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Maia's Picks: Favorite Links of Holiday 2007

Emusic: I'd avoided the download sites until now... but at emusic - between the Smithsonian Folkways, international selections, and the many otherwise out of print recordings - I'm hooked. From Ireland's amazing Lasairfhíona to Mali's Habib Koite, from the years-between of Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) to the Nordic explosions of Annbjørg Lien, I am having too much fun!

Lissa Schneckenburger is a New England singer and fiddler who performs as a soloist and in various groups, including Halali (with the immensely gifted fellow fiddler, Hanneke Cassel) and the contra band, Phantom Power. Lissa has a very useful FAQ on New England Fiddling, contra and more - I am always pleased to see artists as teachers, helping fans immerse themselves in a musical lore!

The Smithsonian and National Geographic have both undertaken projects utilizing their considerable resources to create a gateway for world music. Smithsonian Global Sound and Nat Geo Music have videos, bios, sound, photos... I could get lost!

There's a lot of historical and current material on the Smithsonian site - from Elizabeth Cotton singing "Freight Train" to Pete Seeger talking about political songs to a francophone tune by Allez West to a throat singing lesson by Mark van Tongeren (an ethnomusicologist specializing in khöömei throat-singing) and the opening ceremonies of the National Museum of the American Indian...

The Nat Geo site has an interesting glossary - I was able to look up Acadian, get a lengthy discussion of current artists, sample tracks, and links to articles on La Bottine Sourinate, Blou, Beau Soleil and Les Charbonniers De L'Enfer. It may not be a comprehensive source for those highly knowledgeable about a given genre, but it offers great kickoff points.