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Natalie

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Around the World in 20 Songs

1 Can't Stop
2 Over the Rainbow
3 Ne Me Jugez Pas
4 Amarain
5 Ingoma
6 Mbonqane Groove
7 Ca Plane Pour Moi
8 L'Alize
9 Abracadabra
10 Du Hast
11 Beautiful Life
12 Put Your Records On
13 Five Colours in Her Hair
14 A Stor My Crow
15 The Rovin Dies Hard
16 Solo Sword Dance
17 Lenda
18 Three Little Birds
19 Tumbling Tumbleweeds
20 Strong Badia National Anthem

Featured Article

picture for article IMP's Top 10 Albums and Singles of 2008

IMP's Top 10 Albums and Singles of 2008

IMP's real value has always been the inherent diversity of its members' choices. Unlike other music-related websites who strive to be arbiters of taste, IMP's primary mission is to fuel the fire of subjectivity. Accordingly, the annual IMP top ten lists are scattershot and surprising, ranging from Brooklyn indie rock to Bangladeshi folk to Balearic house. So, publishing the cumulative year-end list ends up as a sort of disservice to that subjectivity, muffling the beautiful noise of each member's preferences. Meaning, accept these two lists at face-value, but seek out the individual lists of IMP members—on their blogs, in Facebook positings, and in their monthly mixes. Now, here's a snapshot of the year that was 2008, courtesy of IMP.

-- Ryan Mixtape

picture for article A Subjective Guide to World Music Labels

A Subjective Guide to World Music Labels

These are some of the most prominent purveyors of World Music, but there are dozens, if not hundreds, more small, local, and specialty labels that are dedicated to making available the sounds of the human race. I wanted to share these five with you, not only because of their range and accessibility, but also because they have the resources and the vision to offset the exploitation that World Music artists have long endured at the hands of the record industry.

-- Robert Mead

picture for article The Mixtape as Disruptive Technology

The Mixtape as Disruptive Technology

Essentially, home-recordable cassette tapes and inexpensive dubbing technology, first made popular in the early-1980s, were the original death knell of the stagnant, stodgy music industry. The so-called filesharing trend started when consumers who had already bought a record, tape, or CD from their local Sam Goody store started picking bits and pieces of the album to re-record and give away as a mixtape. More importantly, the consumer isn't really avoiding payment, but is instead demonstrating new ways to consume.

-- Ryan Mixtape