We always look forward to sequencing our "best of" collections. It's fun to find the thematic, visual or musical connections that they have as a group. This year's themes were...

"The day before yesterday, the Devil tempted me...he wanted me to steal from someone else...I'm poor as a churchmouse." These days everyone is having hard times, and so...

(Belgium) We don't know how this one slipped by us -- it's not the latest video from the venerable world music pioneers Zap Mama, headed by Marie Daulnes, but it...

(Peru) Novalima is exactly that- a new take on Afro-Peruvian music. So while we can still hear the root of Coba Guarango as an incantation to the spirit of fire,...

Sweden's power folk trio are back, with their signature sound- tight ensemble playing, the soulful violin of Mikael Marin, intriguing chord inversions courtesy of Roger Tallroth, and the prizewinning playing...

This is a traditional Serbian drinking song-- At least Goran Bregovic likes to drink to it. (His contracts specify supplies of alcohol for performance.) So what better place to perform...

(Indonesia) Rizaldi Siagian is a noted ethnomusicologist and television producer from Indonesia. In this moving video, he has composed the music and he is also singing. Indonesia has been plundered...

(Mexico) Hey who's the guy in the Devo hat? It's Mexican Institute of Sound's DJ and producer Camilo Lara. By day, Lara is the president of EMI Mexico and at...

(Brazil) The velvet voiced Lima is back, this time with a song of her own composition. "Vou Deixar" is a song about attraction, and it fairly drips with flirtation. It's...

(Poland) "Lament" is a traditional rural song that has been reprocessed through the Warsaw Village Band's uniquely urban approach. While the lyrics read like a fairly typical story of a...

(Iran/US) "Restless my sleep, beyond words my grief Alone I lie at night In the embrace of your apparition" After Vietnam, the Iran-Iraq war was the longest war of the...

(Azerbaijan) When Aygun Baylar sings the demanding repertoire of Azerbaijani muggam, there is something beyond the sheer power of her voice that one is struck with. There is an emotional...

(Finland) It's a play on words (svangtime = swingtime), and fun all around. This good natured cakewalk from Finland struts its stuff and we just have to laugh. As usual...

(Brazil) While she may not (yet) be a household name in Brazilian music, Paula Lima is on the rise because she has definitely got what it takes; a velvety true...