let's talk about PUTUMAYO

not too adventurous, the themed compilations tend to be pretty bad (Music of the Coffee Lands, Music of the Tea Lands - what is the connection between any of these places) but I guess they do introduce a lot of ppl to music they might otherwise have heard - hope they continue on from there.

it is the biggest selling label for world music which is somewhat depressing to me, but see above hope it acts as a portal for the ppl who buy 'em. of course, mebbe they just keep buying mure putumayo and othing else.

Haha, only that these cds are sold at coffee shops everywhere!

("Afro-Latin" is a confusing designation here, since most of the "Latin" music I like already can be called Afro-Latin, and is called Afro-Latin, because of its African roots.)

x-post & sh*t

I've heard the chocolate islands (? or something like that) one is good.

I really think how good the Rough Guides are depends on how much you know about the music to begin with. I can easily find fault when it's something I know well, but when it's not, I still make the leap of faith that says: this will be a good place to start. I guess this could be true for a lot of things, not just the Rough Guide, but I notice it with that.

Haha, only that these cds are sold at coffee shops everywhere!

-- Jordan (jordan...), April 26th, 2005.

You could really read the titles of these comps as music grouped by its countries' role in imperialism, but I think Jordan's explanation is probably more OTM. I heard the founder of Putumayo interviewed, and he was talking about how their success basically came from selling their CDs where CDs were not generally being sold in large numbers -- coffee shops, museum gift shops, etc.

https://unp.un.org/bookshop/covers_large/1587591413.jpg

My aunt bought me this for my birthday. "Unforgettable songs from countries where chocolate originates." Magical countries. Including Hawaii. Also "USA/Mexico" which are the countries members Ozomatli are from. Also including Ivory Coast, where child slavery is rampant in the cocoa trade. But not in the trade of unforgettable songs.

I have not listened to it yet.

Ok, so far it's not completely terrible. The first track is bad in the same way that about 45% of bad world music is bad, i.e. it sounds like another ethnic variant on the Gypsy Kings.

The Susheela Raman (India) has a decent beat and her voice is pretty. The Marcantonio song (Brazil) sounds like it would be at home on a Wes Anderson soundtrack. Beethova Obas (Haiti) is cheerful but bland. Ok, it's all bland. I'll probably never listen to any of this again, but it's much less awful than I thought it would be.

What's the deal with "world" musicians and those shitty-sounding electro-nylon-string guitars?

The cover is a really funny caricature of a yuppie fantasy about chocolate lands to the point that I wonder if it's tongue-in-cheek.

i like the dude playing for the white lady in teh lower left-hand corner

She looks like she's saying "Oh this is just divine."

or "i'm paying you to cut the grass, pedro, not to play the guitar."

They just did a New Orleans "brass bands" one. I was actually tempted because it seemed like there might be some new tracks on there, but it looks relatively corny overall.

More like putomayo, amirite?

The "yuppie fantasy" aspect of the covers is enough to scare me out of ever touching one of these.

wait'll you hear (about 80 percent of) the music

See, that's why I have instincts.

I recently borrowed a bunch of these from someone and I see two general drawbacks to their releases: (1) the selections tend to be extremely moderate aesthetically and (2) thanks to licensing limitations on which artists they can include, the best and/or most representative and/or most popular artists are rarely included. I don't think the music is generally bad exactly, but where I'm somewhat familiar with the country or styles being covered, I rarely consider it close to being the most exciting selection.

Sometimes you see the same nobodies turning up on more than one compilation, like the band Ska Cubano for instance. (I think they have some fans on this board, but sorry, they bug me.)

The Greek one I just listened to again is all acoustic (or that's how it seems) and the mood is all very constant and steady. None of the really crazy, melodramatic stuff I often like. Not that there isn't room for someone like Arvanitaki who would seem to be up Putumayo's alley, but then she's not on here (and probably would cost to much to include). I just noticed this has Glykeria and George Dalaras on it, so, okay, there are some big name major artists after all. It still manages to stay in a very narrow emotional range. Nobody is going to smash plates to this music.

i always see these comps for sale at Whole Foods. KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE