Musical and geographical offerings from GeoBlogs: a 365 blog project for 2026.
I've been reading about the Fleadh which has recently finished.
Belfast hosted the Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music and culture, for the first time in 2026.The New York Times released a list of the country choices of music from the World Cup.
Here are a few samples:The New York Times released a list of the country choices of music from the World Cup.
Here are a few samples:
MexicoThe New York Times released a list of the country choices of music from the World Cup.
Here are a few samples:
HaitiThe New York Times released a list of the country choices of music from the World Cup.
Here are a few samples:That was the punny title of an article in The Guardian at the weekend.
It described the music of the Maasai and Samburu.
This is being shared more widely than it would previously have been using social media.
In the past, a visit in person would have been needed to hear these songs.
Here's an early example that was mentioned in the piece.
“Since I started singing songs on modern beats concerning cows, a lot of Maasai are coming back to their culture. The song compels them to find their way home and get their own cows,” he says.
As featured on 'The One Show' earlier today.
A new exhibition at V&A East which I shall have to try to get to befor the end of the year.
I mentioned earlier in the blog that John Wilkinson was a key inspiration in the development of this blog, and he has now developed a new online PTI course which may be of interest.
Some cities are known for their street art. This can sometimes be based on local musical icons, including those who have passed away - acting as a memorial perhaps, or a reminder of their influence.
There are several sites which post these, including on Instagram.
Birmingham has its fair share of murals linked with Black Sabbath.
Sheffield has Jarvis Cocker on the side of the Fat Cat in Kelham Island.
Please share any musical murals from your own home area.
Add them to the Google Form here.
Update
Thanks very much to Briley Habib for sending me the following image.
Image: Briley Habib
She says that the image can be found at Barranco, Lima, Peru. It is located at a bridge in an area popular with buskers, and the mural explores Afro-Peruano music.
Back in the 1990s when Real World records was originally founded by Peter Gabriel almost every album they released was a banger.
Gula Gula was an album which introduced many, including me, to the voice of Mari Boine (Persen).
The album cover was particularly striking. I bought it from Virgin Records in Sheffield - which was excellent...
Mari Boine is a Sami.
The Sami or Sapmi are people who live in territories which are crossed by the borders between Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Also check out her vocals on a fantastic piece of music by Jan Garbarek, who will appear quite a lot on this blog across the year.
This is called Aftenlandet ('Evening Land') and is the final track on the album 'Visible World' which came out in 199
This video was apparently made for the Winter Olympics.
In my top five films is a film by the director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
It's the delightful film 'Amélie' or Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. It was made by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who had previously made several other films which I also loved. It evokes a particular area of Paris particularly well, around Montmartre - I visited a few of the locations when on a recent visit to Paris, including the 2 Windmills restaurant where scenes were shot.
I saw the film for the first time at the Showroom cinema in Sheffield: an arts cinema where I saw many films at the time.
Amelie's soundtrack was composed by the musician Yann Tiersen. I saw Yann play live at the Barbican last year and also attended a Q&A session before the concert started.
I was due to head down to the Royal Festival Hall in June for a special screening of the film accompanied by an orchestra.
However, it was cancelled in March - probably due to a rights issue. Hopefully it will eventually happen.
There are some classic accordion-led pieces on the soundtrack album.
This track is by the German rock band Rammstein, known for their massively over the top stage shows.
Their 2019 track, which marked their comeback after ten years of no new music, was accompanied by a nine minute video which takes a bit of explaining. There were also some band controversies.
Warning: the video contains some violent imagery and the links contain a few rude words
Jarvis Cocker has a close connection with the city of Sheffield, as we discovered on the 1st of March.
He has talked and written at length about this connection.
Carl Lee will also share a blog on Jarvis and his Sheffield connections from his own perspective as someone who has lived in the city for a great deal longer than me.
An interesting tipoff from a Joanne Lee post.
This track starts with a list of familiar Sheffield locations:
Intake, Manor Park, The Wicker, Norton, Freshville Hackenthorpe, Shalesmoor, Wombwell, Catcliffe Brincliffe, Attercliffe, Ecclesall, Woodhouse, Wybourn, Pitsmoor, Badger, Wincobank, Crookes, Walkley Broomhill
Sheffield Sex City's lyrics continue, later on in the song, describing sitting on a hill overlooking the city:
And listen, I wandered the streets the whole night crying, trying to pick up your scent
Writing messages on walls and the puddles of rain reflected your face in my eyes.
We finally made it on a hill-top at four a.m.
The whole city is your jewellery-box; a million twinkling yellow street lights.
Here's the track in question:
More musical urbanism also comes from this story from a few years ago which has featured on LivingGeography.
Jarvis Cocker got a mention on the recent AQA 'A' level Geography exam.
Another area of the wonderful Global Jukebox site is the Education Area.
This has a useful visualisation which you can interact with.
Have a play.
Pick Explore the World and you will be taken to a globe with circles.
Click a circle to engage with cultures from around the world.
