News
Who is PANArt Really Fooling? Poignant and Potent Public YouTube Comments From the Offical PANArt Hang Documentary
The Official PANArt Documentary, ''Hang: A Discreet Revolution'' is still such a highly promoted piece of propaganda 10 years after its release, that even we at KaribPAN cannot get enough of it. The more we revisit this documentary for the purposes of this blog, the more gems we stumble upon concerning proof that PANArt is a colonial organization built on lies and exploitation of the steelpan instrument. In this particular instance however, we will focus on some very insightful and profound public YouTube comments that have been posted underneath the propaganda piece in question. These comments prove that while PANArt can...
A Few Questions Concerning the Uncanny Similarites Between Roots Reggae, Steelpan, Modern Reggae and the Handpan
In yet another trip down the steelpan road less traveled, there are some striking similarities between Reggae/Steelpan cultural misappropriation and the Modern Reggae/Handpan phenomena. While these topics have been alluded to in a few previous blog entries, it is fitting to expand upon it now as KaribPAN has been consistently stringing the cultural misappropriation thread that runs through the steelpan culture through all of the various loops, all the while making the obvious connections between Christopher Columbus style new-world colonization as it pertains to the steelpan, and the re-discovery of the handpan via PANArt and the Handpan Mafia. The work...
Felix Rohner Finally Breaks His Silence by Issuing A Weak Response Based on Half-Truths
Nearly two months after Dr. Anthony Achong's thorough dismissal of the PANArt stolen legacy and their claim of being the "inventors" of the Hang/handpan, Felix Rohner has finally mustered up the courage to break his public silence on the issue. As it has already been proven without a shadow of a doubt that Felix Rohner has severe credibility issues where the steelpan instrument is concerned, it is not surprising to see that Felix Rohner has yet again thrown whatever remains of his tattered credibility into question. But before we proceed onto the meat of the present matter, it would be...
Handpan Industry Scrap Miners Who Live for the Crumbs that Fall from the Handpan Mafia's Table
It is October 2016, the summer is officially over and it will forever be remembered in the historical handpan annals as ''The KaribPAN Summer'', as during this time we emerged as a force to be reckoned with on the handpan scene. Where the online handpan community was once thriving when we made our presence felt in the beginning of the summer, it is now considerably quiet, as if the hot air that had previously filled the handpan community bubble has been completely released, no doubt due to the numerous holes we blew open through it in our blog. As of...
The Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra: An Ideal Example of What the Caribbean Steelband Represents
In a not so perfect world, The Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra of the USVI represents steelband truth in its perfection. Founded in 1981 by Chief Judge Emeritus, Hon. Verne A. Hodge as a part of the Superior Court of the USVI (formerly the Territorial Court of the USVI), the Rising Stars was established with the intention of keeping young Virgin Islanders focused on school and out of trouble. As a former Rising Star of the entering class of 1992, this blog author is writing from personal experience. Biased as this author may be concerning the Rising Stars, it would...