The genre ‘World Music’ was a music industry term, popularized in the 1980s, as a marketing category for styles of music from non-Western countries. It was such a wide definition that the genre was better defined as "local music from out there", but more recently ‘International’ has replaced the outdated genre name. Examples of popular forms of International music include the various forms of non-European classical music such as Indian raga music and Tibetan chants, Eastern European folk music, Latin music, and the many forms of folk and tribal music of the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America.
Since the 90’s, low-cost international travel and the internet has collapsed borders, enabling musicians to see and hear musicians from other cultures and to visit other countries to play their own music. Hence contemporary International music includes various blends of ethnic music tradition, style and interpretation, and sub-genres have been coined to represent these hybrids, such as ‘ethnic fusion’ and ‘worldbeat’. Good examples of hybrid, ethnic fusion are the Irish-West African meld of Afro Celt Sound System, and the jazz / Finnish folk music of Värttinä.
As International music continues its fascinating development, here at Flying Nun we strive to carry a range of the most engaging International music and to also seek out represses of newly unearthed key International music works from the past. Find albums on vinyl LP, CD and cassette, including Cuban, Indian, Asian, Latin, Middle Eastern, Europeanand other music styles.
You can come and browse at our physical record store based in Wellington at 173 Cuba St, Te Aro, or in Auckland at 202 Karangahape Rd. Buy online and get free shipping in Aotearoa New Zealand on your order over $40.
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