The Occurrence

An African nation in upheaval, Burundi has birthed some of the most passionate protest music in the world. Musicians, artists and others opposed to the tyrannical rule of President Pierre Nkurunziza write their stories in...

The BBC paints a grim picture of Burkina Faso: “A poor country even by West African standards, landlocked Burkina Faso has suffered from recurring droughts and military coups.” Furthermore, its musical history is just beginning...

A crossroads of Slavic, Turkish and ancient Greek cultures, this European country of 7 million revels in Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions and earthy instrumentation. Bagpipes known as gaidas entrance as fire dancers and masked “mummers”...

Are you the kind to make New Year’s resolutions? We are, and since this is a music forum, we’re sharing with you our aural ambitions and goals for 2016. Many of them mirror ours for...

The Gossip’s fiery front woman, Beth Ditto, just announced a fashion collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier. It’s said to be brassy and beautiful, accentuating the natural magnificence of Rubenesque bodies. This meeting of the minds got...

Metal lives in this Islamic Asian sultanate. Pop still pops, and rock ballads rule. Traditional music such as the adai-adai, the call of the fishermen, wafts in the air. In spite of sharia law being...

In light of the holiday season, Lily Lambert surprises fans with a Christmas present from the heart on her latest project, Merry Christmas, With Love. Complete with six classic carols that we've all come to love...

  Can you believe we’ve made another trip around the sun? And in these 365 days, we’ve heard comeback albums from Adele and Janet Jackson, experienced Star Wars (the Wilco album; the new film isn’t out yet) and...