15,945 albums, over 200,000 tracks, constantly growing – the Contemporary World Music is a fantastic source of musical inspiration from around the world.
Featured is a selection of Maori music including haka, poetry and traditional songs.
Alongside this the site features sounds from every continent, showcasing important genres such as reggae, Bollywood, Arab swing jazz, neo-traditional and much more. You can find traditional genres like flamenco, klezmer, zydeco and fado,
I particularly enjoyed the search feature which gives options of instrument category or genre. Each categorey is divided into a huge number of sub-categories which contain something as regular as a drum, or something unexpected like a bowl, to more obscure items such as a mirliton.
The home page has a Featured section displays a view of sliding titles giving you the change to stumble upon something new. As well there is an advanced search feature and playlists created by users.
This site is a great addition to the library Source collection of databases. Its has an amazing variety of music if you are looking for something with a unique cultural sound. Browse and enjoy!
Christopher Reid
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 