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Ladysmith Black Mambazo: In the Name of the Father
After 40-some years leading boundary-breaking South African vocal troupe Ladysmith Black Mambazo, group founder Joseph Shabalala is stepping down and turning the reins over to his son Tommy Shabalala, who now joins a notable group of African sons carrying on the work of their esteemed musical patriarchs... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesNew York Bars Serve Cosmopolitans
Everyone complains about record labels, calling them out-of-touch money pits that can’t innovate fast enough to compete in the 21st century marketplace. But maybe the real problem is that they don’t know how to pour a drink. Two New York companies... read more
Found in: Culture, FeaturesCultured Clash: Osvaldo Golijov's Music of the Future
For most of the past half century, the artistic tag “international”—and the “ism” that labeled it a cultural trend—held a vaguely unpleasant connotation. It began cosmopolitan and cool, but then the concept started to drift, eventually landing on the universal yet impersonal, the utopian yet faceless. In architecture, for example, at the tail-end of the International Style movement in the 1960s and ’70s, every city in the U.S. and Brazil and China suffered its cookie-cutter modern office buildings, the ugly fact of “internationalism” made real. Still, a few groovy jet-set buildings turned heads; those old promises continued to hold a... read more
Found in: Culture, FeaturesI Served the King of England
In the 1960s, Jiri Menzel subverted the Eastern Bloc status... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsStereolab: Chemical Chords
It now seems somewhat reductive/ridiculous... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsOrchestra Baobab: Made in Dakar
Senegalese pioneers restore luster of cosmopolitan Afropop classics"The Black Atlantic” is the term black British scholar Paul Gilroy coined to convey how the Atlantic Ocean has shaped the growth of black culture and identity. The ocean, Gilroy argued, hasn’t so much divided black culture as it has unified it. From the days of slavery to the anti-colonial movement to the dawn of globalization, black arts, ideas and politics have developed at least as much through movement and exchange back and forth across the water as they have in specific locales.... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsFrightened Rabbit: The Midnight Organ Fight
Glasgow band shoots for the back row on sophomore releaseHaving already demonstrated their rough-around-the-edges charm with its frantic 2007 debut, Frightened Rabbit is just about the last band you’d expect would aspire to arena-sized rock anthems. That they can pull this off while retaining their homespun aesthetic is remarkable, as Midnight Organ Fight startles with its heartfelt directness and sing-along immediacy. The album is singularly focused yet emotionally visceral, refining and sharpening the band’s rousing sprawl. Vocalist/guitarist Scott Hutchison writes songs that tread the fine line between overwrought emoting and startling self-revelation, his wounded Scottish yelp perfectly suited for the... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsLykke Li: Youth Novels
Before working as a professional dancer on Swedish... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsSouth African Dispatch
During the Apartheid years, I remember watching a black guitarist play with a white band dressed in overalls. He had a bucket and mop standing near his amplifier—strict laws prevented musicians of different ethnic backgrounds from playing together, and if the police had raided... read more
Found in: Culture, FeaturesSaša Stanišic: Magic in Motion
"There's nothing there. Just sheep and me." Saša Stanišic happily describes the Swiss setting where he's retreated to write. One can't blame him for seeking a quiet place. The war in Bosnia still rings in his ears... read more
Found in: Books, Features
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 50 Best Albums of the Decade…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms Vs. Bad…
Gregory Alan Isakov - The Moon Song
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
David Bazan - Hard To Be
