{"id":3874,"date":"2025-09-26T23:51:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T21:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapamundimusica.com\/?p=3874"},"modified":"2025-09-29T19:10:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T17:10:53","slug":"september-25-talk-with-jose-luis-espejo-ruben-coll-ultranesia10th-anniversary-of-twmc-new-calls-and-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapamundimusica.com\/en\/newsletter\/september-25-talk-with-jose-luis-espejo-ruben-coll-ultranesia10th-anniversary-of-twmc-new-calls-and-87\/","title":{"rendered":"September 25. Talk with Jos\u00e9 Luis Espejo & Rub\u00e9n Coll (Ultranesia),10th anniversary of TWMC, new calls and + #87"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd38<\/span><\/span>Editorial
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u25ab\ufe0f<\/span>After the World Music Festival Bratislava and about what is invisible<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd38<\/span><\/span>Talk with Jos\u00e9 Luis Espejo and Ruben Coll, from Ultranesia<\/span><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd38<\/span><\/span>Transglobal World Music Chart, two news:\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u25ab\ufe0f10th anniversary<\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u25ab\ufe0fBest of the 2024 \u2013 2025 season<\/span><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd38<\/span><\/span>Brief news from the media, charts and sister projects<\/span><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd38<\/span><\/span>Open calls and professional events: Professional Days of Music in Extremadura, FIMU Belfort<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ud83d\udd38<\/span><\/span>Meet me at\u00a0\u2708\ufe0f\u00a0 Ali\u00a0Dogan G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f’s tour, Fira Mediterr\u00e0nia de Manresa, SoAlive Music Conference, WOMEX, Mundial Montreal<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u27a1\ufe0f This is the link for subscription<\/a><\/h3>\n

Hello, <\/strong>how are you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I am well. The picture of this edition was made in Tavira (Algarve, Portugal) by Thanos Stavridis after his concert with Drom at the Mediterranean Diet Fair.\u00a0He specifically told me he would do it and send it to me for my next newsletter. And here it is. Thank you, Thanos.<\/p>\n

But my most recent international trip was to the\u00a0World Music Festival Bratislava<\/a>, held from September 19 to 21. I\u2019d like to highlight two things.<\/p>\n

First thing.\u00a0Jana Ambr\u00f3zov\u00e1<\/a>\u00a0gave a talk titled \u201cTradition, Fusion, Hybridity: Contemporary Romani Musical Landscapes in Slovakia.\u201d I enjoyed it from beginning to end. She illustrated her words with video examples, some recorded in the intimate settings of musicians\u2019 families, others publicly available on YouTube as showcases for their services.<\/p>\n

Jana pointed out that the current complexity in how musicians adapt to what their clients want makes life harder for academics conducting research. She didn\u2019t say this regretfully, but rather as a reflection of a reality that demands rigorous thought. She explained that in the past you could study the evolution of music in a single village. Now you have to go musician by musician, because each has their own way of responding to the need to secure work and provide for their family. We are talking about professional musicians, with no other profession. Some come from traditional musical families, but she also gave examples of people who deliberately entered this world without any family background. I recorded Jana\u2019s talk in audio \u2014 if you\u2019re interested, let me know and I\u2019ll share it with you.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s interview is closely connected to all this. The two protagonists are also academics as part of their professional lives, at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (their work as curators is independent from the University). Rub\u00e9n Coll is a part-time instructor at the Communication and Media Studies Department. Jos\u00e9 Luis Espejo teaches Sound Studies for the musical industry in a Master\u2019s program at the University, and since this September he is also a substitute teacher of Informative Radio at the Communication and Media Studies Department. Further down, you\u2019ll see how Rub\u00e9n explains the concept of LIMO in relation to the name they gave to a concert series we discuss in the interview. I believe they too face and embrace the same complexity that Jana spoke about.<\/p>\n

The other thing I want to mention about the Bratislava festival is something I discussed with Jarmila, the director, last Monday morning before returning to Spain. She explained how it was the process of selecting the Spanish artist and finding the funding to make the performance possible. From her story, I imagine it\u00a0was like putting together a very difficult puzzle, even having to paint and cut some of the pieces herself. Jarmila was featured here back in December 2019, when her festival had already celebrated 5 editions. The interview is\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0In 2025, it reached its 10th edition. Jarmila told me that this behind-the-scenes work is invisible. The work of talking to many potential partners to finally create the conditions that make such an event possible goes unseen. And it\u2019s heroic. Making that effort more visible is precisely one of the aims of this newsletter.<\/p>\n

In the past few weeks, I\u2019ve organized flights, hotels, trains, ticketing, advertisements… for Ali Do\u011fan\u2019s tour, which starts on the 1st in Cologne and ends with everyone involved returning home on the 16th.\u00a0All of that is behind the scenes so that they ultimately make it onto the stage. In the meantime, I\u2019ll be on part of the tour, then heading to the Fira Mediterr\u00e0nia in Manresa, and afterwards to Sofia for the SoAlive Music Conference. At times it\u2019s a bit dizzying, but experience is a reassuring calm.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of invisible work in the Transglobal World Music Chart too. This October marks its 10th anniversary\u2014almost at the same time as my limited company. After working as an independent professional since 2006, in 2015 I decided to set up the company in order to be able to take part in more activities. I knew it would increase administrative costs and bureaucratic commitments, but it was a necessary step. On September 29th it will be 10 years since the notary entered my registration in his book.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I hope you find the reading interesting.\u00a0If you enjoyed any part of this newsletter, feel free to share it with someone who might like it too. Thank you in advance.<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n
Remember: if you have any news of interest for our community, let me know. Thank you very much for your attention.<\/strong><\/div>\n
Araceli Tzigane | Mapamundi M\u00fasica\u00a0|\u00a0+34 676\u00a030 28 82\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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AND NOW THE FLOOR IS FOR:
\nJOS\u00c9 LUIS ESPEJO & RUBEN COLL, FROM ULTRANESIA (MADRID)<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n

<\/a>I first came across ULTRANESIA\u2019s work in 2022, during the sixth edition of the\u00a0Archipelago festival<\/a>, which they curated at the Reina Sof\u00eda Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid, my city. You can check out the program\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0I remember with particular pleasure the concert by the Egyptian collective Mazaher, held in the museum\u2019s inner courtyard.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2023, I was able to attend part of the program again. Check the activities,\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0That year they brought Tenores di Bitti, and chose a striking setting for their performance: a stairwell, with the singers placed at the bottom and the audience spread out along the steps over several floors. It wasn\u2019t about whimsy or originality for its own sake. Knowing their approach, I\u2019m sure they only made such a decision to create a very specific kind of experience or to take full advantage of that space\u2019s acoustics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Archipelago hasn\u2019t taken place since June 2023. But in 2024, ULTRANESIA came back with\u00a0LIMO<\/a>, a cycle hosted at CentroCentro, the cultural center and City Hall headquarters in Madrid\u2019s Plaza de Cibeles, inside the stunning\u00a0Palacio de Comunicaciones<\/a>. It ran from May 2024 to June 2025, with one concert a month (except July, August, and September). Honestly, that program blew me away. It felt uncompromising, restless, and daring\u2014quite surprising in a city where spaces for such proposals are scarce or even nonexistent, and risk-taking is usually absent. You can see the program\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I truly hope ULTRANESIA will bring back one of these projects or launch something new, with the unique vision that is so much their own. It\u2019s a huge pleasure for me to share their words here. The interview will have more than one installment, since our conversation was long and packed with fascinating content. For now, I encourage you to follow them\u00a0on Instagram<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you, Jos\u00e9 Luis and Rub\u00e9n!<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n

Picture: Archipelago 2023, Reina Sof\u00eda Museum, Madrid.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We sometimes joke about what curating really means\u2026 mostly endless research, of course, but sometimes it also involves carrying a religious statue of the Virgin of Urkupi\u00f1a\u2014 thanks to a loan by the kind priest from the San Lorenzo church in the neighbourhood of Lavapi\u00e9s \u2014into the Reina Sof\u00eda Museum’s courtyard. This was because Grupo Folcl\u00f3rico de Sabinosa is only allowed to perform the Virgen de los Reyes dance as an offering. That way, we managed to listen to that amazing rhythmic structure outside the island of El Hierro.”<\/em><\/span>
\nPicture from a video by Javi \u00c1lvarez and Irene de Andr\u00e9s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Araceli Tzigane:\u00a0The first time I heard about you was with Archipelago, which you did from 2017 until 2023, at the Museo Reina Sof\u00eda. And then, LIMO. Before all this, what had you done, what was ULTRANESIA? Or was it born for Archipelago?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rub\u00e9n Coll:\u00a0Archipelago started, indeed, in 2017, but it was a proposal that Jos\u00e9 Luis launched completely on his own. And I, already in 2018, joined the programming, let’s say, as a guest curator. After that 2018 edition, I ended up staying in the project.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Luis Espejo:\u00a0<\/strong>Yes. In 2017, the Museo Reina Sof\u00eda called me to do the annual music programming. With that first edition I realized what it meant to do something like that and to be responsible, with everything that working in a public cultural institution that is giving you money implies. I didn’t want to do that alone. So, even though I did all the programming, I did the festival with Rub\u00e9n. As the years went on, I ended up doing all the programming in collaboration with others. Also, because of a question like: “Well, and why am I the one who’s here?”<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>But we didn’t formalize ULTRANESIA until 2023, precisely with the last edition of Archipelago. At that moment, we didn’t know what was going to happen with Archipi\u00e9lago, because we were in a kind of institutional limbo.<\/p>\n

AT:\u00a0So, ULTRANESIA was born after Archipelago already existed. And what form does it take? Is it a company, an association, or a brand that brings together your activity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0ULTRANESIA is a way for people who followed Archipelago to continue following us after Archipelago disappears. We created ULTRANESIA to continue developing projects. We had been working together since 2018, indeed, even earlier, with other projects not related to music programming, but related to audio. But it was at that moment, when we had already thought that we were going to have to bring Archipelago to a close or, at least, one line of work we wanted to end and not repeat ourselves. Partly because we also wanted to explore other lines of interest or lines of research.<\/p>\n

AT:\u00a0Is it like a brand? A concept?<\/strong><\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0We can call it a collective.<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>It’s a unit.<\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>In 2021, Ana Longoni and Mabel Tapia secured a three-year contract and a budget for the living arts programme at Museo Reina Sof\u00eda. But then we realized that Manuel Borja-Villel\u2019s directorship was very likely not going to continue. And we knew that the topics we were working on were not easy\u2026 We didn\u2019t know who would be coming in, but it was likely they wouldn\u2019t be interested. New leadership and teams might come in, so in 2021, we planned to close the cycle. This implied a series of things: we decided to produce two videos telling the story of Archipelago (2022<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a02023<\/a>), culminating in a publication that the Museo Reina Sof\u00eda was unwilling to publish, and we are still working on it. However, I believe the text’s theoretical and musicological complexity will prevent us from completing it in our free time.<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>We need time, and we don\u2019t have free time.<\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>Absolutely. Everybody is telling us: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you study for a civil service exam?\u201d (as a way of achieving a kind of stability).\u00a0And we said: \u201cLook, when I\u2019m not working, I\u2019m either sleeping, zombie-like watching films or I\u2019m here in our spare time after the concert.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Picture: LIMO, CentroCentro Madrid, ULTRANESIA presenting Elshan Ghasimi. Photo by\u00a0Pablo Sanz<\/span><\/div>\n
–<\/span><\/div>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>Regarding ULTRANESIA, it’s a name we gave ourselves as a collective. It’s ULTRANESIA, because “nesia” is an archipelago in Greek, but it’s “ultra” because “ultra” in Latin means “beyond” in geographic terms. Like plus ultra. And since we were working on the trade winds, ocean currents, and musical mutations, we liked that, even though the meaning was “incorrect,” to keep two words about geography. ULTRANESIA would be something like “the archipelago beyond the archipelago.” So far, we’ve made progress with Archipelago; now comes the rest. It’s what comes afterwards.<\/p>\n

Why do we keep the “nesia”? Although the narrative we initiated between 2020 and 2023 concluded with the publication of\u00a0El Hierro Will Once Again Be the Centre of the World<\/em><\/a>, our lines of research opened up, both within musical aesthetics and to the geological, climatological, and ideological questions involved in the mutations that make music change. So to speak, our interests were far from being concluded as a field of study. That’s why we kept that link. All of a sudden, it doesn’t make sense to start talking about German electronic dance music now. We’re going to continue with the same topics, more or less. And we’ve done so in articles for academic journals, in audio essays \u2014 the latest\u00a0Musical Mutations: Radical Materialism and Deep Time<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2014, and also with a radio show,\u00a0M\u00fasicas Corrientes<\/a><\/em>, on the community web radio Radio Relativa, and with LIMO, our latest project, which is a concert series of “current musics” (current in the sense of present time but also as a movement of water).<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>Getting back to the concert series, LIMO. LIMO is the term we use in Spanish for silt, which is the mineral sediment that travels suspended in river water. It is thinner than sand but thicker than clay. It was very useful for conceptualizing the concert series we programmed between 2024 and 2025. Like silt, music travels driven by geological, meteorological, and migratory flows. When people move, willingly or not, they carry the music with them to another place. Then, it germinates new concepts, which resemble the previous ones but include new mutations.<\/p>\n

So we thought of the red silt of the Nile River, which travels from Uganda, through Tanzania and Kenya, to the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile’s course through Ancient Egypt covered the banks with red silt. In Egypt, it seems that wheat plantations grew almost on their own. In the mid-20th century, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser embarked on a project to electrify his country by building the Aswan Dam. However, an idea that seemed to bring “modernity” proved unfortunate. Concrete and electricity halted the sedimentation of silt, paving the way for irrigation and electricity planning, but also eliminating the water’s fertilizing properties.<\/p>\n

That is why LIMO is both a way of talking about music in constant motion, and as part of a flow, and also a way of questioning the relationship between the modern and the traditional. Carme L\u00f3pez, Adri\u00e1n de Alfonso, Tarta Relena, Asm\u00e2a Hamzaoui, Pankisi Ensemble, Garazi Navas or Lukas de Clerck, to name a few of the participating artists at LIMO, are good examples.<\/p>\n

AT:\u00a0Earlier, you mentioned an idea that caught my attention, and that characterizes Spain: someone told you, Jos\u00e9 Luis, “Why don’t you study for a civil service exam?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0In a conversation about job precariousness in the cultural world, someone asked us why we didn’t become civil servants.<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>As Thelonius Monk put it: “Nice work if you can get it<\/a>” (laughs)<\/p>\n

JLE: I<\/strong>n our situation, there are two recurring questions asked by your friends and colleagues. One, “Why don’t you become a civil servant?” And the other, “Why don’t you leave Spain?” Answering the first question, I’m working and I don’t have time to study for a Public Service exam.<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>Even if we always consider our projects a public service (laughs). Regarding the question about leaving the country. If you have a life here \u2014 family, friends, network \u2014 it’s not easy to uproot yourself.<\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>And then, indeed, you feel a certain loneliness in our context, but you also feel a lot of gratitude from the public. People who are enthusiastic about the music we program here in Madrid.<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>Music by artists that is often neglected by mainstream media, particularly in a city where affordable venues are scarce.<\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>That’s why we talk about public responsibility. Some of our public may not have time or money to travel abroad to attend a kindred festival to\u00a0Le Guess Who<\/em>? And you’ll rarely find artistic direction or curators speaking about it. We are glad to work “for” an audience that truly values the opportunity to enjoy a quality concert by an artist performing for the first time in Madrid, plus, at an affordable price. Public institutions should have that responsibility, since the mainstream music industry only seeks to benefit a chosen few, without challenging the public’s expectations.<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>Araceli, have you ever been asked about moving abroad?<\/p>\n

AT: I don’t think anyone has asked me about the Public Services exams, but I have thought about leaving to another country on my own. I’m in contact with many people abroad, and I compare myself to them, assuming I have the same capacity. However, in my context, it’s incredibly challenging to achieve something like this. If I sell a concert with one of the artists I work with, it’s because I’ve had years of contact with the person that organizes the concert, earning their trust. And if that person is no longer there, I have to gain the trust of the next one who comes. And many times, these people are civil servants. One retires, and the new one who comes in, who knows if they’re interested in this or not. And it’s not just that they might not be interested; it’s that they have their own social circle. And in these things, there’s a lot of inbreeding. So, I think, for example, that if I were in the Netherlands, for instance, it would probably be much easier for me to do anything than here.<\/strong><\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>We will never know.<\/p>\n

RC:<\/strong>\u00a0Indeed, we are truly privileged. We have always done our curatorial work in cultural institutions with people who support us. Archipelago existed because of the support of committed cultural managers like Mela Davila, Ana Longoni and Mabel Tapia and hard workers like Elvira Quesada, Mariona Peraire and Daniel Fortanet. Still, also, truth be told, because it was sponsored by a famous brand of beer. And the concerts are part of its partnership strategy. In the case of LIMO, which takes place at CentroCentro\u2014another public cultural institution run by Madrid City Council\u2014it’s happening thanks to the efforts of another restless cultural worker: \u00c1ngel Guti\u00e9rrez.<\/p>\n

JLE:<\/strong>\u00a0But again, when we are speaking of the context we work in, we are speaking of contemporary art institutions, whose main priorities are the preservation, research, and exhibition of art, accompanied by programmes of seminars and living arts, which, luckily, include music and sound art. But what about contemporary music institutions? They seem very traditional and closed to proposals. Why don\u2019t we even consider sending a proposal to the major classical music auditoriums? Because at that level, we\u2019re no longer talking about social circles or even about artistic inbreeding \u2014 we\u2019re talking about pure elitism. And not even the kind masked as favoritism; it\u2019s openly elitist.<\/p>\n

A prominent historian of contemporary music once shared this anecdote: he was asked to curate a program on a famous contemporary composer, and the organizer\u2019s first question was: \u201cAnd which family do you come from?\u201d That says it all.<\/p>\n

What’s worse is that once that man, with his aristocratic mindset \u2014\u00a0stopped programming contemporary music, we also stopped having regular monthly contemporary concerts at some public cultural institutions.<\/p>\n

When you work in large cultural institutions, many of them related to monarchy and state politics, it feels like we\u2019re still trapped in a\u00a0Lazarillo de Tormes<\/em>* mindset \u2014 having to flatter the \u201clords\u201d just to be allowed to do our work. Or like in Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s paintings of court jesters: you\u2019re lucky if you\u2019re near the king, but you\u2019re not really there as an artist \u2014 you\u2019re there as a curiosity. A dwarf, a cripple, a \u201cstrange one.\u201d<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>Someone tolerated, not fully recognized. And that’s ok with us. We don’t need to get a VIP invitation for a private dinner after the opening. We want to be fairly paid and continue working, with both artists and the public in mind. But why does someone have to ask you to leave the country?<\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>Because there’s a social structure where a chosen few, mostly wealthy people, who practically decide who can earn a living with music. And again, we must consider ourselves lucky. We have had the chance to work on music for a while now. Plus, are contemporary art institutions truly committed to championing a sonic contemporary identity? I wonder…<\/p>\n

AT: I think with flamenco it’s already enough\u2026 (ironic)<\/strong><\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>Exactly. You go to Utrecht, at\u00a0Le Guess Who?<\/em>, and Estrella Morente is there performing with the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra. However, can you imagine the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra performing here with a local flamenco artist?<\/p>\n

RC:<\/strong>\u00a0We never delved into programming flamenco because there are great experts, and we certainly aren’t among them, even if we love it. There’s a solid and interesting circuit, but we prefer to explore other, lesser-known musical traditions.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Lazarillo de Tormes\u00a0<\/em>is a 16th-century Spanish novel considered one of the earliest examples of the picaresque genre. It tells the story of a poor boy, L\u00e1zaro, who survives by serving various masters \u2014 often flattering or tricking them \u2014 in order to get by in a rigidly hierarchical and unjust society.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Picture: Interviewing Kaspar Vanags in Riga, Latvia, as part of the\u00a0mid-casting project in\u00a02017, RRS. Photo by\u00a0Sara Buraya<\/span><\/div>\n
–<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
AT: I don’t want to settle\u2026 Look, Ali Do\u011fan is going to be at Amare in April, which is like a super institutional venue; he’s been at the Philharmonie in Hamburg, at Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Gulbenkian in the big hall of a thousand seats in Lisbon. And here, in equivalent institutions\u2026<\/strong>RC:\u00a0<\/strong>Well, here, be thankful some institutions let you enter into the caf\u00e9 (laughs). I’m being sarcastic, but it’s evident that some venues are reluctant to other music genres.<\/span><\/div>\n
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AT: I don’t want to exclude myself, even though I feel that way. But I don’t settle. I have proof that this can be done and is being done in other European countries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

JLE:<\/strong>\u00a0In 2019, we received funding from the Madrid City Council, which was intended for music festivals. We aimed to achieve a bigger projection for Archipelago, in the vein of other kindred small European festivals. The institution that hosted Archipelago, the Museo Reina Sof\u00eda, could have demonstrated that this is possible by hosting events more regularly, where music serves as more than just entertainment. But it wasn’t on their agendas.<\/p>\n

RC:<\/strong>\u00a0COVID in 2020 didn’t help either.
\nIt may be that we are on entirely different lines of thinking. Perhaps we spend too much time analysing the meaning of popular, and indeed, we miss the commercial visibility. However, there are plenty of examples of very sophisticated popular music.<\/p>\n

JLE:<\/strong>\u00a0For sure. Film music by famous composers has a great reception. But, for whom are those concerts programmed? Do the organizers put the same care they have on Grigori Sokolov performing Schubert? There are these John Williams, Hans Zimmer and Ennio Morricone programs\u2026<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>To be honest, it’s a pity that these orchestras always play the same famous Morricone “greatest hits”. When there are hundreds of equally appealing compositions that remain unknown to the general public. Plus, don’t forget that he was part of the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza with composers like Franco Evangelisti, Domenico Guaccero, Roland Kayn or Egisto Macchi.<\/p>\n

JLE:<\/strong>\u00a0Exactly. They are programming these “young orchestras” to perform the works of a great composer like Morricone. However, that timbral richness is missing\u2026 It seems neither the conductors nor the performers understand Morricone, and that richness disappears completely. But okay, it’s well-orchestrated (laughs).<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>I remember more than 20 years ago listening to this John Zorn album,\u00a0The Big Gundown<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1986), where he radically rearranged Morricone’s compositions. After that, his soundtracks sounded to me in a completely different way. And it was music that you could find anywhere, even in gas stations, on cheap cassettes. Maybe it’s asking too much, but why don’t they approach Morricone as the gifted and experimental contemporary composer he was? Why do they programme him along with a cheesy composer like John Williams? For whom are they programming these shows with no care, no heart and no quality?<\/p>\n

JLE:<\/strong>\u00a0Those people live apart, detached from the world. For example, they may play some Christopher Nolan soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer. That’s great. But why not by Ludwig G\u00f6ransson, the composer of the\u00a0soundtrack of another Nolan film,\u00a0Tenet<\/em><\/a>? A living soundtrack composer who is much more interesting. And what about other stuff? They could programme a series of Romanian spectral music if they wanted\u2026 I mean, sometimes, it’s as if they were skipping the last 100 years of music history. Are we truly accepting that there’s only room for academic music, some famous soundtrack composers and from time to time some flamenco, jazz and pop? And that’s all? They could program music that no other venue in this city has the technical and acoustic capabilities to host. To me, it seems unfair.<\/p>\n

RC:\u00a0<\/strong>Making friends\u2026 (laughs)<\/p>\n

JLE:\u00a0<\/strong>It doesn’t matter. We’re underdogs\u2026 (laughs)<\/p>\n

AT: I feel exactly the same, huh (laughs)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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Picture: Radio Relativa, Madrid. Friday Funday with Alex Cosmos and Beatriz G Aranda. Photo: Radio Relativa<\/span><\/p>\n

MORE TO COME SOON!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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TRANSGLOBAL WORLD MUSIC CHART:<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u25ab\ufe0f10 YEARS OLD<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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For this news I will share the official press release:<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong>“It was 10 years ago, in 2015, when we launched the Transglobal World Music Chart. This global initiative immediately became a reference in the world music scene, for fans and musicians, and other professionals.<\/em><\/p>\n

After much reflection and many conversations between the founders and other colleagues, we concluded that an initiative like this was not only possible but necessary to connect, in the most immediate way, artists, creators, professionals, disseminators, and the audience.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the main goals of the Transglobal World Music Chart has been to pursue the greatest possible plurality, representativeness, and global inclusiveness. To achieve this, we invited renowned panelists from the five continents and seeking to reflect the music that is bubbling up in every corner of the planet, beyond the predictable circuits. All of this has been done while facilitating and democratizing the submission of musical works, managing everything digitally and entirely free of charge.<\/em><\/p>\n

After just two years of its journey, in 2017, the TWMC began collaborating in determining the WOMEX Top Label Award. From 2019 onwards, it would become the selection of the 20 Top Labels of the Year, in combination with the veteran World Music Charts Europe.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Transglobal World Music Chart was born from the idea and commitment of Juan Antonio V\u00e1zquez and Araceli Tzigane (Mundofon\u00edas), and \u00c1ngel Romero (World Music Central). It is a source of pride to see, 10 years after its creation, the strength, and power of an idea born out of absolute independence, nurtured with care, dedication, knowledge, and conviction.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information, interviews, or anything else you may need, please contact info@transglobalwmc.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please find below the Best Albums and Labels of the 2024\u20132025 season.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Transglobal World Music Chart’s administrators: Juan Antonio V\u00e1zquez, \u00c1ngel Romero, Araceli Tzigane.<\/em>
\nwww.transglobalwmc.com “<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u25ab\ufe0fBEST OF THE 2024 \u2013 2025 SEASON<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

I will share the best of each cathegory. You have also the list of the Best 100 albums, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Best album: Buzz\u2019 Ayaz \u00b7 Buzz\u2019 Ayaz \u00b7 Glitterbeat
\n\u00b7 Best label: Glitterbeat Records
\n\u00b7 Best of North Africa & Middle East: Buzz\u2019 Ayaz \u00b7 Buzz\u2019 Ayaz \u00b7 Glitterbeat
\n\u00b7 Best of Sub-Saharan Africa: Trio Da Kali \u00b7 Bagola \u00b7 One World
\n\u00b7\u00a0Best of Asia (Central & East) & Pacific: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party \u00b7 Chain of Light \u00b7 Real World
\n\u00b7 Best of Europe: Justin Adams & Mauro Durante \u00b7 Sweet Release \u00b7 Ponderosa Music
\n\u00b7 Best transregional album: Al Andaluz Project \u00b7 The songs of Iman Kandoussi: Traditional Arabic Andalusian \u00b7 Galileo Music Communication
\n\u00b7 Best of South America: Nidia G\u00f3ngora \u00b7 Pac\u00edfico maravilla \u00b7 Positivo
\n\u00b7 Best of North & Central America & Caribbean: Jake Blount & Mali Obomsawin \u00b7 Symbiont \u00b7 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
\n\u00b7 Best compilation: V.A. \u00b7 Super disco pirata: De Tepito para el mundo 1965-1980 \u00b7 Analog Africa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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BRIEF NEWS FROM THE MEDIA, CHARTS AND SISTER PROJECTS\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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\ud83d\udd38#1\u00a0for\u00a0Transglobal World Music Chart in September of\u00a02025<\/a>\u00a0is: Hawa & Kass\u00e9 Mady Diabat\u00e9’s\u00a0Toumaro\u00a0<\/em>(One World)<\/span><\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udd38Mundofon\u00edas<\/a>: the favourites of September have been\u00a0Minyo Crusaders’\u00a0Tour of Japan<\/em>,\u00a0Alaa Zouiten’s\u00a0Aficionado: Flamenco moro<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Gennadi Tumat\u2019s Ay Kherel’s\u00a0<\/span>Aldyn dashka \/ Golden cup<\/em><\/span>
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Do you have a call of interest for our community that you want to share? Let me know asap.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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OPEN CALLS & PROFESSIONAL EVENTS<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section is open for news. It is free of charge. You can let me know if you have any open call\u00a0of relevance to the community.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udd38 Open call: Jornadas Profesionales de la M\u00fasica en Extremadura (MUM) (Professional Days of Music in Extremadura)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The call for proposals for the showcases is open\u00a0here<\/a>, until 17th of November of 2025 at 14h (CET). The 11th edition will take place on 15th-17th of April of 2026 in M\u00e9rida (Badajoz province).<\/p>\n

On some occasions, artists from outside Spain and Portugal have been programmed, mainly through collaborations with other similar events. However, the call is open to proposals from all countries. They cover \u20ac200 per musician, plus one technician, to cover costs. To receive payment, it is necessary to provide the required documentation for Social Security registration or its equivalent. They also provide accommodation and dinner on the night of the concert, as well as accreditation, accommodation, and meals for one manager throughout the event.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t sound very straightforward for artists coming from outside Spain, and the website is not available in English, but I still wanted to share the announcement.\u00a0To participate as a delegate is a very pleasant experience. The program is very complete but not overwhelming, and there are always very interesting proposals. This year, several flamenco performances stood out for their outstanding quality. Depending on the year, there has been more or less international presence in terms of delegates, and there are always some from Spain who may be of interest. You can check all the official information\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udd38 Open call: Festival International de Musique – FIMU de Belfort\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This Belfort is in France, very close to Basel.\u00a0What called my attention is that they mention specifically “world music” as one of the styles included in the program.<\/p>\n

I have no experience at all with this event. Somehow it appeared on my Instagram. It presents the call,\u00a0here<\/a>, as\u00a0for amateur musicians or those in the process of becoming professional musicians.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The call is open, like for MUM, until 17th of November. But in this case, all the information about the call is in several languages,\u00a0here<\/a>. The edition of 2026 will take place from 21st to 24th of May and the results of the call will be published in March. Therefore, there won’t be time to react and book more concerts of your band around that date if you are selected.<\/p>\n

These are the conditions:<\/p>\n