Live: Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali UK Tour
The Pakistan-based Qawwali group returned to the UK for their first tour since 2017.
Sun, 31 March 19
The Imagined Village
If you think you know about English folk music, think again. The Imagined Village, the brainchild of producer and musician Simon Emmerson, has recast age old traditions in the shape of the 21st Century. A daring mix of ancient and modern, The Imagined Village fuses fiddles and squeezebox with dub beats and sitars. To do so it has gathered an extraordinary array of talent: Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra, Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, Tunng, Transglobal Underground and Benjamin Zephaniah among others. Emmerson has a history of ground-breaking fusions, as founder of jazz-soul group Working Week and The Afro Celt Sound System, and as a Grammy-nominated producer of world acts like Manu Dibango and Baba Maal.
"After travelling the world I thought it was time to explore my own roots, to look at the earth under my feet." Simon Emmerson
The Imagined Village project grew out of a discussion prompted by the BBC Radio 3 documentary A Place Called England which addressed the blind spot amongst many of the English concerning their own musical heritage. The Imagined Village is also influenced by Georgina Boyes’ eponymous book that examined the pivotal impact the Edwardian song collectors, most notably Cecil Sharp, made on the development of an English folk music repertoire.
Billy Bragg, whose book The Progressive Patriot addresses the same issue of English identity, agrees. “In any village there’s a meeting between the custodians of the past and the architects of the future, and The Imagined Village reflects just that.”
Releases
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The Imagined Village
Gathering together an array of brilliant and challenging voices, and setting them in a musical framework that honours the past while updating it with breathtaking confidence, The Imagined Village is arguably the most ambitious re-invention of the English folk tradition since Fairport Convention's Liege and Lief.
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Real World 25
Various Artists
Beautifully packaged clamshell box with 3 CD wallets, 28 page booklet containing the story of 25 Years of Real World Records, and a collection of Real World Tales with contributions from musicians, producers, designer and managers.
Further reading
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at WOMAD 1985: Were you there?
Nusrat's concert at the festival in 1985 was the first in front of a primarily non-Asian audience
Tue, 09 April 19
Track of the Day: ‘Meáchan Rudaí’ by The Gloaming
The Gloaming's third album opens with a song based on a poem of the same name by Liam Ó Muirthile.
Tue, 26 February 19
République Amazone: Track by Track
Exploring the lyrics of songs from the debut album by Les Amazones d'Afrique
Fri, 01 March 19