musical apartheid
I miss you like Somalia misses having a government.
Yuppies Head For The Hills - Si*Se and Bajofondo @ The Stern Grove Festival Golden Gate Park - 8/3/2008
Despite San Francisco’s sub 50 degree fahrenheit summer weather, there’s no place I’d rather be on a Sunday afternoon then Golden Gate Park for the annual Stern Grove Festival concerts. This past Sunday, Si*Se took the stage with fellow Latin Electronica artist Bajofondo.
11 months ago“Elephant Gun”, Beirut.
If I was young, I’d flee this town
I’d bury my dreams underground
As did I, we drink to die, we drink tonight
What if you decided to drop out of high school, travel through Europe with your older brother exposing yourself to Balkan Gypsy music and other Eastern European genres, then produce 3 EPs and 2 full length albums all before you turned 21? Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, Zach Condon of Beirut’s already done it. Beg your mom for a ukelele and a trumpet and maybe you too can transform yourslef into the next darling of indie-folk.
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“Dr. C”, Alias & Tarsier
In the humble words of Timbaland, “I never should’ve left you, without a dope beat to step to”, I return to musical apartheid after a 1-month hiatus with beats from Oakland/Brooklyn duo Alias & Tarsier. Alias (Brendon Whitney) and Tarsier (Rona Rapadas) produced this song as well as an entire album at distance. Alias produced the beats in his studio in Oakland, CA sending his tracks to Tarsier who would then inject her heavenly vocals onto the tracks from her home in Brooklyn, NY. Together Alias and Tarsier produced the album “Brookland/Oaklyn” a timeless trip hop masterpiece that bridges the sounds between two of the US’s most important artistic communities.

What’s in a name? My name, Ifeolu, means God’s Love in Yoruba, and symbolizes my Nigerian heritage. Recently a group of young, idealistic, Obama supporters decided to take his middle name, Hussein, as their own to express solidarity with him as he campaigns for president this fall. For the most part, I think this is a great idea, as it will hopefully help alleviate the American people’s xenophobic tendencies towards Muslim culture. But, as a good friend of mine, a cultural studies PHD candidate at Columbia University pointed out, should young Obamites blindly adopt a name from a culture that they may know nothing about?
“People are not understanding that Hussein is a name of massive historical importance in the Muslim community and it does not have “little meaning” as this girl [in the NYT article] says. Hussein was the son of Ali, grandson of the prophet Mohammed and a figure of major importance in Islam, particularly among the Shia. The battle of Karbala, where Hussein died (in Iraq no less), is one of the historical reasons that explains the Sunni-Shia divide and hostility to this day. In a time when American relations with the Muslim world MUST be ameliorated by our next president, it is all the more crucial for young and old supporters of both candidates to try and grasp some of the cultural differences that exist in the world today.”
As always, we would love to hear your thoughts. Please write to us at musicalapartheid[at]gmail[dot]com
1 year ago