 The African Music Encyclopedia
http://africanmusic.org/index.html
Huge site listing thousands of artists alphabetically by name and country. Not the most detailed of resources but very useful as a quick reference. Includes a discography with each entry, plus an extensive bookstore, and a glossary detailing African instruments and musical styles.
Afrique Horizon
http://members.tripod.co.uk/afrique2000/
Very knowledgeable, sometimes contentious site, that's strong on West and Central African music. An English-language version of a Paris-based magazine, its recommendations stray away from the more predictable well-known names, and it's not afraid to contextualise the music within the politics of the region. Also includes a mail-order link to the excellent London record store Stern's African Records.
Afropop
http://www.afropop.org
This lively interactive magazine has a fast-growing fan base and provides a wealth of information and links on all Afro musical cultures in the developing world. Together with a comprehensive list of artists (containing expert biographies), there are a wide range of features, sounds and other points of interest interlinked throughout the site which can lead the visitor off on all manner of fascinating tangents.
Alan Lomax
http://www.alan-lomax.com
'Without Alan Lomax... there would have been no blues explosion, no Beatles, and no Stones' claimed Brian Eno. Indeed, no praise seems high enough for this pioneering ethnomusicologist, who travelled the world for over 60 years recording, filming, annotating and photographing a vast array of global cultures. It's a staggering achievement, and one that has only recently emerged in its full splendour thanks to both this engaging site and Rounder Records' definitive Alan Lomax Collection. The first port of call for anyone who might want to kid themselves that it's a small world.
All Brazilian Music Guide
http://www.allbrazilianmusic.com
Of the several Brazilian music guides now available over the net, this is by some way the most authoritative. Regularly updated with news bulletins and new releases, it includes an entry on everything and everyone on the Brazilian music scene from Axé to Zabumba, together with biographies, discographies, a growing range of sound clips, easy navigation and a weekly newsletter. Available in both English and Portuguese. |
Dirty Linen
http://www.dirtylinen.com
This unusually titled website is an online and bimonthly printed folk and world music magazine (closely related to both Rootsworld and Global Village Idiot), with a similar no-nonsense layout and range of contributors. While it certainly leans more towards the folk element (with an emphasis on North America) it also gives good coverage of the more folkloric elements in the world music scene, bypassing fusion altogether. Unusually, the site also contains an excellent list of record company addresses, complete with links where appropriate, plus an informed and regularly updated collection of features.
Far Side Music
http://www.farsidemusic.com
Far Side Music is an on-line store for otherwise virtually unobtainable roots music from mainly Japan and Okinawa, plus also Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and other East Asian countries. Aside to an extensive catalogue of over 2000 items, includes biographies and articles on the most important artists. Operated by Paul Fisher, host of the BBC Radio 3 Guide to Japan, and compiler of the Rough Guide CDs to Japan, Okinawa, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
Fly - Global Music Culture
http://www.fly.co.uk
Fly is a new kind of global adventure. With writers and features from all four corners of the World, Fly is not just a website about world music and jazz, it is an experiment designed to create a space for people around the world to share their experiences about music. Experiences that might range from making a comment on a feature to submitting a guide to what is happening in your city. Current features include an interview with Angelique Kidjo and behind the scenes at the Church of St. John Coltrane. Expect outstanding design and excellent writing. Although, Fly has just been relaunched, it is also one of the oldest web music magazines having been established in 1995.
Folk Roots magazine
http://www.froots.demon.co.uk
fRroots magazine has long been the home of world and roots music journalism in the UK, covering a vast array of releases, gigs, tours, charts and expert opinion. The website includes a fair portion of its sister magazine's material, plus a comprehensive links list, some archived features and album reviews, and a vital annual guide to World Music festivals. You can also wrap your ears around the sounds you've been reading about via their monthly internet-only radio programme.
Global Rhythm Magazine
http://www.globalrhythm.net
A major US world music magazine which has been running for 10 years. Published once a month, it contains the latest news and features from well-respected journalists. The European coverage has recently been upped with the use of journalists from the UK. Many of the latest realeases are reviewed as well as up and coming festivals from around the globe. You will also find Global Rhythm's top 10 CD tips of the month.
Global Village Idiot
http://www.globalvillageidiot.net
A major International world music lifestyle magazine which has been running for the past 10 years. Published once a month with a free compilation CD, it contains the latest news and features from well-respected journalists. The European coverage has recently widened with the recruitment of journalists from the UK. Many of the latest releases are reviewed alongside festivals, avant garde film, cuisine and travel from around the globe. You will also find Global Rhythm's top 10 CD tips of the month.
Hemisphere Records
http://www.hemisphere-records.com
Hemisphere is unique in that it's the only specialist world label-cum-site yet created by any of the majors (EMI), yet hangs nonetheless in a Virgin Records limbo. Lovingly raised by Gerald Seligman until his preremptory departure last year, it boasts a back catalogue that's second to none. Classic compilations such as Camelspotting and the excellent Story of Fado and Cuba Now! stand out, and some notable contemporary artists (including La Bottine Souriante and Thomas Mapfumo) make the current stalemate even more frustrating. The search functions (by artist, album, region or genre) are beautifully interlinked, and there's plenty of scope for building on such solid foundations. Here's hoping...
Hungarian Music Links
http://www.tamburaweb.com/hunglink.htm
Exhaustive site devoted to Magyar music, mainly gypsy and folk, but one that makes clear the links between the vernacular styles and the work of major composers such as Liszt, Bartok, Kodaly, even Haydn. Strong, detailed sections on recordings, current practitioners, musical instruments, and Hungary's broader culture and politics. Highly recommended for beginners and cognoscenti alike.
International Library of African Music
http://archive.ilam.ru.ac.za/home.asp
Over 40 years, ILAM, affiliated to South Africa's Rhodes University, has been recording and archiving the traditional music of sub-Saharan Africa. Its site is superbly laid out and easily navigable, allowing viewers to locate even the most obscure music by title, country of origin, language, and even the purpose of the music (ie burial music, wedding songs). Also features audio downloads and a mail order section: essential, as much of the music is very hard to track down elsewhere. |
Luaka Bop
http://www.luakabop.com
Beautifully designed and easily navigable website of former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne's visionary label, which is especially strong on Brazilian Tropicalismo, Cuban music and Peruvian pop (as well as Cornershop!). The site has information on all Luaka Bop releases, brief biographies of major artists such as Tom Ze and Susana Baca, plus Luaka Bop Radio, where surfers can sample some of the label's sounds. A model of its kind, as much concerned with disseminating information as it is with selling discs.
Mondomix
http://www.mondomix.org
One of the new kids on the block, Mondomix has been gaining ground as a widely read French online magazine (colourfully translated into English), which contributes a small but carefully nurtured parade of artists and reviews, and an interesting selection of interviews with hot artists of the moment. Its close links with WOMEX (including a daily diary of the festival as it runs) makes it a must for those four crazy days. Quality streamed radio, a fine selection of world music festivals and a wonderfully comprehensive (and possibly unique) directory of world music labels (with links) lend added allure. Early days maybe, but so far, so good.
Musical Instrument Guide
http://www.siba.fi/Kulttuuripalvelut/instruments.html
Finland's Sibelius Academy has furnished its website with not the only but certainly one of the most comprehensive reference guides to the world's instruments. If you get confused between your djembes and ndjarkas, your ouds and udus, then this archive of specialist and general reference links is a good place to start unravelling the mystery. There are 30 subject areas at top of the page linked to sections further down that can lead you to the 'International Society of Bassists', 'Butch Baldassari's Nashville Mandolin Network', 'The History of Ocarina' and even the 'Roland User's Group'. The strength of the site is its simplicity and choice of approach it provides, creating the scope for a bluffer's guide to your elected instrument in no time at all.
New Native
http://www.wcpworld.com/native/sounds
The musical third part of the unique World Cafe Production site, which together with its visionary Future Culture and Environet sites seeks to give people an opportunity to get an informed overview of world cultures (both social and musical) as well as the environmental issues that are shared intimately by us all. Here, you don't just glimpse the butterfly flapping its wings: you get to feel the breeze the other side of the world, hear the music and 'meet' the people. From a musical point of view, its refreshingly simple evolutionary breakdown of music into 'Native' (cultural origins), 'Fusion' and 'Labels' (with a comprehensive list of links) takes the traveller on a journey from the origins of world music into the melting pot and out via the CD factory. Unmissable. |
Piranha
http://www.piranha.de
This widely respected German label can boast having been there from the early days of the world music movement. Its catalogue is divided into five regions - Africa (including the late Ali Hassan Kuban), Orient, Latin, Jewish Worlds (the Klezmatics), and Gypsies & Balkan (Fanfare Ciocarlia) - making the site a vital stopover for anyone with an interest in the energy of Eastern Europe. Also linked to Womex and their Global Music Shop, it has nice design and easy navigation - though take care with the chunky downloads.
Putumayo
http://www.putumayo.com
Once merely an ethnic clothing company, Dan Storper's brainchild has been a significant label in its own right since 1993. Putumayo has since made many a colourful contributor to the compilation market, often seeking oblique inspiration in products (such as coffee) and moods rather than geographical regions. Major international artists include Miriam Makeba and Habib Koite, and the site is well-stocked with detailed background info on the songs, styles and musicians who are featured.
Radio Multikulti
http://www.multikulti.de
Since early 1994, Radio Berlin has been broadcasting a 24 hours a day in 18 languages under the banner of Radio Multikulti. This groundbreaking channel has grown in stature over the years, providing both this useful site (though you might need a German dictionary at times) and two recent spin-offs: World Music Night (www.worldmusicnight.com), hosting a late evening program of rebroadcasted shows streamed over the net, and World Charts Europe (www.wmce.de), drawn from the playlists of 47 radio producers in 23 European countries and containing sound files, reviews and other useful links.
Raj Academy
http://www.rajacademy.com
Raj Academy of Asian Music was set up a few years ago by Prof Surinder Singh. This is a free school open to all to achieve a National BTEC Diploma in Classical Sikh Music and currently holds over 500 students in the UK and many more abroad in areas such as Denmark, India, USA, Canada. The site also has useful descriptions of many Indian classical instruments plus musical samples.
Realworld
http://realworld.on.net
Together with David Byrne's Luaka Bop, Peter Gabriel's much-loved label can be said to have put world music fairly and squarely on the map. Well over a decade later his proud stable boasts a panoply of top artists (Afro-Celt Sound System, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Papa Wemba to name but a few) and a complimentary state-of-the-art website that successfully integrates cutting edge technology with a wide array of sounds and cultures. Radio Realworld, WOMAD and Gabriel's own site (www.petergabriel.com) are all here, together with a space for visual artists and multimedia (including the CD ROMs 'Eve' and 'Explora 1'). An entertainment and education in itself.
Rootsworld
http://www.rootsworld.com
Cliff Furnald's labour of love has been bringing the best of folk roots, world music and ethnomusicology to the wider public since 1994. While the site provides more information to the paid-up subscriber (as well as a copy of the esteemed magazine), there's plenty to keep the occasional visitor occupied, in particular a vast library of CD reviews that fall into five regions (Africa, Europe, Asia, Americas, Pacific). A good selection of mp3s, a global gallery, links to other world sites and festivals plus some of the sharpest scholarship around make it a site to be reckoned with.
Rough Guides
http://www.roughguides.com/music/world
The Rough Guides music website features biographies and discographies covering everywhere from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, drawn from the highly acclaimed book, The Rough Guide to World Music. You'll also find scores of up-to-the-minute CD reviews from Songlines, the leading world music magazine.
Rounder Records
http://www.rounder.com
There are catalogues - and then there are catalogues. Rounder boast a treasure trove of literally thousands of releases, covering all aspects of North American and Mexican roots music together with an impressive burgeoning selection of world compilations which range from the academic to the distinctly zany. The jewel in the crown is the mighty Alan Lomax Collection (see above), but lovers of Tex Mex, bluegrass and gospel need look no further.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
http://web2.si.edu/folkways/
For over 50 years, the Smithsonian has been making and distributing recordings of the world's folk music, in particular the enormously influential legacy of North America. Its online catalogue features over 2,000 recording available on made-to-order CDRs and cassettes, as well as 250 commercial recordings ranging from New York Calypso to Leadbelly Sings for Children, as well as Harry Smith's legendary Anthology of American Folk Music. Plus a comprehensive selection of recordings of Indonesian music. All recordings can be ordered via the site.
Songlines Magazine
http://www.songlines.co.uk
Songlines Magazine has relaunched in a new format, offering the latest CD reviews, artist interviews, guides to particular world music traditions, concert-listings and travel stories. It is edited by Simon Broughton, co-editor of The Rough Guide to World Music, and includes an irreverent column from Radio 3 DJ Andy Kershaw. The website is currently just a route to subscription, but will soon expand to include all their reviews in headline form, and selected reviews in full.
Traditional World Music Recordings
http://www.medieval.org/music/world.html
Not the most visually spectacular of sites, but for lucid, detailed essays on Near Eastern, Indian, Chinese and South-East Asian music, TWMR is hard to beat. The author claims that' he is interested in 'the most rigorous classicism', so this is not one for crossover fans. Especially strong on the less well-known classical traditions of the likes of Cambodia and Korea. Austere but authoritative and highly recommended.
Unesco Collection of Traditional Music
http://www.unesco.org/culture/cdmusic/index.shtml
This vital contribution to the study and research of the world's musical cultures was begun back in 1961 by Alain Danielon, since when it has ballooned to a staggering 110 different releases that cover the globe. Cross-referenced by country/region, genre or (very usefully) celebration, and available in both English, French and Spanish, this is a site that with a little bit of application pays rich dividends. Besides the series of sound recordings, there are links, a glossary, news, a wide variety of culturally based reading matter and even a selection of UNESCO's statutory texts.
Womex
http://www.womex.com
The mushrooming 'World Music Expo' has been growing exponentially in the hothouse of the global garden, and the current climate promises even bigger and better things after its roaring success in Rotterdam in October 2000. As a trade fair it focuses on the business element, so the navigation reflects the floorplan you'd expect in the real thing, with Expo Halls, Pavilions, and Exhibitions to choose from. Dry it might sound, and might be every now and again, but there's a wealth of material here, notably well over 1,000 very useful members profiles, including promoters, radio stations, distributors and labels as well as artists themselves. Watch this space.
World Circuit Records
http://www.worldcircuit.co.uk
Nick Gold's outfit has set the highest standards in the fields of world music since the late 80s, beating an imaginative path through the established world music map on the one hand, while vigorously pushing new young artists and movements with the other. The label's true genius, however, lies in its production values and concepts, whether it be reviving Cuban golden oldies under the banner of the now legendary Buena Vista Social Club or recording a whole album of Ali Farka Toure in the ruins of an old school house. Disappointingly, over the last two years - despite fulsome promises of redevelopment - little has changed on the website, which as a glorified catalogue (not even including the essential booklet essays by Gold, Lucy Duran, Charlie Gillett et al) stands as a fine opportunity squandered. Too bad: you'll just have to go and buy the records.
World Event Village
http://www.worldeventvillage.com
Operated by Sony Corporation in Japan, World Event Village is a broadband media featuring streaming on demand video of live music, street performances, festivals and other events from around the world. World Event Village employ a network of 'Field Producers' in all corners of the world, to bring you the latest and most happening artists from their locale. Other Field Producers travel to various far flung destinations to cover one off festivals and events. They try to bring you the local atmosphere, to experience not just the event, but a taste of the country. It's the next best thing to being there.
World Music Network
http://www.worldmusic.net
The musical counterpart to the Rough Guides series of travel books, WMN's catalogue comprises over 60 starter packs for the adventurous musical traveller. With over half a dozen new releases a year, the series trips along at a breakneck pace with an impressive thoroughness and range, making it a wonderful companion piece to the eminent double volume Rough Guide to World Music. The site includes well-written features on artists, interviews in audio and video, and free soundclips from every album to entice new listeners.
World Music Portal
http://www.worldmusicportal.com/
Claims to be and almost certainly is the 'largest source for world music information'. This very lively site is excellent for keeping up with the latest news and releases in all the world music genres. Enormous separate sections on ethnomusicology, books, CD reviews, festivals, instruments, labels, organisations and radio stations. An essential world music site.
World Music Webcast
http://www.worldmusicwebcast.com/
DJ-hosted world music on the web, 24/7. They feature a mix of traditional and contemporary world music, from Brazilian to Balkan...Calypso to Celtic...Ragas to Reggae...Native American to Nigerian...Folk to Finnish.
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