Haale (pronounced similar to Hallelujah) successfully manages to blend the traditional rhythm and passion of Persian and Sufi Trance music and fuse it with a beautiful take on the post modern rock most readily associated with the likes of Radiohead. Dark and beautifully orchestrated spaces allow for the true breadth of her voice to shine [...]

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It’s news stories like this that jump out at me and remind me about the power of music. Tiken Jah Fakoly is a very popular reggae artist in Africa. He’s also very outspoken and apt to speak his mind - qualities that those in power aren’t too fond of in western Africa (and the rest [...]

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Ickmusic’s crack Canadian correspondent, Cam, returns….
A few years ago, at my frigid first outdoor festival of the year, the tropical sounds of Mr. Something Something caught my ear. I thought they were great. Having seen Antibalas, Femi Kuti, and listened to his father Fela, I knew a little bit about Afrobeat, at [...]

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The world loses another great musician. In a senseless & random act of violence, South African reggae star Lucky Dube was shot and killed outside of Johannesburg yesterday in an attempted carjacking - in front of his children, mind you. What a wonderful world we live in…
Lucky isn’t too well known here in the U.S. [...]

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I first came across Manu Chao a few years ago thanks to still amazing Radio Paradise. The song was “Bongo Bong”, and was like nothing I’d ever heard - a mix of latin, world beats, jazz, punk. Well he’s back with that same hard to define blend with his latest release, La Radiolina [...]

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My wife and I just got done watching the newly released DVD Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. As far as the horrifying subject matter that forms the backdrop of this documentary - which is the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone - I feel much the way I felt after watching Hotel Rwanda: enraged and [...]

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Soel is Pascal Ohs, a Paris born and bred trumpeter and composer who’s a member of popular European group St. Germain. Memento is his first solo effort, where he pays homage to the American R&B, classic soul and jazz that he digs so immensely. What he have in this tune is a very obvious tribute [...]

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This is a pretty easy segue from my last post about Tony Allen. I was reading the latest Rolling Stone yesterday, and in Austin Scaggs’ Smoking Section, he gave a heads up to the new album by Antibalas (which just came out March 6th). Scaggs said they “churn out the best Afrobeat since Fela Kuti [...]

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Kudos to Jefito for throwing a Fela Kuti / Ginger Baker tune on one of his Friday mix tapes a couple months back. It made me aware of Fela and the Africa 70’s “Live” album with Ginger Baker. It was originally released in 1971, but was reissued late last year with a 16 minute [...]

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Did anyone catch this on Letterman the other night? A mind-blowing display of guitar prowess. They’re a pair originally from Mexico City, but have been street entertainers in Dublin, Ireland, and Denmark and Spain.
Watch Gabriela’s finger fly, and watch them win over a crowd.

Check out their new album on Amazon.
Official Web Site | [...]

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