Tinariwen

Besh o droM tour Australia

‘Most bands that play traditional music, do it in a traditional way. What’s interesting for us it to keep it fresh and make it a living tradition,’ said Gergely Barcza of Hungarian gypsy-fusion band Besh o droM. Formed in Budapest in 1999, the name translates as ‘ride the road’, which they’ve done with performances at festivals all over Europe, Asia and soon for the first time, in Australia. ‘When we started, I never thought the music would travel so far, and take us all to so many different places.’ Read more

Interview with Eugene Hutz, Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello’s frontman, Eugene Hutz, was born in Kiev to a Romany family which fled their home following the Chernobyl disaster when he was a teenager. He spent years travelling through Eastern European refugee camps before arriving in Vermont, in the north-east American region of New England, as a political refugee. He eventually established himself in New York as a musician and artist, and became the resident DJ at the Bulgarian Bar, Mehanata, which, thanks to Eugene’s ‘kidnapping’ of touring Romany and Gypsy bands and artists to perform there after their official seated concert hall shows, helped turn it into the ‘CBGBs of Gypsy Punk. Gogol Bordello formed after its original members met at a Russian wedding in Vermont, and soon snow-balled into a fully-fledged immigrant orchestra. Debut shows at famous New York venues, including the Mercury Lounge and the Bowery Ballroom, saw them banned for performances that were ‘too over the top’. Read more

Amadou & Mariam

The first album released by the Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, Dimanche a Bamako, bordered on exceptional, if not for its songwriting then for its sheer diversity. You’d be forgiven for approaching cautiously an album that draws its influences from Syria, Cuba, Egypt, India, and Colombia, as well as its own country – much like a restaurant that offers every cuisine on the planet: choose one and do it well, you’d argue. But the album is fantastic: so full of life, so catchy and so accessible. Read more

Irina Werning’s Back to the Future photo series

Argentine photographer Irina Werning has complied this beautiful and poignant collection of portraits of adults re-enacting images of themselves as kids. From what I gather, she has asked people to submit photographs of themselves and then returned with them to these same spots at the same times in their lives. She’ll take this project round the world, from Baghdad to Eurodisney, and is looking for willing participants. Read more

Bug fighting in South East Asia

Of all the little idiosyncratic activities I’ve come across since living in Southeast Asia, this nears the favourite. The bug fights are held in a cemetery about half an hour outside of Chiang Mai late in the year when the stags are at their randiest. It pulls an impressive crowd who bet some hefty dollars on the winner, claimed by the beetle who throws its opponent off the revolving log and struts (or crawls) to victory. Read more

What The Fuck Should I Make For Dinner

All hail the magic 8-ball of cooking; the answer to those painful moments of indecision that plague every shopper at around 6pm on a hectic Monday evening. It’s not the nagging voice that questions every decision you make, but the blunt, obnoxious hollering of an online Gordon Ramsay. The kitchen abides.