DeRayMi

point 2 is for anyone to answer (if that wasn't clear?)

Tom Ewing

George Gosset, I think. To be frank I'm not sure what he's on about most of the time. He might be talking about stuff I know about. Geez, that's a frightening thought.

Tim Hopkins - British hip-hop (thanks for the cds, btw)

Everyone! I'm a one trick pony. Maybe two tricks at most.

You know more about that there modern dance music off the top of your head than I do, Mr. Ronan. Give thyself some credit.

Tim Finney, probably.

Gareth, I really was expecting this thread to be something about what a boring idiot I am. I will recommend some songs, but I'd rather do it frome home where I can have my CDs in front of me. I haven't found MP3 hunting to be very rewarding (due to the time it takes to download stuff, the weird side effects of having downloaded the Audiogalaxy software, etc.), so I don't have much of an idea about what is available or not in that form.

I'd have to think about who knows the most about a type of music I know little about. The music that gets discussed here a lot that I know least about is probably current electronic music, and maybe indie from the last several years. I constantly find names here that I am not familiar with.

Well, certainly DeRayMi... also Robin Carmody, John Darnielle - hell, a lot of people know a heck of a lot more than I do.

Gareth, you haven't said anything more about the type of music you want me to pick, but I assume you are looking for Latin and Arabic things? Okay, here are some suggestions:

Oum Kalthoum (Umm Kulthum, Om Kolsoum, etc., etc.): "Ana Fe Entezarak." This is pretty long though and I don't know if it will be feasible to download it. If you can find "Ha Ablou Bokra," that's a short song that nevertheless is a pretty good intro. to Oum Kalthoum.

Farid el Atrache: "Wehyat Einiki" or "Laktib Ala Awrak Ashajar."

Asmahan: "Aleik Salat Allah."

Fairouz (also Fairuz): "Sakana Elleil" or maybe "Fail Wala Nassi."

(Good luck finding those. You might have to do more general web searches by artist, rather than looking in something like audiogalaxy.)

Sun Ra and his Arkestra: "Somewhere in Space," "Dark Clouds with Silver Linings," "Pleasure," or "When Angels Speak of Love."

Salsa (most or all of these are pretty pop oriented):

Frankie Ruiz: "La Cura."

Willie Rosario/Gilberto Santa Rosa: "El Apartamento."

Cuco Valoy: "Mariana Engracia."

El Gran Combo: "La Muerte."

Pedro Conga: "Donde Estas."

thanks! it'll probably be about a month before i am able to download these, but i've printed this off to use then. i didn't specify which types of music, i didn't want to narrow down what you might pick...