A few months ago, few Americans had heard of Pussy Riot, the feminist punk band turned latest icon of the anti-Putin opposition. That’s because the band was known under a different name in the US press: ‘P***y Riot’. In an amusing and predictable turn of events, the same American newspapers have got busy accusing Putin […]
Googoosha: When Totalitarianism isn’t Enough I first discovered Googoosha through The Daily Beast. At first, it was impossible not to laugh; after all, one of the world’s worst dictators having daughter aspiring to be a pop diva is a bit hard to believe. Perhaps as a music lover and, I guess, a former radio DJ, I […]
Sean Murphy on the Global Film blog recently reviewed Amandla! a documentary about South African music under apartheid. As we turn our gaze to the country for the World Cup, it is good to look back and learn more about the intricacies of apartheid and the mass struggle to overturn the system. South Africa is […]
Lately music appears to be the only successful avenue for achieving greater US-Cuba exchange, and likewise for expressing critique of the government on the island. Something about this medium allows for greater flexibility on both counts. Silvio Rodriguez, the Cuban folk singer that has been called “the voice of the Cuban revolution” for his songs […]