The Mine Kafon, a minesweeper

archive, ,

Usually News & Noise relates music to current affairs, but this time it is a piece of art that is worthwhile mentioning. It is the Mine Kafon of the Afghan designer Massoud Hassani, recently purchased by MOMA in New York (Washington Post). The big round dandelion-like-object  is made of bamboo and plastic. It is Hassani’s final work for the Dutch Design Academy in Eindhoven. In an interview last week with the NRC Next,  he stated that he feels very honored that the MOMA is interested in his work, but he would rather see it move on a minefield. In Afghanistan “Kafon” stands for “disarming”, and yes, the Mine Kafon is meant to be a minesweeper.

Continue reading The Mine Kafon, a minesweeper →

“We should support each other” – an interview with Lena Chamamyan

interview, , , ,

The Syrian singer-songwriter Lena Chamamyan (born to an Armenian family in Damascus, living currently in Paris) is one of the friends guitarist Jan Akkerman invited to play at his anniversary concert at Carré in Amsterdam on September 17. Her participation was one of the highlights of the show, especially the magical dialogue with trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. For News and Noise it was a good opportunity to speak with Lena about her work and the situation in Syria. We met her and Maher Sabra, her manager, in a busy Amsterdam terrace cafe a few days before the concert.

Continue reading “We should support each other” – an interview with Lena Chamamyan →

Pussy Riot never stops!

archive, , ,

Dimitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, is certainly not a fan of Pussy Riot but he wants the punk band to be freed, saying further time in prison would be “unproductive.” He believes that suspended sentences would have been sufficient for the women and added that the “hysteria” that had accompanied the coverage of their case – which has made headlines around the world – had left him sickened (BBC News).

Continue reading Pussy Riot never stops! →

Youssra El-Hawary, a strong yet cheerful political voice

archive, ,

The winners of the Fair Play global music video competition were announced more than a week ago. Young bands from all over the world sent in their songs about anti-corruption, this year’s theme. The 29 year old Egyptian Youssra El-Hawary won the global music award with her debut video El Soor, or The Wall (Fair Play).

Continue reading Youssra El-Hawary, a strong yet cheerful political voice →

“Todd Akin could be a person in power and that scares us” – an interview with Bria and Chrissy

interview, , , , ,

This week the Republican Missouri US Senate candidate Todd Akin made comments about rape and abortion that many consider bizarre and offensive. He said that the “female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down” in the case of what he called ‘legitimate rape’, in other words: she won’t get pregnant (Global Post) unless she wants to. Of course he had to apologize, but he also expressed that he still believes that the rapist has to be punished and not the unborn child. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants him to abandon his campaign for a Missouri Senate, which Akin is not planning to do (The Guardian). Meanwhile of course, most media will not let go of this story. Popular media in particular erupted and many musical comments can be found on the internet. Like the song Legitimate Rape of the duo Bria and Chrissy. Not long ago they started to use humor and political comments in their songs. I asked them some questions about that by email.

Continue reading “Todd Akin could be a person in power and that scares us” – an interview with Bria and Chrissy →