When I review music, I try to place it within some sort of context. This enables me to judge its merits based on more than just my personal opinion of the work. Of course, whether I like it or not is going to enter into my judgement of the material, but in some cases, my opinions are pretty much irrelevant to the material.
There are musical styles from other cultures that are beyond my ken, so how could I fairly say I like them or not? I haven't developed a body of knowledge sufficient to appreciate what the performers are doing. It's one thing to write a review about music that's been part of your culture and heritage both consciously and unconsciously for your whole life; you have gained an appreciation for when the work is done well or poorly.
What do you do when faced with music that has its roots in a culture that you either know very little about, or are just starting to learn about? You admit up front that your knowledge is limited and that your opinions are based on an awareness that has nothing to do with what you're reviewing.
This is exactly the situation I find myself in reviewing World Music Networks latest edition in its Rough Guide Series: Bhangra Dance Having begun making my own investigations of Indian House Music by listening to Asian Dub Foundation and groups of a similar nature, I was expecting something along those lines. While there are some similarities, the differences, to my ear, are more obvious.
Bhangra music hails from the Punjabi region of India. Like most of what we would refer to as "folk" music, it has its origins in community festivals. In this case, the music and the accompanying dance were part of both harvest and New Year's celebrations. (Usually the same event in most cultures except for ours, but I'm not sure of that in this instance. All I could find out was that it was used for both festivals. I'd be grateful for a comment that could clarify that matter for me.)
Article comments
1 - amy
i hate stuff