By Graeme Thomso BBC September 13th, 2023 Earlier this year, award-winning producer Ian Brennan visited the notorious Mississippi State Penitentiary,…
music
‘It’s a charged place’: Parchman Farm, the Mississippi prison with a remarkable musical history
By Sheldon Pearce Guardian UK Wed 20 Sep 2023 Inmates at this bucolic but brutal prison have long been singing…
Obituary: Yanna Momina (1947-2023)
Photo © Marilena Umuhoza Delli By Ian Brennan Songlines June 20th, 2023 Afar singer Yanna Momina has passed away, just…
And the Oscar for best international film rarely goes to …
By Ian Brennan NPR March 10th, 2023 “I’m sure the majority of the world doesn’t even know we make movies.”…
Sober Living on Thoughts Words Action
Thoughts Words Actions Like it or not, the straight-edge movement first appeared in the early eighties and still inspires people…
Burning Britain on Thoughts Words Action
Thoughts Words Actions In the late seventies, music critics and record labels declared the punk movement dead, leaving almost no…
Songs of Slavery and Emancipation— the Film
Back to Mat Callahan’s Author Page
Visa dissonance: Why world music performers can’t always make it to the stage on time
By Ian Brennan NPR August 31st, 2022 Global musicians can run into daunting red tape when it comes to obtaining…
It’s Right to Rebel
by Josh MacPhee Justseeds Member Projects May 25, 2022 In late 2020 I was contacted by Brage Aronson, who runs…
Fantastic Negrito: Taking Left Turns & Pushing Back
By Ian Brennan TapeOp Fantastic Negrito’s new album, White Jesus Black Problems, is based on the true story of Negrito’s…