The New York Times > Arts > Music > Critic's Notebook: This Is the Sound of Globalization
This is a great article.
WOULD that the state of world music were the state of the world. In the music, boundaries are wide open, curiosity leads to cooperation, memories are long but the lessons of history are positive ones. In the world, well . . .
World music, that happily vague category, encompasses raw field recordings and slick non-Western pop, traditional music and countless twists on traditionalism; the term is also applied to everything from crosscultural fusions to club music with exotic samples to new-age meditation albums. No matter. The broad rubric holds a wealth of music that is now more accessible than ever before. And while major labels have largely lost interest in world music, independents have been busy, while listeners are no longer dependent on the shelf space or classification skills of local record stores."
WOULD that the state of world music were the state of the world. In the music, boundaries are wide open, curiosity leads to cooperation, memories are long but the lessons of history are positive ones. In the world, well . . .
World music, that happily vague category, encompasses raw field recordings and slick non-Western pop, traditional music and countless twists on traditionalism; the term is also applied to everything from crosscultural fusions to club music with exotic samples to new-age meditation albums. No matter. The broad rubric holds a wealth of music that is now more accessible than ever before. And while major labels have largely lost interest in world music, independents have been busy, while listeners are no longer dependent on the shelf space or classification skills of local record stores."
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