Please welcome another new writer to the FTTW fold - Eric. He'll be doing two columns, a weekly column introducing you to new, eclectic music (that's this one) and a monthly column on street art.

Hi everybody!

I'm really no good at introducing myself, so I'm just going to blindly forge ahead, hand extended in greeting, and hope that I don't knock anyone on their ass. I am Eric, and I will be your guide to the magical world of music. I spend entirely too much time (and money) surfing the internet, rummaging through record stores and attending live shows, and one day I thought to myself "wouldn't it be great if you could share some of the gems you've stumbled across with other people and make a living while doing it?" Hell yeah, it would! Unfortunately, Michele has refused to pay me a dime (not even reimbursement for the hookers and blow!), so I guess I'll be doing it for free...

I am here to write about music that you might not have heard of before. Pieces of music from all corners of the world. From the dusty record crates in the basement of Wax Trax to the unpronounceable foreign websites at ends of the internet, I'll be bringing the umlaut, the circumflex, the acute and the háček. There will be occasions when a band or song seems to missing important vowels, or has 5 consonants in a row. Sometimes the vocals will be be in 4 or 5 languages, none of them English. But if you're willing to take a chance on something different, I'm more than happy to bring it to you, week after week. I'll even try my best to do it without sounding like some asshole coffee-shop music snob.

Here's a little sample of some of the genres that I'll be writing about:

Hip-hop turntablism
Indian reggae
Hungarian downtempo
Politically-charged Latin-funk
French afro-pop
Asian death-metal
Cajun punk
Candian blues-hop
Chinese bluegrass
Jewish nerdcore
Maori R&B
U.K. grime
Palestinian hip-hop
Japanese trip-hop
Australian freestyle
Swedish synth-hop
Arabic dancehall
Parisian party rap
Italian electro-folk
Kenyan blues

Now, I know that some people looked through that list and saw a number of different styles of hip-hop listed. Let me assure you that this is not your average Eminem/DMX/Ying-Yang Twins type of hip-hop. 99% of what I bring to you, you won't hear on Clear Channel or Jacor-owned radio stations. This is hip hop in it's rawest form. DJ battling each other, switching up records every 20 seconds. Emcees who can rhyme over any beat you give them. Newcomers and 20 year veterans of the game. Straight-edge vegans who are signed to punk labels. Devout Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists and Buddhists from every race, sex and background.

Some diverse stuff, is what I'm getting at....

Now, I know that nobody is anxious to shell out their hard earned money for a CD of something that may sound cool in writing, but could easily be god-awful. There is a thin line between eclectic and total shit. So I will include links to websites where you can sample the tracks before buying (you do plan to pay for those tracks, don't you?), and include the homepage of the artist whenever possible.

Since this was more of an introduction article than anything else, here are some free tracks of sweet, sweet music to tide you over until next week.

Definitive Swim

Rhymesayers Entertainment

Stone's Throw Records

National Geographic's Guide to World Music

My Last.fm Radio Station

My Pandora Hip Hop Station

In the meantime, why don't you tell me who your favorite hip-hop or foreign artist is? It's OK if you like Nelly. I won't tell anyone.

Eric's Profile

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