From four bottles of vodka to small pegs: The evolution of the Punjabi party song in Hindi films

The Punjab government wants to crack down on Punjabi pop. How has the genre been used in Bollywood?

Devarsi Ghosh

· Apr 15, 2018 · 07:15 am

The right note: Why it’s time for male voice choirs to star welcoming women

Derbyshire police's male-voice choir is out of tune with the modern world in refusing to admit women.

Thomas Breeze, The Conversation

· Apr 13, 2018 · 11:30 pm

Healing tunes: Why hip hop doesn’t deserve the bad rap it has got

It can be a transformative tool.

Raphael Travis Jr, The Conversation

 & 

Alexander Crooke, The Conversation

· Jul 30, 2017 · 08:30 pm

What German composer Bach has in common with the Indian dhrupad genre

The styles of Bach and the great dhrupadiya Sadarang reached a culmination in the 18th century and then declined. Yet both are very much alive today.

George Ruckert

· Jun 18, 2017 · 11:30 am

Remembering Acharya Bach, the ‘last Asian composer’ of Western classical music

In many ways, the 18th century German composer shared techniques with Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

George Ruckert

· Jun 17, 2017 · 11:30 am

Why Gandhi’s favourite bhajan ‘Vaishnav Jan To’ is so important in Modi’s hate-filled India

First they killed the Mahatma. And then they went after his message of empathy.

Ananya Vajpeyi

· Jun 14, 2017 · 11:30 am

How did Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ change rock ‘n’ roll? An Indian insider explains

Twenty-five years ago, a band from the backwaters of Washington shot into global stardom. Not long after, Miti Adhikari recorded them in Britain.

Abhishek Sikhwal

· Sep 25, 2016 · 11:30 am

How a mining engineer’s invention made pop singers all sound the same

Auto-Tune was originally developed as a tool in the oil exploration industry, but now it's widely used in pop music.

Joshua Reiss, The Conversation

· Sep 17, 2016 · 05:30 am

Background notes: How the not-so-silent cinema created a love for music

In the earliest years of cinema, sound-less films were often played with musical accompaniments.

Rudradeep Bhattacharjee

· Aug 20, 2016 · 12:00 pm

Musical genres are out of date – this new system explains why you might like both jazz and hip hop

A team of music psychologists have come up with a new way of classifying music.

David M. Greenberg, The Conversation

· Aug 06, 2016 · 05:30 am

Titillating, confusing, intimidating: How Prince left a mark on one Indian teenager

'I still find him the industry’s most expert manipulator of sexual energy.'

Oeendrila Lahiri

· Apr 24, 2016 · 03:30 pm

Why is it so hard to find videos of Prince's amazing performances?

The singer once sued a woman for putting up a 29 second clip on YouTube of her baby dancing to one of his tracks.

Shubhra Dixit

· Apr 22, 2016 · 01:15 pm