Updates

2010-01-07 : Entre le son et l'écrit, un écart de bon ton ?

Voici une conférence qui ne devrait nous laisser de marbre en cette nouvelle décennie : "Music and the written word", 16- 17 janvier, Santa Barbara, le sujet portant sur les rapports son, critique, médias, écriture.
http://www.music.ucsb.edu/projects/musicwrittenword/

2009-11-27 : Cadeaux de Noël en perspective: ...

- Mediating jazz, 26-27 novembre 2009,  University of Salford, UK
http://www.adelphi.salford.ac.uk/adelphi/p/?s=27&pid=97

- 1948 and all that, music ideology and power in the soviet union, 27-28 novembre  2009, Cambridge, UK
http://www.rma.ac.uk/conferences/event.asp?id=226
http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/962/

- Musique et cinéma, harmonies et contrepoints, 18-19 décembre 2009, Toulouse
http://www.fabula.org/actualites/article26095.php

2009-10-09 : Les colloques du mois.

oct 2009, Université de Strasbourg: Echos, espaces et trajectoires de résonnance
http://www.fabula.org/actualites/article27353.php

8-10 oct, Köln (Cologne): Heavy metal and gender
www.mhs-koeln.de/fileadmin/.../599_press_release_metal.pdf

15-17 oct, Southampton: Music and migration
http://www.soton.ac.uk/ml/research/music_and_migration.html

17 oct, Paris: Internet, quel outil pour l'anthropologie
http://www.soton.ac.uk/ml/research/music_and_migration.html

2009-10-09 : Le 14 octobre, ca va promettre!

Alexandrine Fournier organise une table-ronde au département d'anthropologie de l'U de M le 14 octobre de 1-4pm sur l'engagement social avec un groupe de rap cubain qui s'appelle Obsesión et qui est présentement à Montréal. Lou Piensa, un membre du groupe Nomadic Massive y sera aussi.

2009-09-03 : A ne pas manquer: évènements du mois de septembre.

23-25 septembre 2009, New York : Drawing on the musical past : Music Iconology, Instrument Making, and Experimental Playing in Music Archaeology

24 septembre 2009, Montréal : Réflexions sur la monumentalité musicale en Europe (1850-1920)


 

2009-09-01 : Bonne rentrée à tous!

Avec, en prime, du nouveau à visiter sur le site, la section "héritage" des "keywords". Photos, sons, vidéos... amusez-vous bien!

2009-08-31 : Nouveau site d'échange sur les connaissances musicales!!!

Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer l'ouverture du site web " Création musicale, circulation et marché d'identités en contexte global"  à l'adresse suivante http://www.globalmus.net.

2009-08-24 : Appel à contribution : Peut-on parler de musiques noires ? (Mais peut-on ne pas en parler...)?!!

Un séminaire sur la "Musique noire", "ses qualités propres" et "son cortège de fantasmes et de culpabilité", aura effectivement lieu le 13 avril 2010.
Si ces questions vous intéressent ou si vous voulez y participer, vous pouvez vous en référer à l'adresse: http://www.seteun.net/spip.php?article37

2009-07-24 : Avis à tous les tsapikysants et autres mélomanes.

Soulignons la parution tant attendue du livre de Julien Mallet: 
"Le tsapiky, une jeune musique de Madagascar Ancêtres, cassettes et bals-poussière", aux éditions Karthala. Ce livre est accompagné d'un CD-rom contenant de nombreuses photographies, films, extraits musicaux et animations multimédias.

2009-06-27 : Appréhender l'événement... de la rentrée 2009 !

Du 29 octobre au 1er novembre 2009, à Montréal a lieu un colloque international à ne pas manquer: « Patrimoines musicaux : circulation et contacts ».
Préparez-vous sur http://lrmm.musique.umontreal.ca/activites/Colloque2009/. 

2009-06-12 : En ce moment même !

RAPPEL:  Halifax (NS), Dalhousie University, June 12-14, 2009: Going castal: Peripheries and Centres in Popular Music.

2009-06-01 : Juin 2009: et la musique donne encore matière à penser la culture ... .

- Notre Dame, Indiana (US), the University of Notre Dame, June 11-13, 2009: The Space Between Society: Literature and Culture, 1914-1945 (see also http://www.spacebetweensociety.org/SBSConference.html).

- Londres, University of London (Institute of Musical Research & Institute of Philosophy), 16-17 juin 2009: Music and Morality.

2009-05-27 : WOMEX

WOrld Music EXposition is the most important international professional
market of world music of every kind ; more information on Womex !!!
 http://www.womex.com 

2009-05-27 : Going Coastal: Peripheries and Centres in Popular Music, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS June 12-14, 2009.

The Annual Conference of the Canadian Branch of The International Association for the Study of Popular Music:

Going Coastal: Peripheries and Centres in Popular Music, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS June 12-14, 2009.

2009-05-27 : Postcolonialism and the Future of Music Research in South Africa, 29 juin-1er juillet 2009, University of KwaZulu-Natal - Durban.

Further conference information at http://music.ukzn.ac.za/SASRIMConference18692.aspx

2009-05-27 : Artivistic revient !!! Lubrique et lascive...

Pour sa quatrième édition, Artivistic proposera du 15 au 17 octobre 2009 trois jours de concentra(c)tion sur les thèmes des érotisme et des sexualités.

A cette occasion, l'organisme propose trois stages, échelonnés sur la période du 15 juin au 25 octobre - participation@artivistic.org

2008-09-17 : NEW entry on Cultural Property by Peter Toner in Keywords

Explore the new entry on Cultural Property by Peter Toner in the Keyword section!!!!

2008-09-17 : Also read about cosmopolitanism by Martin Roberts under Keywords

Martin Roberts' entry on cosmopolitanism is available under the section Keywords.

2008-09-02 : Bob White's new book release!!!

Rumba Rules: The Politics of Dance Music in Mobutu¹s Zaire
Bob W. White
 
Available on Amazon.com ($23,95)
 
Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo from
1965 until 1997, was fond of saying ³Happy are those who sing and
dance,² and his regime energetically promoted the notion of culture 
as a national resource. During this period Zairian popular dance music
(often referred to as la rumba zaïroise) became a sort of musica franca in
many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. But how did this privileged form of
cultural expression, one primarily known for a sound of sweetness and joy,
flourish under one of the continent¹s most brutal authoritarian regimes? In
Rumba Rules, the first ethnography of popular music in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Bob W. White examines not only the economic and political
conditions that brought this powerful music industry to its knees, but also the
ways that popular musicians sought to remain socially relevant
in a time of increasing insecurity.


What began with an extraordinary feat of immersion into Kinshasa¹s
music scene toward the end of Mobutu¹s regime has been honed and crafted into
a study of Congolese popular culture and politics that is bound to become
a classic. A feat of ethnography and a much needed ray of hope in these
messy and tragic times. 
Johannes Fabian, author of Memory against Culture: Arguments and Reminders

Rumba Rules is a really exciting book, definitely worthy of the
groundbreaking¹ and sorely needed¹ labels it is bound to attract. It
is full of the basics and the nuances; deeply informative about a place, a
scene, a local history, and lived realities; and deeply accountable to
debates and discussions about how popular culture encodes a feeling of and
for modernity.
Steven Feld, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Music,
University of New Mexico

Rumba Rules ties dance music to dictatorship, band leaders to
politicians, in ways that are sensitive to the struggles of Congolese
musicians and their fans in Kinshasa. Bob W. White neither diminishes
the artistry and entertainment value of musical performances nor
over-determines their role in political culture. This is a book that finely
theorizes the relationship between aesthetics and political culture through
vivid and often amusing storytelling.
Louise Meintjes, author of Sound of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio

Bob W. White is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University
 of Montreal.

 
Duke University Press
Box 90660
Durham, NC 27708-0660
www.dukeupress.edu
 
978-0-8223-4112-3

2008-01-18 : Happy New Year 2008!

For those of you who visit us regularly, you might have noticed that we have had a slowdown in our activities.  Not to worry, this is due to my sabbatical and to some changes in personnel among the assistants.  We are hopeful that we can get back up to speed in the next few months. Here are some of the things we are working on:

-  developing a performance workshop series focused on anti-racism education
-  implementing the peer review process for existing projects
-  a new series of projects from different parts of the world
-  expanding the web radio

So stay with us and best wishes for a fruitful 2008!

Bob White

2008-01-18 : New Material in Capetown Project

Critical World steering committee member Denis-Constant Martin has posted an extremely rich compilation of historical references with regards to his project on new years festivals and performance in Capetown, South Africa.  You can access this information in pdf format from the media bank or by visiting Denis's project directly:  http://www.criticalworld.net/projet.php?id=47&type=0

2008-01-18 : Recent projects from Steve Feld

This news from member of Critical World steering committee Steve Feld:

My main Ghana music globalization project, coming out of a year of field work in 3 visits since 05, and ongoing, is about jazz cosmopolitanism in Accra. It has three dimensions.

Part one is about Por Por, the honk horn music invented by union minibus drivers and played on antique car horns at their funerals. The CD of this came out in March on Smithsonian Folkways, released for Ghana's 50th year anniversary of independence. This honk horn practice has a lot of resonance with the New Orleans jazz funeral tradition. I am working on a film and book followup.  

Part 2 is about Accra Trane Station, a shrine to John Coltrane in Accra, and the musical extensions of this in the work of Nii Noi Nortey, inventor of Afrifones, African winds modified by saxophone mouthpieces. I started out to document this Coltrane legacy but am now a part of the Accra Trane Station band with Nortey and the percussionist Nii Otoo Annan, the Elvin Jones of West Africa. We released a CD called Mediatations for John Coltrane, on Voxlox. And we recently recorded a second, titled Another Blue Train, about the 1957 confluence of Ghana's independence and Coltrane's classic Blue Train LP; also available on VoxLox. We toured Italy in May and the US in the Fall.

Part 3 is about Ghanaba, formerly known as Guy Warren, an 84 year old drummer who introduced talking drums to jazz players in the USA in the 1950s and was a friend of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, etc. He became a Buddhist and deep spiritualist. Together with the leading choir of West Africa he has orchestrated and produced a talking drums and jazz improvisation African interpretation of the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel. I have made a film about this ultimate postcolonial Hallelujah, and my conversation about it with Ghanaba.

There are 2 other projects in Accra that have also occupied me the last couple years, both collaborations with Australian-born Italy-based visual artist Virginia Ryan. One is a catalog-cd-dvd, The Castaways Project, about a long term and large scale art installation project by Ryan to which I have added sound and film. The project takes on the coast as a contact and memory zone, a lost and found of the Gold Coast meeting the Black Atlantic, a memory of the beach and ocean in the slave trade, relived in newer stories of desire and displacement. A major exhibit was recently held at theUniversity of Manchester's Whitworth gallery, timed to also be a conversation centerpiece for the "Beyond Text?" conference on the senses, anthropology, and art. The other is a photographic book titled Exposures: A White Woman in West Africa, images by/of Ryan and an essay by me. This is a project about the visibility of race and the presence of whiteness in Accra. The book just released and exhibits have been presented in Accra and Rome, and will follow in Santa Fe and Milwaukee. Both of these projects are published by VoxLox and posted at www.voxlox.net.

2007-10-16 : Artivistic 2007

Pour la troisième édition d'Artivistic, l'expression [ espaces in.occupés ] a été choisie afin de développer de nouvelles idées relatives aux diverses définitions et confusions provoquées par les réseaux infinis composant la réalité néo-libérale du XXIe siècle. [ espaces in.occupés ] se donne le défi de rassembler des questions portant sur l'environnement, les luttes des autochtones et des immigrants ainsi que les pratiques urbaines tout en les abordant sous l'angle de l'occupation. Dans un monde interconnecté, la pensée et l'action critiques se doivent de devenir à la fois flexibles et intransigeantes. Penser en termes d'occupation devient par conséquent une stratégie pour souligner l'interdépendance de ces questions et permet des actions de collaboration créatrices et tactiques entre "co-artistes" (artistes et non-artistes). L'événement est construit autour de trois questions interreliées et se compose de tables-rondes, d'ateliers, d'interventions, d'expositions, de performances et de projections qui auront lieu à notre quartier général temporaire au 5455 av. de Gaspé, #701 et dans divers autres endroits à Montréal.

Voir les détails, programme, et lieux à  Artivistic 2007

2007-10-16 : Listen! Call for collaborators

Listen! is an interdisciplinary project organised by Artivistic for its 3rd gathering 25-27 October 2007 in Montreal, entitled [ un.occupied spaces ]. Following this year's questions (What is indigenous? What is natural? What is (there) to occupy?), Artivistic aims to further its mandate of developing new methodologies of knowledge production and collaborative activist art practices by organising an interdisciplinary research project that will bring together local and international sound artists, musicologists, ecologists and anyone interested in exploring the sonic aspect of the current ecological crisis and the role of sound in raising awareness about our environment.

The project is two-fold. It includes a collaborative hands-on workshop into the city on October 25th-26th. Participants will be invited to choose a specific site in Montreal that is relevant to the current ecological crisis in order to conduct sonic research in the form of field and environmental recordings (phonography) facilitated by London phonographer Peter Cusack and Montreal sound artist Jean-Pierre Aubé and others. In turn, the workshop participants will be invited to take part in a collective sound performance at the SAT (Society for Arts and Technology) in the evening of October 26th as part of the Artivistic 2007 gathering in collaboration with UpgradeMTL. The open performance and deep listening session, entitled Montreal Phonographers Union, will be facilitated by Seattle sound artist Christopher DeLaurenti and will be the occasion where non-musicians, musicians, and sound artists convene to practice collective listening. The "union" is an ad hoc meeting open to anyone with an interest in communal listening. The performance will be followed by a group discussion.

2007-07-21 : Radiodervish sur CWradio

2007-05-23 : Colloque sur les nouveaux essentialismes

Colloque international (22, 23, 24 et 25 mai 2007)
Les nouveaux essentialismes

Avec le soutien de la Délégation à l'Information et à la Communication de l'IRD
et l'accueil du Ministère délégué à l'Enseignement supérieur et à la Recherche à Paris, Ministère délégué à l'Enseignement Supérieur et à la Recherche, Carré des Sciences, Amphithéâtre Poincaré.

Bob White donnera une conference avec le titre:  "La promesse de la "world music":  stratégies pour une écoute non-essentialiste".  Pour voir le programme du colloque, cliquez ici

2007-05-08 : CW at CASCA (Toronto)

As part of annual CASCA meetings in Toronto, members of Critical World have prepared a panel on music and cosmopolitanism called Playing the Global, Voicing the Local: Facing the Music and the Politics of Cosmopolitanism. The panel, which includes Annick Beauvais, Yara El-Ghadban, Pascal Gaudette, Catherine Gauthier Mercier, Marc-Antoine Lapierre, and Kiven Strohm is scheduled for Thursday, May 10, 2007 at 9h00 and 11h00 at the Flavelle House, Classroom A (Main Meeting Hall, 78 Queen's Park, Crescent West). Chairs and discussants include the illustrious Kevin Tuite and the distinguished Nigel Rapport. Please come and support CW! 

2007-04-18 : Hommage to Ali Farka Touré

CW has recently finished a hommage to Ali Farka Touré. We've included a text with images from Steven Feld, a short video excerpt from Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey, and a number of song clippings. Drop in and take a look.

Hommage Ali Farka Touré

2007-04-09 : Gogo Jungle vol. 1

Voici de bonnes nouvelles pour un de nos groupes collaborateur du Web radio de Critical World. Gogo Jungle lance officiellement son premier album : Gogo Jungle vol. 1, sur  l'étiquette indépendante Afrocat records, laquelle a publié, entres autres, Chango Family et Afrodizz. Une soirée festive est organisée, le 17 avril prochain, pour officialiser la sortie de l'album. Elle aura lieu au Boodha Bar (1401 rue MacKay, coin Ste-Catherine). Les portes ouvrent à 18hrs. Les billets sont 5$ à l'avance (contacter Groovyphil groovyphil@hotmail.com) ou 7$ à la porte, le soir même. Pour tout ceux qui on apprécié le groupe sur le CWradio et pour qui Montréal est accessible, c'est une soirée à ne pas manquer. Voir le site du groupe : http://www.myspace.com/gogojungle

Éditeur du CWradio

2007-04-05 : New on CWRadio: The Mitote Band

CWRadio has recently added 6 songs of a really great band called The Mitote Band. Soon a new space will be available on CWRadio for bands and musicians to create their own projects. For the moment we offer a short biography of the band :

The Mitote Band is a Polish - Turkish project, which combines original music with oriental elements including voice and percussion. The project's aim is to create contemporary music that does not lose the human factor. The group plays original, re-arranged and instrumented music, combining contemporary techniques with traditional elements. The band's repertoire draws on a broad spectrum of musical styles from jazz, blues, r & b and Turkish traditional music to contemporary electronic music. The flexibility of fretless guitar and the human voice, along with traditional instruments, and a variety of rhythmic motives and synthesizer sounds, opens a new window to the meaning of fusion. The specific Turkish aural ornamentations, combined with the emotionality of the Polish musicians make this project unique. The band is currently shopping for a suitable label to release these unique sounds.

Listen to this band on the CWRadio : Click here

For more information see the myspace page of The Mitote Band: http://www.myspace.com/mitoteband

Thanks!
CWRadio Editor

2007-01-21 : Bob White on sabbatical until June 2007

Bob White will be on sabbatical from January to June 2007.  He is currently conducting comparative research on cultural policy in French-speaking Africa.  He can be reached at the following email address info@criticalworld.net or by leaving a phone message at 514-343-7329.

2006-12-15 : Gogo Jungle sur le Web Radio de CW

À écouter, Gogo Jungle qui nous propose une musique festive et dansante, s'appuyant sur une solide formation de 8 musiciens.  Le groupe est basée à Montréal et ses inspirations sont diverses, principalement : le funk, le grooves latins et l'afro-beat. Gogo Jungle ayant retenu notre intérêt, nous venons d'ajouter  5 de leurs compositions originales à notre Web Radio. Bonne écoute! Au plaisir d'entendre vos commentaires! Cliquer ici

Pour plus d'information sur le groupe voir : myspace.com/gogojungle

2006-12-14 : Nouveau projet : Visual Kei

À voir dans la section « scenes » : le projet captivant de Sachiyo Kanzaki, sur le Visual Kei. C'est un courant musical japonais très particulier dont le nom se traduit littéralement  par « genre visuel ». Bonne lecture! Cliquer ici

2006-12-11 : Archivistic 2007 : Call for participation

http://artivistic.omweb.org/modules/wakka/CFP200

2006-11-06 : Projet avec Anthropologie et Sociétés

Critical World est fier d'annoncer les résultats de sa première collaboration avec Anthropologie et Sociétés, la première revue anthropologique francophone en Amérique du nord.  Les images, sons, vidéos et textes présentés dans ce projet complètent (tantot de façon illustrative, tantot par le mécanisme de l'association libre) les recherches présentés dans ce dernier numéro de la révue au sujet de la "mise en public" de la culture et l'émergence historique de la notion anthropologique de la culture.  Cliquez ici pour consulter le projet.  Bonne lecture.

2006-10-11 : Yara El-Ghadban dans Le Devoir

Membre du "core" Critical World et doctorante au Département d'anthropologie de l'Université de Montréal, Yara El-Ghadban a signé un texte au sujet de la diversité culturelle et l'appartenance à la société contemporaine québécoise dans le journal montrealais Le Devoir.  Pour lire le texte, cliquez ici.  Bravo Yara!

2006-09-19 : Graduate Seminar on Intermediality

Beginning this semester, Bob White offers an interdisciplinary graduate seminar on the theme of intermediality and intersubjectivity.  The seminar is organized by University of Montreal's Centre de recherche sur l'intermédialité in collaboration with the Département d'anthropologie.  For more information about the seminar, including syllabus and an accompanying film series at the Cinémathèque québécoise contact Anne Lardeux (anne.lardeux@umontreal.ca).

2006-09-05 : Rajouts importants / Important updates

Keep your eyes on the "tools" or "outils" section of Critical World (clickable from the main page).  The CW production is working to add material to several sub-menus in this section.  Also in the weeks to come we hope to have some new material added to the media bank.  More news as it becomes available...

2006-07-28 : New Monthly Feature

A new monthly feature (the video window at the top left of the home page) has been posted: Denis-Constant Martin's project about New Year festivals in Capetown, South Africa.  Click on the video or visit his project directly by clicking here.

2006-07-17 : Welcome/Bienvenue: CW Editorial Board

The Critical World Editorial Board has been named.  We are extremely pleased to have the participation of more than a dozen scholars of popular music and globalizaiton from all over the world.  The members of the editorial board will be responsible for reviewing project proposals and will also contribute materials in the keywords section.  To see the list of board members, click here.

2006-07-08 : Thank You Jocelyne; Welcome Louise

With the publication of version 8.2 of the laboratory, our friend and colleague Jocelyne Guilbault will be stepping down as member of the steering committee. We were all proud to have her as a founding member of the committee and Jocelyne has agreed to stay on as a member of the editorial board.  I would also like to take a moment to welcome Louise Meintjes who will be replacing Jocelyne as the newest member of the steering committee.  Louise, whom you all know very well I think, has played an important role in this emerging literature on world music and I am very happy that she agreed to come on board.  Please join me in welcoming Louise and in saluting Jocelyne.  Bob White

2006-06-07 : Workshop on Middle-Eastern music

Alhan el-Aalam Music and Culture Series Workshop
Fri, June 16, 1:00 PM
Sala Rossa
4848 St. Laurent
Free!

As part of the programming for its 2006 edition, the organizers of Suoni Per Il Popolo are pleased to announce "Middle Eastern Musical Expression in an Age of Fear and Misunderstanding:  A Workshop".  This workshop, which will include the participation of a number of artists from throughout the Middle East and its various diasporas, is organized in conjunction with the "Alhan El-Aalam" series, whose goal is to the celebrate the influence of Middle Eastern music on the North American avant garde and acknowledge the presence of various Middle Eastern diasporas in Canadian public life.  The facilitators for the workshop will present a series of listening activities and discussion that touch on some or all of the following topics:

How does music, not only lyrics but also sound, convey meaning about cultural, ethnic, and religious difference?

How can music be both a bridge and an obstacle to combating negative stereotypes about people and politics in the Middle East?

Can improvisation and/or listening be mobilized as metaphors of reconciliation in current and recent conflicts in the Middle East?

What is or what should be the role that artists play in public debates about political and economic violence?

What does it mean to talk about the Middle East as a political or cultural entity?

This workshop will include: Hassan El-Hadi, Yassin Alsalman (Narci) and members of A Silver Mt. Zion and The Black Ox Orchestra

Workshop facilitators:

Eric Lewis (Department of Philosophy, McGill University)
Bob W. White (Department of Anthropology, Université de Montréal)

Come join us for an afternoon of discussion, music and debate.

2006-06-05 : New copyright policy

Keeping with our dedication to open access while respecting the rights of authors and creators, CW has developed a new copyright policy inspired primarily by the Creative Commons Initiative. To learn more about how CW deals with copyright issues within its projects visit the Copyright Policy section in "Editorial Policy".

2006-06-03 : The New CW 8.2 is online

The Main page has been redesigned with a revised and updated "About Critical
World" which includes a new FAQ section and a visual history of the project as well as a section on our Editorial Policies.

It is also possible now to navigate the site in both English and French.

Our main sections have been reorganized to better reflect the project's goal of promoting critical thinking.

Tools is a series of teaching aids that constitute the building blocks of critical thought with regards to music and globalization.

Projects is a listing of individual research projects that exemplify a critical approach to the study of music and globalization

Applications is a group of activities in which the lessons of critical thinking are applied in various contexts outside the constraints of conventional academic research and writing.

The Project Library is where we keep all the projects for future discovery
and rediscovery after they have been moved from the PROJECTS list which
highlights the newest contributions to CW.

2006-06-01 : Nouvelles fonctions à découvrir

Pour les navigateurs de Critical world. Un nouveau champ a été
ajouté à toutes les fenêtres pop-ups afin de mieux annoter, identifier et attribuer les médias.

À cet égard, Critical World a établi un système de codes de droits d'auteur qui permet l'attribution de chaque média selon les principes de Creative Commons, une politique alternative celle des droits d'auteur traditionnels.

De plus, des hyperliens ont été intégrés afin de mieux interlier et mettre en contexte les médias. Cette nouvelle fonction rend beaucoup plus facile l'intermédialité.

2006-05-31 : NEW MEDIA BANK and WEB RADIO

CW 8.2 has redesigned the layout for its media bank. Media bank is a place where media can be downloaded without restrictions. The CW wallpapers are now available for dowload.

The new format for CW's Web Radio will be available soon.

2006-04-20 : Version 8.2 en chantier

L'équipe de Critical World travaille présentement sur la nouvelle version de Critical World. Des changements importants dans l'interface seront bientôt à l'affiche!

2006-04-18 : JP on CW's Web radio

Long time friend and collaborator of Critical World, the well-known congolese singer (and former member of Zaiko) J.P. Boussé offers some music from his latest solo release on CW's web radio. Check it out and tell us what you think!

2006-04-15 : Editorial committee

Critical World is creating at the moment an editorial committee to evaluate submitted projects. Stay tuned for more updates on our editorial policy.

2006-03-17 : Rencontres inter-laboratoires

le 10 mars 2006, à 13h30, le prof. Bob White a présenté le projet et le laboratoire virtuel de Critical World au CPCC, le laboratoire de recherche Culture Populaire, Connaissance et Critique, qui est dirigé par Line Grenier, professeure au département de communication de l'Université de Montréal. L'un des objectifs de Critical World, c'est de promouvoir le dialogue inter-disciplinaire et de nouer des relations avec d'autres chercheurs qui s'intéressent à la musique et la mondialisation dans l'espoir d'encourager de futures collaborations. C'est bien parti! Pour en savoir plus sur le CPCC, consulter leur site web à l,adresse suivante: www.cpcc.umontreal.ca

2006-03-07 : Alexandre Enkerli présente au LRMM

Le 7 mars 2006, dans le cadre des "Mardis du LRMM", une série de conférences organisées par le Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Musiques du Monde au Secteur d'ethnomusicologie de l"Université de Montréal, Alexandre Enkerli a présenté sur
"Le langage et les langues, la musique et les musiques. Anthropologie linguistique et diversité musicale». L'un des membres les plus actifs de Critical World, Alexandre est aussi responsable du blog de Critical World que vous pouvez consulter en tout temps à l'adresse suivante: http://blog.criticalworld.net

Pour en savoir plus sur le LRMM, consultez leur site web à l'adresse suivante: lrmm.musique.umontreal.ca

2006-02-28 : Steven Feld in Ghana

We successfully launched MUSICAL BELLS OF ACCRA (Time of Bells, 3) this last week hosted by the Ghana director of World Bank, with performances by the 2 main bands on the CD. I'm deep in study of the "ashiwa" box (a combination mbira style bass + drum) and playing and touring with the "Accra Trane Station" group as well as recording with them and finishing production of their new CD, a musical tribute to 40 years of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. I'm also continuing to work with the amazing "Por Por" car horn players who also appear on the bells CD, hoping to produce a proper historical anthology of their music, which amounts to an oral history of roads and transport in Ghana since before independence.

Steven Feld, Ghana

2006-02-26 : CW on the academic scene

February 22nd, Nelson Arruda and Yara El-Ghadban presented their work on alternative evangelical music and identity politics in Western contemporary art music during the annual student conference of the Centre d'Études Ethniques des Universités Montréalaises. You can get a taste of Arruda's research in the projects section under the title: Démystifier un paradoxe.

2006-02-20 : CW's web radio and blog

CW's web radio is up and running and invites you for some critical listening to music contributed by various artists in collaboration with Critical World. If you are an artist and would like to contribute some music, please don't hesitate to contact us.

If you want some more on-line interaction or would like to discuss some of the issues and projects you've seen on Critical World, go ahead and post it on the CW blog.

2006-02-15 : Du neuf dans Keywords!

Venez consulter le laboratoire de texte inspiré des "Keywords" de Raymond Williams. Camille Brochu a préparé une excellente introduction à l'oeuvre de Williams et à l'idée derrière l'outil "Keywords". De plus, dans l'introduction vous trouverez une liste de "keywords" choisis par le comité de direction de Critical World et qui feront l'objet de projets à l'avenir. Nous espérons que ces concepts susciteront chez vous quelques réflexions critiques que nous vous invitons à partager avec nous.

2006-02-14 : News from Ngor

Bonjour à tous,

Voilà maintenant deux mois que je suis installé dans le petit village de Ngor au Sénégal. Ce petit coin de paradis, un village de pêcheur d'environ 4 milles habitants, est tout à fait génial car il se trouve à proximité de la ville, c'est-à-dire des lieux de mes rencontres de production, mais aussi à 5 minutes de l'océan ! Le "terrain" avance et les surprises sont nombreuses. La musique est chaude, généreuse et totalement imprévisible. Je vous ferai parvenir du son et du mouvement très bientôt.

M, Sénégal

2006-02-05 : Nouveaux projets! yéyés et matières sonores

Consulter le fascinant projet de Marc-Antoine Lapierre sur le yéyé, les boîtes à chansons au Québec et la mondialisation et le projet de Sébastien Ouellette sur les sculptures créées par Ouellette, qui est aussi un artiste, à partir des instruments de musique.

2006-02-01 : The Steering Committee meets

The Steering Committee of Critical World met recently to discuss where CW is at and where it should go from here. The meeting was filled with fascinating conversations and debates on music, globalization and critical thinking.

2005-12-24 : Critical World 8.0 Launch

Big date: January 12 we are going to launch version 8.0 of Critical World. The event will take place at the University of Montreal Department of Anthropology starting at 4pm, with special guests J.P. Busé from the Democratic Repubic of Congo and Denis-Constant Martin from the CERI in Paris.  Entertainment and refreshments included.  If you would like to attend, please send an email to info@criticalworld.net

2005-11-24 : New Core!

It is my pleasure to announce that the next generation of the Critical World production team (also called "the core") has begun its mandate as of last week.  Welcome to Sebastien Ouellette, Marc-Antoine Lapierre, Yara El-Ghadban, and Camille Brochu (more information to come in the section called "People").  We will be honoring the members of the first core on January 12, 2006 during a launch party that will take place in Montreal (more information soon).  Thanks to Nelson Arruda for his help with the technical transition between Core I and Core II.  Bob White.

2005-10-27 : We're back!

After a long period of rethinking and retooling, Critical World is back on line with a new version (8.0) which is considerably revamped:  reduced menus, a new navigational structure, new categories of projects, and a new vision statement.  In the next two months we will be in a semi-public semi-beta testing mode, so visit often and bring your patience with you.