Monday, August 1 2011
Tareq Abboushi & Shusmo: Mumtastic
Wormed with Middle Eastern loops and hooks, and also playful, with a jazz playfulness
Captain America and a Past That Must Linger Still
Despite the dark times that birthed the original Captain America #1, there was a hopefulness to the character. Writer Ed Brubaker however offers a Cap worn down by personal history. Or is that the point?
Thursday, July 15 2010
‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’: A Child of Israel and the Children of Palestine
Reading narratives of the seemingly intractable Arab-Israeli conflict is like trying to follow the plot of a novel that has had every other page ripped out. Amos Oz’s A Tale of Love and Darkness has fewer missing pages than most.
Monday, March 8 2010
The German Issue: Still Straddling the Berlin Wall
The German Issue provides us with a time capsule from a very different era, but so much of its content remains pertinent.
Wednesday, November 26 2008
Dozan: Introducing Dozan
The neatness of the arrangements, and the way the voices come together, suggest madrigals.
Wednesday, September 10 2008
Jerusalem: City of Longing by Simon Goldhill
Goldhill has a talent for ironic juxtaposition and a keen grasp of the myth-making, sloganeering, and heedless self-interest that have polluted the debates over Jerusalem for many years.
Wednesday, July 23 2008
Various: The Rough Guide to Arabic Café
Listening to the Rough Guide to Arabic Café, I realised that this is not the same as the music you would expect to hear if you were sitting in a Western coffee shop.
Friday, June 22 2007
Peacemaker
Succeed, and you'll win the Nobel Peace Prize. Fail, and the Middle East will once again be consumed by violence.
