Category: Music

  • The Spotify playlist this week

    Generally playlist of audio accompanies the blog entries. To listen to the tracks click on the player above or go to Spotify online or in the app and search for “Music to read a blog by”. Depending on your subscription (or lack thereof) you will hear all the tracks uninterrupted, all of the audio with…

  • The Enigma and Dress of an Afro-Brazilian Gentlewoman

    Clothing and adornments can tell us lots about the past but sometimes mystery remains. The Brazilian state of Bahia has a strong link to Africa through its history. Enslaved people from the continent where brought over to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, and many “Baiana”, women who trace their roots back to Africa,…

  • The Spotify playlist

    Each week a curated playlist of audio is made on the streaming platform Spotify. The playlist can be heard on the player above or by searching Spotify online or in the app for “Music to read a blog by”. Each of the entries has something to do with the blog. Sometimes the reference is obvious;…

  • The Spotify playlist

    The blog is accompanied most weeks by a curated Spotify playlist. The entries on the list have something to do with the blog articles. Half the fun is finding out what that link could be! Top hear the list click on the player above or head to Spotify.com and search for “Music to read a…

  • The Women’s History Museum of Zambia

    Zambia, a land-locked country that shares borders with Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi, has a rich history and the place of women in that history is celebrated in a virtual museum. The Women’s History Museum of Zambia brings together artefacts, stories, recordings and research to propose and explore ways in…

  • This week’s playlist

    Most weeks, a curated Spotify playlist of audio to go alongside the blog is created and offered to readers. This list presents music and sound from the platform that relates in some way to the blog entries. Sometimes the link is obvious and sometimes it is not quite as evident… To listen click on the…

  • Reader contributions

    This week there are links from the United States, Australia and New Zealand. A festival of joyful celebration was held in New York: The Pinkster Stroll. Reviving an old custom that enabled enslaved people to come together in one of the country’s oldest African American holidays, The Pinkster Stroll is an uplifting occasion to dress-up…

  • Articles from elsewhere

    Most weeks, the blog receives contributions from readers to share. A new section has been introduced as part of the revamp of the week’s newsletter: Reader contributions. This section will be short summaries of those links that readers have sent in so others can explore ideas and events from elsewhere. Anyone can send in suggestions…

  • Restoring opera

    Opera is known for its sets and costumes as well as, of course, music and acting, but what happens when operatic productions are revived years after a performance? Opera brings together lots of different elements to create worlds on stage so it is not surprising that sets and costumes can be elaborate. Moby Dick? No…

  • Can you help the blog change?

    In this important year for the blog, its twentieth, it is time to rethink what it is and how it works. You, dear readers, might be able to help. The original idea for the blog was to write about music and textiles from the point of view of Shetland and the textile studio in Yell.…