As babbled previously, this afternoon I was at XDU for two hours o' wrrld musical fun. Now it is, in fact, possible to do an almost all Xmas-themed wrrld music show. But I just wasn't feeling it this year. Possibly because I already did it last year. Possibly cos it's not Xmas Eve but Festivus (!!). At any rate, I chose, instead, to do a best of '06 recap. Granted, a hugely idiosyncratic one. Not the most popular wrrld CDs from the XDU top 88.7 of '06, but my faves from the CDs I reviewed for XDU. For those keeping score at home, I'd say about half of my absolute top 10 is drawn from stuff I reviewed. Others to be drawn from a shortlist including: Los de Abajo, Descemer, DJ Dolores, Gotan Project, Lila Downs, Toumani Diabate, and probably some others I'm forgetting. But w/o a doubt my top 3, in an order that varies depending on mood, are:
Gili Garabdi :: Fanfare Ciocarlia
Bonfires of Sao Joao :: Forro in the Dark
Lamp Fall :: Cheikh Lo

serenity now!