From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:10 AM

A totally rocked out, live performance of a traditional Hungarian Dance by the band Napra.

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:10 AM

"Topical" music with a message: The Taiwanese hip hop group Kou Chou Ching deliver a timely statement about runaway capitalism in China, and Pistolera tackles the issue of immigration - from the immigrants' point of view.

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:08 AM

Sara Tavares is a superstar in the making, and her lilting style is an offshoot of her gentle personality. In this special Link TV interview she discusses her sense of both Portuguese and Cape Verdean identity and performs a rendition of "Bom Feeling."

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:08 AM

(Réunion) Ziskakan is one of the most successful bands to come out of the tiny island of Reunion, off the east coast of Madagascar. The island’s population is a rich mix of African, European, Creole and Indian, and the music reflects this.  The band is a true fusion of all of these influences, a...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:08 AM

(Slovenia) The always opportunistic Magnifico knows how to get raunchy, and in this unabashed send up of commercial rap there’s plenty of bling and wiggling women, all looking glossed up. The message is clear: "Giv Mi! Ring Mi! Download me now!" This man knows the marketing ropes. While there�...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:08 AM

(Czech Republic) There are Rom (gypsy) populations all throughout Europe, and the music in each locale is a fascinating blend of cultures. The Rom music of Central Europe is a hard swinging hybrid of the hot jazz of France and the rough and ready melodies of Romania and Eastern Europe. The music...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:08 AM

Taped in Mumbai. Shubha Mudgal is one of India’s premiere divas, known for both her impeccable renditions of the Indian classical repertoire, and her exceptionally eclectic musical forays. In this interview Mudgal muses on the creation of the song, "Babul" as a twist on a traditional wedding son...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:08 AM

(Brazil) Here’s a sassy, kickass track from Carlinhos Brown, who our viewers may know from his participation in the many Tribalistas videos we show. That it's as propulsive as it is, is no coincidence; after all Brown is one of Brazil's best known percussionist-drummers, as well as bei...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 6:08 AM

(Brazil) Urban ToTem is the brainchild of drummer Andre Jung, who after a successful and long run with the popular Brazilian band IRA! decided to put together a quasi-experimental group. There’s a bit of everything in Urban ToTem--berimbao (the quintessential instrument of capoeira), cello, synt...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

(Slovenia) There’s some outrageous stuff coming out of the Balkans, and Magnifico is a prime example. In "Land of Champions" this musical chameleon blends Balkan and Mexican brass band music with Dick Dale style guitar, casts himself as a frontier sheriff and renders a straight faced reworking o...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

(Sierra Leone) Sorie Kondi is a blind musician who has managed to survive on his music even through the horrors of civil war. (In 1999 rebels swept through Freetown, in what they themselves called "Operation No Living Thing.") He takes his name from the "kondi" an instrument we might know as a k...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

The Grammy-winning Angelique Kidjo is surely Afropop’s diva supreme. She has fearlessly combined Western pop genres with African influences, and with every disc, her work just seems to get stronger. She has also been a champion of women's rights worldwide, been a UNICEF ambassador,...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

(Brazil) "Pensar Em Você" is one of Chico Cesar’s best known love songs. It's been covered by some of Brazil's greatest divas. But Cesar wanted to express something about a larger love, and so he placed his song in one of the communities set up by landless people, those who have no lan...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

(Congo) Here’s a fascinating video that presents exciting musical developments in the Congo.  On the streets of Kinshasa, musicians who have moved from the bush to the city play the repertoire they were born to, to communicate with their ancestors and with the people.  How to be heard above the ...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

The shashmaqam is one of the primary styles of court music that flourished in the Silk Road cities of Central Asia: Samarkand, Bukhara, and Tashkent. This documentary looks at this profound music of great refinement and poetic beauty.

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

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 it than at the beer and booze drenched festival of Guca? While the festival has been going since Bregovic was a ...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

Although Deolinda’s music gets its inspiration from Fado, the members have obviously cherry-picked those elements they wish to keep and those they do not: the strong female vocalist, but no funereal garb, the winsome guitar lines but absent the Portuguese guitar, and plenty of irony --but withou...

From: Link TV on Mon, Dec 07 2009 5:19 AM

Popular bands like Brazil’s Tribalistas, Poland's Warsaw Village Band, and Mali's Amadou and Mariam prove that local sounds resonate universally when performed by the world's most original musical talents. Enjoy this sampling of some of the best bands on the planet!

From: Link TV on Sat, Dec 05 2009 2:24 PM

With the holidays fast approaching, and the ensuing family obligations, gift giving, and enforced gaity, we all may find ourselves in need of a breather. David Whitaker is a rapper/performer based in Japan. He says, "I create music because it expresses my heart audibly. I was blessed to be raise...

From: Link TV on Sat, Dec 05 2009 1:47 PM

Kenya’s Kenge Kenge had everyone swaying and bobbing at WOMEX. This excerpt from their performance captures their infectious good spirits.