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Top foreign nonformat albums
A bit late, but still publish our top for 2017 from the best foreign releases that do not have (or have a minimal) relation to hip-hop and are usually published under our regular column #Neformat.
Gord Downie – Introduce Yerself
October 17, died Canadian musician Gord Downey. His death did not come as a surprise, because back in May of 2016, he was diagnosed with brain cancer in an advanced stage. A week after the death of the artist, his latest album “Introduce Yerself” (“Imagine Yourself”) was released, and he began working on it with the frontman Broken Social Scene after learning about the impending death. As it becomes clear from the introductory part – the disc is entirely composed of elegies, so that depression and melancholy come through from every line, every word and chord. Continue reading
M.I.A. vs. Everybody: how female rap fights the world system
Matangi “Maya” Arulpragasam – a girl born in London in a family of Tamil activists, famous for her daring deeds and remarkable talent. Singer, producer, clipmaker, designer, artist, rapper, loving provocative punches on the topic of the day, and political activist. In addition to the memorable eclectic style of music, in which she combines the motifs of ethnic music of the peoples of the east, hip-hop, electronics, world-class beats and reggae with acute social implications, Maia created a memorable image of a principled and wise girl who is constantly struggling with a ruthless political machine and injustice. Continue reading
Your child and music
Whether to teach a child to read and write, whether to teach him algebra, chemistry, history, finally, whether to teach him to jump over the “goat” – all these issues usually do not arise in the family: they are centrally resolved by society and, one must think, irrevocably. But in the most important question for the development of a child, whether he will receive a musical education, to what extent and what quality, complete freedom of choice is left. And the decision is made by parents who are little prepared for this independently, in each case individually and, unfortunately, they often decide incorrectly. Everything depends on a measure of understanding the consequences of this decision for the whole future spiritual life of their children. Alas, in many cases the measure of understanding is low. Continue reading