The most reductive thing local record shops – though not the ones I visit – stick on their section heads has always been ‘world music’. It means nothing – it basically says the sum of music from Brasil, Serbia, Japan, South Africa and (maybe?) France and Germany is no more than a single western genre, say, indie rock.
Time for a new definition. And as usual, a travel-lagged Jace slash Rupture has the goods.
world music is music with truly global reach. Think U2, Beyonce. So, 50 Cent is one of my favorite world music artists right now.
With all those guys squashed in the world section, maybe there’ll be space to let the Australian indigenous cats out of the bag.
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Amen on the indigenous cats.
On of the WOMAD-approved world music artists involved with these eejits here — http:imaginedvillage.com — says “Englishness is the final frontier of world music” (see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/10/13/bmpopcds113.xml).
It doesn’t go without saying that I’ve a massive problem with this and write at considerable length on it on my profusely illustrated blog at http://www.feastofpalmer.com
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…or should that read “space to make the Australian indigenous elephants visible in the room”?
Please excuse my over-posting.
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To each their own I guess, I’m not a fan of Afro Celt Sound System, but I’ve always had a lot of time for Benjamin Zephaniah’s flow.
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