($17.95, Museyon Guides)
For some people, music and travel go hand in hand. This book is written for them. It features a dozen writers who were sent to a dozen countries. Their assignment was to describe the music”the coolest genres” — around the world. That includes Celtic punk in Dublin, Muslim hip-hop in Paris, Indipop in Mumbai and techno in Berlin. Some genres are definitely a huge departure from mainstream tastes. Ethiopop in Ethiopia, for example, draws from spiritual music, jazz, hip-hop and funk with a particular fondness for synthesizers and Stevie Wonder-like riffs, while Argentina’s rhythmic sounds of cumbia, with its global dance music, has emerged from its folk roots to give the tango a run for its money. But more traditional types of music are also here. Peter Margasak, staff writer for the Chicago Reader, for example, devotes a chapter to Chicago jazz. Each chapter features sections on what the editors call “hometown heroes,” as well as brief descriptions of influential albums associated with each type of music. Chicago Tribune
