Digest | Stories, Sounds & Culture

Sean-nós singing is one of Ireland’s oldest vocal traditions. Its ornamentation, phrasing, and modal qualities have led some musicians and researchers to draw comparisons with North African and Arabic music.

Sun Ra’s 1970s work blends cosmic philosophy with funk, electronics, and chant driven jazz, while still holding space for swing standards and jazz tradition inside the Arkestra.

This entry in The World Music CD Listener’s Guide series explores Haris Alexiou, one of the central voices in modern Greek music, whose catalogue moves through laïko, rebetiko, and poetic folk traditions.

This series starts with King Sunny Adé, one of the central figures in Nigerian jùjú music. His recordings blend Yoruba rhythm traditions with electric instruments, long groove structures, and dance floor energy.

Sun Ra’s Arkestra evolved far beyond jazz in the late 1960s. Music, costume, ritual, electronics, and performance merged into a complete cosmic world.

Street soul grew out of Black British culture in the 1980s, shaped by migration, sound systems, and underground networks. Its influence still runs through UK electronic music today.