duggup

Oliver Mtukudzi is a truly legendary figure in contemporary African music, his albums are consistent best-sellers in his native land and beyond (he releases on average two albums a year). Trust me, this guy knows how to write a song, killer melodies (that will haunt you), rhythms from Zimbabwe and the South African townships and [...]

Today let’s chat about The Duhks. They play an amazing combination of Appalachian bluegrass, the odd irish fiddle tune, and a bit of folk rock just to round the mix off. I first found this band when I heard Down To The River off their 2006 album “Migrations”. This song has a wonderful arrangment, a [...]

Extra Golden is a Kenyan-American band who stumbled into funk as an accidental by-product of its style, which combines  Nairobian benga music (Benga is one of the most beloved forms of popular music in Kenya)  and good old rock ’n’ roll. With a solid downbeat underpinning the drive the band make all the variations in [...]

“HOT HORNS + HEAVY PERCUSSION“, thats what it says on the Nomo Myspace site. Oh yes, do they live up to it. Minimalist keyboard loops, fuzzed-out bass, the odd soulful vocal, and then there’s the electric mbira (a Zimbabwean thumb piano also known in parts of Southern Africa as a kalimba), an electric sawblade gamelan [...]

Picture this – a choir of 30 men – complete with conductor – dressed in black suits who perform by shouting. My initial reaction was along the lines of “how bizarre.” Then I had another listen and before long had convinced myself that this unique barrage of sound had something elemental about it. Performed with [...]

Recently I ran across a video shot in Barcelona in 2004 by Kedar Misani of the Shumei Taiko Ensemble. It consists of a string of bites from an outdoor performance. Taiko is a growing in popularity in America and there are numerous groups of drummers in Japan – several of which play professionally all around [...]

Cantara are from Edinburgh Scotland and they play a deliciously spicy fusion of Celtic inspired world music. They were formed about 8 years ago and while the lineup has changed their style of music has remained. The highland piper Louise Marshall Millington has the following to say about her band on her website VIPpiper: Our [...]