Best of 2011: Siddhartha Mitter

Soundcheck, WNYC Radio, December 22, 2011


This week’s year-in-review special continues with Siddhartha Mitter, a music journalist who contributes to the Boston Globe, MTV Iggy, MTV Desi and other outlets.

Siddhartha Mitter’s list:

Three Great Songs:

  • Frank Ocean, “Novacane”
  • Musiq Soulchild, “Yes”
  • SBTRKT featuring Sampha, “Hold On”

World Music that Isn’t “World Music”:

  • Chamber Music (album) – Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal
  • Tirtha (album) – Vijay Iyer, Prasanna, Nitin Mitta
  • Zuciya Daya (song) – Bez
  • Karibu Ya Bintou (song) – Baloji

Music for Upheaval:

  • Rayes Le Bled (song) – El Général
  • Into the Fire (song) – The Bant Singh Project
  • Obama Nation Pt 2 (song) – Lowkey ft. Lupe Fiasco, M-1, Black the Ripper

Rest in Peace:

  • Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
  • Cesaria Evora
  • Gil Scott-Heron

Revival of the fittest?

Soundcheck, WNYC Radio, September 29, 2010


Acts like Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings and Eli (Paperboy) Reed present a soul sound that some cast as throwbacks to the sixties and seventies. Writer Siddhartha Mitter says that these revival acts walk a fine line between homage and pastiche. But New Yorker critic Sasha-Frere Jones, once a skeptic, says that they’re moving the genre forward.

The Decade in Jazz and World Music

Soundcheck, WNYC Radio, December 16, 2009


We continue our Critics’ Week coverage of the decade in music with a look at the best of world music and jazz. Siddhartha Mitter, world music critic for the Boston Globe, and Will Layman, jazz critic for PopMatters.com, give us their picks for the decade that was.

From book arts, a fresh look at fraught issues

WNYC News, July 30, 2009


Print journalism may be in trouble, but print in the arts is alive and well, and it’s taking on social issues. An exhibition up now uses “book arts” – artworks based on print and the printed word – to take on race and racism in some new and sometimes humorous ways. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter reports.

Your cheatin’ heart

Soundcheck, WNYC, July 10, 2009


In politics, an extra-marital affair can jeopardize a career. But in music, cheating is the subject of some of the most popular songs ever, from Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” to the Eagles’ “Lyin’ Eyes” to TLC’s “Creep.” (Don’t get us started on operas. OK, do.) We look at some of the best, with Washington Post classical music critic Anne Midgette and WNYC cultural reporter Siddhartha Mitter. Plus, we take your calls (anonymously, if you wish).

Love for Michael Jackson knows no time or color

WNYC News, July 1, 2009


Spontaneous celebrations of Michael Jackson have gone on in the streets since his death last Thursday, but yesterday was the official tribute at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and New Yorkers came out en masse. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter was there.

News that inspires: Xaviera Simmons

WNYC News, June 23, 2009


A Brooklyn artist sees beauty in some of the harrowing images she finds in the news – such as the plight of African migrants escaping to Europe. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter caught up with her.

Five women artists, five takes on Islam

WNYC News, June 5, 2009


Islam is in the air – from Barack Obama’s big speech, to a festival in New York this month of Muslim arts and ideas. Among those voices are five young women artists who have a show at the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Art in Brooklyn. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter spoke with them.

FLY: Five first ladies of dance

WNYC News, May 29, 2009


Five black women at the top of their field. Germaine Acogny, Carmen de Lavallade, Dianne McIntyre, Bebe Miller and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar are dancer-choreographers who are pioneers in the dance world. They perform this weekend in a rare program of solo pieces, at the Kumble Theatre in Brooklyn.

Sculptor Elizabeth Catlett

WNYC News, May 21, 2009


Sharecroppers, laborers, mothers and their children — these people have captured the imagination of sculptor Elizabeth Catlett for over 40 years. Catlett talked about her life and work at the Museum of Modern Art earlier this week and WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter was there.

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