music
Kinshasa Symphony: why is Mozart in Africa an alien concept?
People passionately making music is always good film fodder. This German documentary offers a contrast to the conflicts and states of mind dealt with its 2008 predecessor 'Trip to Asia', which followed the Berlin philharmonic
music, berlinale, berlin, culture, film review, film, culture calendar
Songbeat, Berlin: story of a German music start-up
Philip Eggersglüß and Marco Rydman are two Berliners who launched an online music business at the age of 25. We discuss court cases, 'limited company' statuses via the UK and Hong Kong and the benefits of working in the German capital
music, germany, berlin, songbeat, culture, start-up company, economy
In the middle of our street
You have to know how to choose them, have fun in them, and leave them. Having a neighbourhood is a bit like having a second skin. It typically has your local, your loyal neighbours and shops. But neighbourhoods have their own skins too. Take the Gazi quarter in Athens which shed its industrial skin to become the latest craze, as happened to Kreuzberg in Berlin, or the renewed district of Jozsefvaros in Budapest. We take a little stroll around some European streets
Grand Archives: ‘In five years time we’ll probably be bartenders again’
Mat, Jeff, Curtis and Thomas are four friends from Seattle, four musicians from a small city. They’re not easily recognisable - you won’t have seen their faces in magazines or billboards. They don’t seem like typical indie rock stars; ‘nor do we don’t want to,’ says frontman Mat Brooke. We catch the group on their European tour leg in the Spanish capital
music, brunch, grand archives, culture, spain, leonid kuchma
Annett Louisan: 'I don’t need to go the fake platinum blonde bombshell route anymore'
The breathy German chanson singer hasn’t only changed hair colour over the years - she seems to have done a bit of growing up as well. We catch the 31-year-old entertaining the Franco-German relations ambassador and performing live in Paris for the first time
Music in February: The Rumour Said Fire, Corinne Bailey Rae and Jaga Jazzist
A new British neo-soul album, an old favourite from Denmark's Simon and Garfunkel and five top tracks spanning London via Brooklyn and Oslo - a selection of Europe's music tips of the month
music, bands, video, poland, death, united kingdom, culture calendar
Babelblogs on music: Charlie Winston wins 'European border breaker award'
... but what are these awards? A press release alerted me to the existence of an award show put on by the European commission for European music acts that 'cross borders'. Interesting idea, but the way it is structured is kind of silly
music, english, awards, culture, talent, european commission, babelblog
Music in January: Blur, Arsov and Loredana Groza
Electro tickles through folk Slovenian covers to Romanian local heroines, whilst the mighty Britpop band are featured in a new documentary in the UK, premiered last night: your music tips of the month
music, britpop, culture, romania, culture calendar, slovenia, album
L.U.C: 'Poland is not just vodka and pretty girl exports'
Rather than rapping on his new album, producer Lukasz Rostkowski, 29, mixes in historical soundtracks, including the voice of ex-Polish president Lech Walesa. The jazz, trip hop and electro musician explains how a sometimes pessimist view of his country's past has inspired him in his musical projects, for which he has just picked up a 2009 'Passport award' from the journalists at Polityka
music, warsaw, identity, reunification, brunch, poland, history
Staff Benda Bilili, voice of the voiceless in Congo
‘We're all handicapped people, ain't we?’ runs their myspace byline. After more than a month of touring through Europe, this group of paraplegic street musicians from Kinshasa left crowds elated and bewildered almost a year after releasing their debut album Très Très Fort, courtesy of Belgian producer Vincent Kenis of Congotronics fame. A French documentary on the group has been underway for seven years
music, bands, disable people, record, documentary, discrimination, culture
Fever Ray, Peter Bjorn and John: Swedish music right now
Famed in the nineties as the capital of pop, Scandinavia doesn’t seem to have exhausted its creative vein just yet. With a legacy of pop artists such as Aqua and Ace of Base, the northern European music scene is opening up to new sounds, experimenting with new technology and ambient tones, whilst never forgetting its musical past
music, party, cd, culture calendar, album, scandinavia, leonid kuchma
DJ Boris Viande: the Breton who mixes gypsy funk
'Boris Viande,' the 26 year-old muses. 'That’s my pseudonym, how I am best known.' A trumpet player, like the writer Boris Vian, Romain has now been mixing for four years. The young Frenchman claims that before unearthing his passion for eastern music, he was part of the punk movement
The 'M' word: breaking the Bulgarian complex
In January 2009, Sofia’s then-mayor and current PM banned anti-government protests after citizen disillusion with the country’s corruption; Bulgaria is officially the poorest EU state, according to Transparency International. One year on, the remnants of a ‘protest culture’ lie in the urban, cultural and mediatic fragmentation of a society rooted in tradition, the past - and the mafia, to an extent
music, eu crisis on the ground, protest, corruption, urban space, communism, bulgaria
‘If I had to choose between sex and performing live with The Whitest Boy Alive...’
One day it was just computers. The next day, god brought instruments. Over the past decade, the Berlin-based band’s polyphonic electronic sound has translated into pure deprogrammed happiness for live dance fans across Europe. We hear the boys from Bergen, Berlin and Toruń out
Music in December: Sally Shapiro, Empire of The Sun and Múm
Featuring: album of the month from Polish rock-turned-pop star Agnieszka Chylinska, favourite disc of the month from an Australian award-winning electronica duo and a tracklist from Paris to keep you warm this winter
The Wankin' Noodles, four boys from Rennes who sing about girls
Romain, Regis, Jean-Sylvain and Guillame went from being graphic design, cinema, information technology and literature students, to being backed by big names as France's latest post-teenage kicks band. Quick catch up with the twelve-eyed foursome at the Transmusicales festival in their hometown
music, bands, rennes, men and women, pop music, culture, youth
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