Music Wire: News for the global urban generation

Prog rock never really goes away. On 1st December the European band Univers Zero will play at the “Alternativa Festival” in Prague. On 22 March 2007, they will appear at the “Baja Prog Festival” in Mexicali (Mexico).
Univers Zero’s roots come from the rock and jazz scene in 70s Belgium. Extensive touring was supported by albums […]

“Fou Ho” from Sur-Choc has remained one of the most enigmatic tracks from the Fifa Street game. The tune was picked up after becoming a runaway hit in the clubs of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The makers of “Fifa Street 2005″ were looking for a track with a gritty feel. Sur-Choc are one of the creators […]

Dancehall legend Sizzla has announced US tour dates to coincide with his new album, The Overstanding, scheduled to be released onNovember 21st, 2006.
Sizzla emerged during the latter half of the ‘90s, and quickly became one of the leaders of the modern dancehall movement. Along with Buju Banton and Capelton, he helped lead dancehall back to […]

Since he left the band, Boy George has been highly critical of the members of Culture Club. Since they announced that they were re-forming for a 20th anniversary tour, he stepped up the criticisms after refusing to take part. But the band is hitting back. The limit was reached when Boy George accepted an award […]

Rappers are doing it for themselves! Although there is a perception that rap artists roll around in Mercs drinking Crissy with their female companions, the reality is different. In Europe particularly, they have only themselves to rely on. There are big labels, but rap is not their priority.
So performers have to make sure their name […]

Just about everybody knows about the Montreux Jazz festival. But not many people know who is behind it. So take a bow Claude Nobs, a former accountant at the Montreux Tourist Office who now runs a festival that welcomes 250,000 people a year. The Midem trade fair has decided to honour him with a “Personality […]

Few artists are revered in the French-speaking worlds as Georges Brassens. His gentle songs about country life, accompanied by acoustic guitar, have been a staple of chanson française since the fifties. Yet his latest tribute comes from an unlikely source: Africa. Singer Kristo Numpuby is currently touring with a show called “Brassens en Afrique”. It […]

Ask yourself how much can a notebook be worth? In the case of one of country music’s best-known songwriters, the answer is quite a lot. $250,000, in fact. Music publisher Sony/ATV has filed a lawsuit against a pair of collectors after reading that Stephen Shutts and Robert Reynolds (the Honky Tonk Hall of Fame) had […]