WOMAD Las Palmas, November 10-11 2017

WOMAD Las Palmas, November 10-11 2017

It has been a few years since this capital city in the Canary Islands has hosted WOMAD; the festival has been on a six-year break in neighbouring Fuerteventura. But with an estimated audience of 40,000 at the concerts this year, there was a genuine sense of joy as Las Palmas welcomed its return. The line-up … Continue reading →

Shambala, August 24-27 2017

Shambala, August 24-27 2017

It’s hard not to think that the sun came out specifically for this festival of dreamers and colour fiends. Forecast to be grey and dreary, the weekend was instead warm and bright, echoing Shambala’s vibe with the sun reflecting brilliantly off the endless sparkles that clothed the punters. As always, the festival offered a veritable … Continue reading →

Introducing… Msafiri Zawose

Introducing… Msafiri Zawose

This feature originally appeared in Songlines #132 (Nov 2017) p18. Download a pdf here. Alexandra Petropoulos speaks to Tanzanian musician Msafiri Zawose and producer Sam Jones about their inspired collaboration Collaboration can be a tricky beast. A successful one takes mutual respect, equal talent and, perhaps above all, patience; all qualities that are evident in the latest album … Continue reading →

Belem, May 19

Belem, May 19

Belem Brighton Festival, All Saints Church, Brighton, May 19 The dark, vaulted interior of Brighton’s All Saint’s Church proved to be a very different setting than where I mostly found myself on this particular weekend. Flitting between dingy basements and bars packed with bearded hipsters, I welcomed an excuse to take a break from the … Continue reading →

Introducing… Addictive TV

Introducing… Addictive TV

This feature originally appeared in Songlines #128 (June 2017) p19. Download a pdf here. Alexandra Petropoulos talks to the duo about their latest project that saw them recording musicians from every corner of the globe Mark Vidler and Graham Daniels have been working together for a while now, so they may not need introducing. In 2005 VJ Daniels … Continue reading →

Essential 10: Festival Bands

Essential 10: Festival Bands

This article originally appeared in Songlines #128 (June 2017) p114. Download a pdf here. Summer is just around the corner and that can mean only one thing – it’s officially festival season! Here are just some of the bands that will have deputy editor Alexandra Petropoulos dancing in her wellies 47Soul Shamstep EP (47Soul, 2015) This crew of … Continue reading →

Soapbox: Sacred Music

Soapbox: Sacred Music

This feature originally appeared in Songlines #122 (Nov 2016) p105. Download a pdf here. Alexandra Petropoulos ponders the challenges of performing and listening to sacred music onstage as entertainment, away from its original contexts Beneath a canopy of brightly coloured fabrics, all glowing in the black light, I stood utterly entranced by what was happening … Continue reading →

Introducing… Sarathy Korwar

Introducing… Sarathy Korwar

This feature originally appeared in Songlines #121 (October 2016) p15. Download a pdf here. Alexandra Petropoulos speaks to percussionist Sarathy Korwar about his debut that combines ethnographic recordings and jazz (Photo by Fabrice Bourgelle) The movement of African music across the Atlantic is well documented. Without that migration the music of South America and the Caribbean would be … Continue reading →

Essential 10: Festival Bands

Essential 10: Festival Bands

This article originally appeared in Songlines #120 (Aug/Sept 2016) p98. Download a pdf here. It’s not summer in the UK until you’ve spent a weekend in your wellies and sun hat at a festival. Here are ten acts Alexandra Petropoulos is looking forward to seeing at Larmer Tree, WOMAD, Cambridge and Shambala festivals 01 Afriquoi Kolaba (Wormfood Records, … Continue reading →