spindlewhorl

Piers Vitebsky: The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia
The Siberian reindeer herders’ camp is a fairly intimate collection of perhaps a dozen people and a few small tents, surrounded by thousands of square miles of space...read my review

Jane Smiley: Greenlanders
You don’t hear much about The Greenlanders, but it is an amazing book. Dark and haunting, it is Ms. Smiley’s brilliant imagining of the final years of the Norse Greenland colony...read my review

Ashley MacIssac: Hi How Are You Today?
If you think fiddles and bagpipes can't rock, think again.

The Johnson Mountain Boys: At the Old Schoolhouse
Near-perfect music making that's also true to the spirit of traditional bluegrass.

Richard Hagopian: Armenian Music through the Ages
Rhythmic, melodic, contemplative, poetic, lush, gorgeous.

Natalie MacMaster: My Roots Are Showing
Awesome traditional Cape Breton fiddling with an amusing title, too.

Edwin Colon Zayas: Bien Jibaro!: Country Music of Puerto Rico
Pulsing, seething, Caribbean rhythm, virtuosic steel-string cuatro and rich, romantic singing.

Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue
I wish Woody Guthrie could hear this! These guys breathe music and life into his lyrics. Have a listen and meet this complex man who was both folk hero and artist.

Seamus Egan: A Week in January
One of the first and finest by the Irish prodigy. Jigs and reels with room to breathe. Still a favorite though it predates the internet age.

United House Of Prayer: Saints' Paradise: Trombone Shout Bands
I keep coming back to this unbelievable recording that words cannot describe. Play it loud and be healed!