
  • Folk for Art's Sake: English Folk Music in the Mainstream Milieu
    Volume 4 (2009) ISSN 1751-7788 Folk for Art’s Sake: English Folk Music in the Mainstream Milieu Simon Keegan-Phipps University of Sheffield The English folk arts are currently undergoing a considerable resurgence; 1 practices of folk music, dance and drama that explicitly identify themselves as English are the subjects of increasing public interest throughout England. The past five years have seen a manifold increase in the number of professional musical acts that foreground their Englishness; for the first time since the last 'revival period' of the 1950s and 60s, it is easier for folk music agents to secure bookings for these English acts in England than Scottish and Irish (Celtic) bands. Folk festivals in England are experiencing greatly increased popularity, and the profile of the genre has also grown substantially beyond the boundaries of the conventional 'folk scene' contexts: Seth Lakeman received a Mercury Music Awards nomination in 2006 for his album Kitty Jay; Jim Moray supported Will Young’s 2003 UK tour, and his album Sweet England appeared in the Independent’s ‘Cult Classics’ series in 2007; in 2003, the morris side Dogrose Morris appeared on the popular television music show Later with Jools Holland, accompanied by the high-profile fiddler, Eliza Carthy;1 and all-star festival-headliners Bellowhead appeared on the same show in 2006.2 However, the expansion in the profile and presence of English folk music has 2 not been confined to the realms of vernacular, popular culture: On 20 July 2008, BBC Radio 3 hosted the BBC Proms
    [Show full text]
  • Representation Through Music in a Non-Parliamentary Nation
    MEDIANZ ! VOL 15, NO 1 ! 2015 DOI: 10.11157/medianz-vol15iss1id8 - ARTICLE - Re-Establishing Britishness / Englishness: Representation Through Music in a non-Parliamentary Nation Robert Burns Abstract The absence of a contemporary English identity distinct from right wing political elements has reinforced negative and apathetic perceptions of English folk culture and tradition among populist media. Negative perceptions such as these have to some extent been countered by the emergence of a post–progressive rock–orientated English folk–protest style that has enabled new folk music fusions to establish themselves in a populist performance medium that attracts a new folk audience. In this way, English politicised folk music has facilitated an English cultural identity that is distinct from negative social and political connotations. A significant contemporary national identity for British folk music in general therefore can be found in contemporary English folk as it is presented in a homogenous mix of popular and world music styles, despite a struggle both for and against European identity as the United Kingdom debates ‘Brexit’, the current term for its possible departure from the EU. My mother was half English and I'm half English too I'm a great big bundle of culture tied up in the red, white and blue (Billy Bragg and the Blokes 2002). When the singer and songwriter, Billy Bragg wrote the above song, England, Half English, a friend asked him whether he was being ironic. He replied ‘Do you know what, I’m not’, a statement which shocked his friends. Bragg is a social commentator, political activist and staunch socialist who is proudly English and an outspoken anti–racist, which his opponents may see as arguably diametrically opposed combination.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSAL MUSIC • Rammstein – Videos 1995 – 2012 (DVD) • The
    Rammstein – Videos 1995 – 2012 (DVD) The Rolling Stones – Grrr (Album Vinyl Box) Insane Clown Posse – Insane Clown Posse & Twiztid's American Psycho Tour Documentary (DVD) New Releases From Classics And Jazz Inside!! And more… UNI13-03 “Our assets on-line” UNIVERSAL MUSIC 2450 Victoria Park Ave., Suite 1, Willowdale, Ontario M2J 5H3 Phone: (416) 718.4000 Artwork shown may not be final UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA NEW RELEASE Artist/Title: Hollywood Undead – Notes From The Underground Bar Code: Cat. #: B001797702 Price Code: SP Order Due: December 20, 2012 Release Date: January 8, 2013 File: Hip Hop /Rock Genre Code: 34/37 Box Lot: 25 SHORT SELL CYCLE Key Tracks: We Are KEY POINTS: 14 BRAND NEW TRACKS Hollywood Undead have sold over 83,000 albums in Canada HEAVY outdoor, radio and online campaign First single “We Are” video is expected mid December 2013 Tour in the works 2.8 million Facebook friends and 166,000 Twitter followers Also Available American Tragedy (2011) ‐ B001527502 Swan Song (2008) ‐ B001133102 INTERNAL USE Label Name: Territory: Choose Release Type: Choose For additional artist information please contact JP Boucher at 416‐718‐4113 or [email protected]. UNIVERSAL MUSIC 2450 Victoria Park Avenue, Suite 1, Toronto, ON M2J 5H3 Phone: (416) 718‐4000 Fax: (416) 718‐4218 UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA NEW RELEASE Artist/Title: Black Veil Brides / Wretched And Divine: The Story Of Bar Code: The Wild Ones (Regular CD) Cat. #: B001781702 Price Code: SP 02537 22095 Order Due: Dec. 20, 2012 Release Date: Jan. 8, 2013 6 3 File: Rock Genre Code: 37 Box Lot: 25 Short Sell Cycle Key Tracks: Artist/Title: Black Veil Brides / Wretched And Divine: The Story Of Bar Code: The Wild Ones (Deluxe CD/DVD) Cat.
    [Show full text]
  • VAGRANT RECORDS the Lndie to Watch
    VAGRANT RECORDS The lndie To Watch ,Get Up Kids Rocket From The Crypt Alkaline Trio Face To Face RPM The Detroit Music Fest Report 130.0******ALL FOR ADC 90198 LOUD ROCK Frederick Gier KUOR -REDLANDS Talkin' Dirty With Matt Zane No Motiv 5319 Honda Ave. Unit G Atascadero, CA 93422 HIP-HOP Two Decades of Tommy Boy WEEZER HOLDS DOWN el, RADIOHEAD DOMINATES TOP ADDS AIR TAKES CORE "Tommy's one of the most creative and versatile multi-instrumentalists of our generation." _BEN HARPER HINTO THE "Geggy Tah has a sleek, pointy groove, hitching the melody to one's psyche with the keen handiness of a hat pin." _BILLBOARD AT RADIO NOW RADIO: TYSON HALLER RETAIL: ON FEDDOR BILLY ZARRO 212-253-3154 310-288-2711 201-801-9267 www.virginrecords.com [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 2001 VIrg. Records Amence. Inc. FEATURING "LAPDFINCE" PARENTAL ADVISORY IN SEARCH OF... EXPLICIT CONTENT %sr* Jeitetyr Co owe Eve« uuwEL. oles 6/18/2001 Issue 719 • Vol 68 • No 1 FEATURES 8 Vagrant Records: become one of the preeminent punk labels The Little Inclie That Could of the new decade. But thanks to a new dis- Boasting a roster that includes the likes of tribution deal with TVT, the label's sales are the Get Up Kids, Alkaline Trio and Rocket proving it to be the indie, punk or otherwise, From The Crypt, Vagrant Records has to watch in 2001. DEPARTMENTS 4 Essential 24 New World Our picks for the best new music of the week: An obit on Cameroonian music legend Mystic, Clem Snide, Destroyer, and Even Francis Bebay, the return of the Free Reed Johansen.
    [Show full text]
  • Afro Celt Sound System A: Afro Celt Sound System B: Release and Instruments • Afro Celt Sound System Is More of a Collaborative Musical Collective Than a Band
    Music GCSE Music – Set Work 7 – Afro Celt Sound System A: Afro Celt Sound System B: Release and Instruments • Afro Celt Sound System is more of a collaborative musical collective than a band. • In 1997, as they were preparing to record their second album, one of their • It began in 1995 as an experiment by Simon Emmerson to see what would happen if he brought keyboard players, Jo Bruce (son of Jack Bruce from the band Cream), died together some expert musicians from different cultures and let them improvise over some techno suddenly. grooves. • Stunned by the results, the four founder members (Emmerson, James McNally, Iarla O’Lionaird • This tragedy almost stopped the project from happening, but when they and producer Martin Russell) took it to Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios where a recording week were in the recording studio, Sinead O’Connor happened to be in the same is held to allow people from all over the world to come together and inspire each other, form links studio complex. and record some new and original music. • • The fusion of Irish and African cultures was what originally inspired Emmerson. She met with the group and contributed some lyrics in keeping with its • In that one week when they recorded most of the first album, the musicians didn’t all share the collective nature. The lyrics took a different view of the tragedy and inspired same spoken language, communicating largely through their music, but the results proved that the the group to continue with what they were doing. concept worked.
    [Show full text]
  • 14302 76969 1 1>
    11> 0514302 76969 establishment,” he hastened to clarify. “I wish it were called the Legion of Honour, but it’s not.” Still in all, he thinks it’s good for govern- M artin C arthy ments to give cultural awards and is suitably honored by this one, which has previously gone to such outstanding folk performers as Jeannie Robertson. To decline under such circum- stances, he said, would have been “snotty.” Don’t More importantly, he conceives of his MBE as recognition he shares with the whole Call Me folk scene. “I’ve been put at the front of a very, very long queue of people who work hard to make a folk revival and a folk scene,” he said. Sir! “All those people who organized clubs for nothing and paid you out of their own pocket, and fed you and put you on the train the next morning, and put you to bed when you were drunk! What [the government is] doing, is taking notice of the fact that something’s going on for the last more than 40 years. It’s called the folk revival. They’ve ignored it for that long. And someone has suddenly taken notice, and that’s okay. A bit of profile isn’t gonna hurt us — and I say us, the plural, for the folk scene — isn’t gonna hurt us at all.” In the same year as Carthy’s moment of recognition, something happened that did hurt the folk scene. Lal Waterson, Carthy’s sister-in- law, bandmate, near neighbor and close friend, died of cancer.
    [Show full text]
  • The A-Z of Brent's Black Music History
    THE A-Z OF BRENT’S BLACK MUSIC HISTORY BASED ON KWAKU’S ‘BRENT BLACK MUSIC HISTORY PROJECT’ 2007 (BTWSC) CONTENTS 4 # is for... 6 A is for... 10 B is for... 14 C is for... 22 D is for... 29 E is for... 31 F is for... 34 G is for... 37 H is for... 39 I is for... 41 J is for... 45 K is for... 48 L is for... 53 M is for... 59 N is for... 61 O is for... 64 P is for... 68 R is for... 72 S is for... 78 T is for... 83 U is for... 85 V is for... 87 W is for... 89 Z is for... BRENT2020.CO.UK 2 THE A-Z OF BRENT’S BLACK MUSIC HISTORY This A-Z is largely a republishing of Kwaku’s research for the ‘Brent Black Music History Project’ published by BTWSC in 2007. Kwaku’s work is a testament to Brent’s contribution to the evolution of British black music and the commercial infrastructure to support it. His research contained separate sections on labels, shops, artists, radio stations and sound systems. In this version we have amalgamated these into a single ‘encyclopedia’ and added entries that cover the period between 2007-2020. The process of gathering Brent’s musical heritage is an ongoing task - there are many incomplete entries and gaps. If you would like to add to, or alter, an entry please send an email to [email protected] 3 4 4 HERO An influential group made up of Dego and Mark Mac, who act as the creative force; Gus Lawrence and Ian Bardouille take care of business.
    [Show full text]