The Russian republic of Chechnya has taken the rare step of banning music it deems either too fast or too slow. Officials there have outlawed songs that don’t conform to new rules which specify their beat per minute, which excludes most of Western pop.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, many cultural figures in Russia are either gaining fame of fleeing. The pop star Shaman, has risen to become one of the country's highest-paid singers after changing his tune to become a messenger of Russian propaganda.
Sandeep Acharya is a popular musician. Millions of users stream his songs online, and thousands of fans attend his concerts. He belongs to India’s Hindutva music scene - an Islamophobic scene that has been on the rise in India. Hindutva pop is often played when Hindu groups rally in India. Some songs have even sparked violence and riots.
NOTIFICATION SQUAD: 7 years ago when I first arrived in Japan, amidst my frustrating attempts to learn Japanese I started watching an anime series after I got home from work. It was a hilarious show called GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), and at the start of each episode it kicked off with an iconic theme tune called "Drivers High" by the band L'arc en Ciel.If somebody had told me back then I'd be spending a week with the frontman, Hyde, all these years later, I would have laughed them out of my treacherously small apartment.This was easily one of the most surreal experiences in my time in Japan so far, I had an absolute blast meeting a rock legend who means so much to so many people - and of course, teaching him some swear words along the way.
As soon as you hear threatening music or sound effects in a film, you know disaster is lurking, even if the onscreen images suggest nothing of the kind. Be they pure sound, music or even raw noise, acoustic events are powerful. "Brain Beats" visits researchers, musicians and other people who are particularly interested in sound. Our journey spans an arc from evolutionary research to the question as to the role the ear should play if mankind ever leaves the earth and sets off into outer space.
Who wouldn’t want to work with this band, especially when it’s all just one guy?
In the midst of Japan’s creative and musical commercials, it can be hard to stand out. Job advertisement don’t get much more unique than this help-wanted video, though.
In his cover of T.M. Revolution’s “White Breath,”Mr. Nagata, a branch manager for Japan’s Hard Off chain of second-hand stores, filmed himself playing a bunch of “junk” instruments and compiled them into one music video where it appears as if he is every member of the band.
The video was intended to advertise the store in general and the fact that they’re hiring new employees, but since it’s posting on January 12, it’s already garnered over 1 million views on YouTube.
▼ Even if you don’t understand Japanese, you’ll definitely remember the phrase, “Nagata desu.” (“I’m Nagata.”)
How hip-hop has become the language of politics for Senegal's youth.
Those who followed the campaigns leading up to Senegal's presidential election late last month would have been struck by one of the defining features of Senegalese politics - hip-hop artists and the pivotal roles they can play in elections.
A major reason for that: demographics. The average age of citizens there is exceptionally low - just 19. Rappers were among the founders of the country's largest social movement, credited with swaying the previous election back in 2012. This year, all the leading candidates hit the campaign trail with at least one rapper in their corner.
Cumbia is a growing staple of Latin American music. Its driving beat can be heard all over the continent, from Argentina to Mexico to the US. Cumbia’s catchy rhythms can be traced back to the villages along the river banks of Colombia’s Rio Magdalena where mostly African and American indigenous musical elements fused together to create a whole new style of music. And cumbia keeps evolving. Today DJs and pop stars are bringing cumbia into the electronic realm. But no matter how much it evolves, it always comes back to Colombia.
Green Day's roots in the early 90s Bay Area DIY punk scene, centered around the legendary venue 924 Gilman Street, also home to my favorite bands like Spazz, Capitalist Casualties and Dystopia as well as zines like Maximumrocknroll and Cometbus
Aretha Franklin will always be the Queen of Soul. In the 1960s songs like “Respect” became the symbol for political and social change. It’s likely the reason her music moved so many people wasn’t necessarily the lyrics, but the way she delivered them.
Aretha was raised in the church, and her life and music was rooted in gospel music. You can hear this so clearly in her live performances and covers, where every musical decision she made was in the moment.
Born in Memphis to a gospel singer/pianist and a celebrated Baptist preacher, Franklin was tutored from an early age by such gospel stars as Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward.
The fade out in music is one of those necessary tools in a record producers arsenal. But if you listen to today's hits it's much more likely you'll hear a song that has a hard abrupt electronic ending. Bill Weir, wrote a great piece at Slate a few years ago tracking the rise and fall of the fade out in pop music: from one of the very first fade outs created by a literal wooden door to the epic 4 minute fade out of "Hey Jude." In the video above he brings me through that sonic journey.
Over the past few years a general nostalgia for the 1980s has infiltrated music, film, and television. I deeply love those gated reverb drums of the '80s - you know that punchy percussive sound popularized by Phil Collins and Prince? So for my second episode of Vox Pop’s Earworm I spoke with two Berklee College of Music professors, Susan Rogers and Prince Charles Alexander, to figure out just how that sound came to be, what makes it so damn punchy, and why it’s back.
That cover of Daft Punk’s “Something About Us” was performed by fourth grade students at Namsong Elementary School in Daegu, South Korea. Using MPCs and other electronic musical instruments, they delivered an amazingly easy-to-listen-to performance for anyone who’s ever been to an elementary school music recital.
A musical journey of faith that follows Britain's first female Muslim hip-hop duo on tour.
This is a universal story about friendship, love and idealism, and two young women finding their place in the world.
Muneera and Sukina are Poetic Pilgrimage, Britain's first female Muslim hip-hop duo. And this is their personal, spiritual and physical journey.
As a tour of the UK takes the women into diverse communities, they remain undeterred by the fact that some Muslims consider music and public female performances to be forbidden.
