Cenk Blonk – Balinese Shadow Puppet Road Show.
By Maria Bakkalapulo – story first published in Songlines in 2007. Tonight, tucked deep in the heartland is a performance by one of Bali’s most popular…
Songhoy Blues, Malian Music in Exile – for MTV Iggy
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo Playing music is enough to get you killed in northern Mali. Jihadists took the region by force in 2012 and imposed sharia,…
Scene Report: Glasgow’s Buddy System Keeps It Safe for Dance Music – for MTV Iggy
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo (Follow Maria @mbakkalapulo) Photos by Niall Macaulay (Follow Niall @niallmacaulay) College-aged art-schoolers, pink balloons on strings bound to their waists, bounce happily.…
DOC: “Street Punk! Banda Aceh,” where punk rock refuses to die!
WATCH IT IN FULL HERE!! Film Synopsis: Eleven years ago, a massive undersea earthquake triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami, killing 167,000 people in Indonesia’s Aceh Province. Since…
“It’s A Dying Empire, Let’s Get Shot Of It”: How Scottish Rappers Are Encouraging People To Set Their Country Free – for Noisey/VICE
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo (follow Maria on Twitter @mbakkalapulo) “When I say ‘Steg,’ you say ‘G.’ ‘Steg G! Steg G!” A very liquored-up Glasgow crowd joins in…
Can Heavy Metal Band Seringai Change Indonesian Politics? – for MTV Iggy
ONE OF INDONESIA’S MOST POPULAR BANDS IS OUTSPOKEN IN CRITICIZING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PRABOWO SUBIANTO – CHALLENGING HIM IS METAL HEAD REFORMIST JOKO WIDODO. WILL ROCK SWEEP…
Young Fathers Define Cool, Redefine Hip-Hop – for MTV Iggy
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo (Twitter @mbakkalapulo), co-written by Niall Macaulay (Twitter @niallmacaulay) Down an alley in Glasgow city centre, in one of the famous architect’s…
With Their Biggest Album Yet Out Now, Mogwai Don’t Mind Leveraging Their Indie Legend Status in Support of a Cause That’s Near To Their Hearts – for MTV Iggy
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo (Twitter @mbakkalapulo) By the time the Glaswegian post-rock quintet Mogwai got to their encore at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, many of us…
Meet the Tireless MC Who is Keeping Malaysia Safe for Rhyme – for MTV Iggy
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo “Welcome to Joe’s Kitchen and Barbershop, let’s go … “ says 34-year-old Joe Flizzow, Malaysia’s homegrown hip hop mogul and chart-topper, as…
Lin Zhaohua’s Coriolanus: Heavy Metal Shakespeare in China – for MTV Iggy
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo (Twitter @mbakkalapulo) How do you modernize and make a Shakespeare play feel even more epic? Throw in some thrashing guitars to take…
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