I'm not sure about mailing lists but if your looking for world music on
a more folk tip (ie. more traditional as opposed to world beat or pop)
and you're looking for vinyl, I've found the following labels to be the
bomb:
Nonesuch Records (esp. their Explorer Series)
Smithsonian Folkways
Philips
World Pacific
The first three labels have a lot of really dope stuff because they approach music
as a study of various rhythms and melodies from around the world as well as through
a cultural perspective. World Pacific is heavy on Indian Classical music. The stuff
on the Smithsonian Folkways is also available on CD - they have a web site
somewhere if you can look it up on Yahoo. I've found that the vinyl is not too
hard to find if you dig a little - there are a lot of mind blowing recordings that
can't be found on CD. I collect a lot of this stuff and play it on our radio show
along side jungle, house, hip-hop, disco, funk, jazz, and blues - makes me appreciate
the centuries old evolution of music from around the world to the forms in which it
manifests itself today.
SoulJazz records came out with a compilation of world folk music - I've seen
a copy or two pop in our local DJ shop every now and then. For recent recordings,
there's a lot of stuff on Axiom. The RealWorld label also has really kool stuff,
mixing traditional stuff with contemporary influences. Their web sites
would probably have catalogue info. hope this helps.
shanti,
ashwin
ashwin@visgen.com