Read other letters about this article
"World Muisc, as you narrowly define it, is not "uniformly garbage" you arrogant fuckwit. I'll take Malian Taureg rockers Tinariwen over almost any current American or Brit guitar band any day of the week. I'll take Colombian alternative duo Aterciopelados over any of their Anglo counterparts hands down. Pound for pound, Manu Chao rocks harder than any cornfed American rockers currently on the charts. As our own pop becomes more and more uniform and less and less interesting, it looks like the REAL alternative music is being made elsewhere - and you need to get your head out of your ass"
My god, Anonymous, Eulogy was offering an olive branch to fans of non Western music! And you're STILL going all rabid over it!
Look, Putomayo is just evil. And it embodies the pretentious middlebrow foodie buffet mentality of SHALLOW world music fans--not ANY fan of music from around the world. Do you really think a Putomayo compilation compares to a full album of Manu Chao or Caetano Valoso?
You're creating a false conflict between those who like your average indie rock and those who like, for lack of a better term, international music. IT'S POSSIBLE TO APPRECIATE ALL KINDS OF MUSIC AT THE SAME TIME.
This whole mentality that ANY countries' music is inherently more "real" than any others', is condescending and just plain wrong. Especially when there's so much feedback that goes BOTH ways, creating new inspirations. You want an interesting comp? Try The Sexual Life of the Savages, on Soul Jazz: it chronicles a bunch of Brazilian bands and their own idiosyncratic take on the post punk sounds of Joy Division and ESG. Or the Indonesian prog rock of Shark Move. Or Flower Travellin' Band's "Satori".
None of this has much to do with Putomayo baby food.
And calling someone a "fuckwit" and demanding that they pull their head out of their ass? Out of line.