Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Great Bands at Womad 2018

Things we liked:

Jazzanova
Hanggai (Mongolian rockers)
Ladama (Latin American feminist band)
La Dame Blanche (Cuban singer)
Leftfield (live house music - we missed out on that whole thing the first time round)
KermesZ a L'Est (mad Belgian brass punks playing mainly Balkan music, with lots of street theatre and comedy)
Bollywood Brass Band with Jyotsna Srikanth
Dobet Gnahore
Mr Jukes
The Undercover Hippy (sort of reggae/ska, politically engaged lyrics)
Tuuletar (amazing Finnish acapella women)
Jiggy (Irish folk-rock)
Meklit (Ethiopian)
Too Many Zooz (live electronic music played on baritone sax, trumpet and drums/percussion)
The Dirty Bourbon River Show
Thievery Corporation


Monday, July 09, 2018

Review of 'Flight Behaviour' by Barbara Kingsolver

Really loved this - a clever, thoughtful and often funny book about climate change, poverty, education, science, community, relationships...it's just great. Particularly good on insights into what it's like to be a poor person (especially a working poor person) in a rural part of the US, and why such people aren't interested in any kind of environmental activism. There are great portraits of educated urban activists, and it's made me look at my tribe through different eyes.