Reem Kelani: one live album, one new album Kickstarter
It’s been rather a while since I posted on here, due to various changes in direction. This post is slightly recycling insofar as I’m putting up a review of Reem … Continue reading
Reviewed: Checkpoint 303’s ‘Iqrit Files’
Electronic Intifada, 14th October 2015 Palestinian songs, poetry, history and landscapes provide the starting point for an album which combines them with the much more youthful sounds of drum and … Continue reading
New review: music and Palestine
Electronic Intifada, 22nd December 2014 In Beckles Willson’s case, however, a few important points stand out. One is her careful, sophisticated, but nevertheless uncompromising articulation of the deep-seated difference between … Continue reading
Marcel Khalife at the Barbican
Marcel Khalife’s style of big-act, traditional Arabic music performance isn’t particularly my kind of thing, but when I saw he was performing in London I figured that he’s the kind … Continue reading
Noise vs music
‘You and I have very different tastes in music…‘ observed husband this evening (well spotted, after ten years). It’s a subject I’ve been thinking about a bit lately, though. The … Continue reading
New article: Trio Joubran collection reviewed
Electronic Intifada, 12th April 2013 The Trio Joubran are perhaps Palestine’s best-known exponents of the oud, a traditional Arabic stringed instrument. Three brothers from a family of musicians and instrument-makers … Continue reading
The Intoxicating Rose Garden
One of the joys of being a student is the discounts. Not in noisy pubs, but in Edinburgh’s wide range of music and theatrical venues. As has been observed many … Continue reading
New article: Khyam Allami interviewed
The Arab Review, 12th June 2012 “Allami – raised in Syria and London, of Iraqi origins – is hard to pin down. His projects range from debut album Resonance/Dissonance (nominated … Continue reading
UK Immigration vs art, sanity (again)
Disappointed to receive this message this morning, from the wonderful ‘ud player Khyam Allami: Due to some very unfortunate circumstances beyond our control, we’ve had to start the Double Duo … Continue reading
Michael Nyman at the Brickworks
Artists are supposed to have to suffer for their work, but occasionally audiences have to endure a certain amount of discomfort too. Like today, when viewing composer Michael Nyman’s short … Continue reading
Trio Joubran at Band on the Wall
It’s a small comment on the general wrongness of things when Trio Joubran’s long-awaited appearance in Manchester is a night at Band On The Wall, rather than, say, a packed … Continue reading
Sarah Irving 