Allow myself to introduce (click on thumbnails):

After having left him for dead at an African train station, the least I could do is link to this blogging superstar from Santiago, Chile. Rivaling his friend, the Chilean senator Fernando Flores, Leo Prieto is probably the closest thing to an online celebrity that South America has. And it’s not hard to see why. He writes with eloquence and wit about complex topics that would intimidate most if it weren’t for his unthreatening and egoless intimacy. It’s no wonder that most of his posts inspire 20 to 30 comments from all over the Spanish-speaking blogosphere. He was recently featured in the Chilean daily, El Mercurio as one of four successful professionals (keep in mind, his “profession” is essentially blogging) without a college degree.

Many of you are probably already familiar with my tocayo, David Davo of El Machete. He’s from Mexico’s most famous surfing village, Puerto Escondido, but is currently studying (architecture?) at RMIT University in Australia. I love his blog … love how honest and sincere and carefree it is. Don’t let the easy going tone fool you though – check out how he lays down the law in this comment thread over at Gustavo’s.

One of the few downsides of working on Global Voices is that I spend so much time concentrating on Latin America and the Caribbean that I rarely have the luxury of reading what my colleagues are linking to or even their own blogs. So here’s my commitment to keeping myself up to date on Haitham Sabbah who covers the Middle East and North Africa for Global Voices. Born in Kuwait, but with Jordanian nationality, Haitham now lives in Bahrain where he does a really unbelievable job covering the region around him from a global perspective. Not only that, but after a few IRC chat meetings, I can confidently vouch that he’s a great guy too.

Día a día is a weblog written by Siddharta (yes, that’s her real name), a Colombian teacher at the American International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her weblog is best summed up by her tagline: “We’re not human beings having a spiritual experience, we’re spiritual beings having a human experience.” Whether it’s powerful poetry or describing carrot cake, Siddharta’s blog reads like someone you want to be friends with.

I first learned of Vikrum Sequeira’s blog via my good friend, Revaz who met him while in India via another blogger, Dilip D’Souza. Ironically enough, I started seeing Vikrum’s name all over many of the Latin American weblogs I read for Global Voices. It turns out he’s passionately interested in Latin America and has lived in Panama, Costa Rica, and Brazil for extended periods, and visited Nicaragua, Mexico, Paraguay, and Argentina. Not only that, but he speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and is currently studying Hindi in Mumbai where he teaches kids in the slums with the Akanksha Foundation. His posts are amazing (ie. India for foreigners 101: The head wiggle and On Violence), but what really impresses me about Vikrum is how thoughtfully and analytically he comments on others’ posts. It’s rare that you find someone with the intellectual consistency and sincerity which he always shows.

Now for the music:

It’s become cliche to describe Café Tacvba, named after a traditional coffee shop in Mexico City, as the Radiohead of Mexico, which is exactly what I will do here. Maná might be for las fresas and los cholos can have the Kumbia Kings, but Café Tacvba is for everyone. I have seriously never heard a bad thing about this group and when I saw them live for the first time at Coachella a few years back I realized why. You can’t judge them by listening to just one song or even one entire album – they’re too diverse and too talented for such generalizations. Either listen to it all or keep your opinion private. A good place to start is their latest release; a three disc live compilation entitled Un Viaje. Special props to guitarist Joselo for naming his 2001 solo project after me.

Download “Puntos Cardinales” from Un Viaje

Manu Chao’s Basque mother and Galician father fled from Spain north to France during the Franco dictatorship. In 1961 Manu was born in Paris and eventually found himself relatively established in the Parisian music scene. It wasn’t until his cousin and brother formed Mano Negra, however, that his musical career really took off. In 2001, just as I was getting ready for an around-the-world trip, his hit Me Gustas Tu (responsible for the overused “que hora son mi corazon”) got a significant amount of coverage on American radio. A couple months later I was in Valparaiso, Chile buying bootlegged music from Gypsies and everyone had Proxima Estación: Esperanza, named after a metro stop in Madrid. I decided to pick it up and immediately became a faithful fan. Manu’s known for singing in French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, English, and even Wolof, but his latest release is completely in French.

Download “Le P’tit jardin” from Sibérie m’était contéee

If you listen to The World on NPR, there’s a good chance you’ve heard Ali Farka Toure countless times. His unmistakable guitar rift is constantly played throughout each show. Like Nenad Georgievski says so well:

Mali may be one of the poorest countries in the world, but it surely is one of the richest when it comes to its folklore and tradition. There are places on this planet where music flows like a river and Mali is surely one of those places.

There’s a number of amazing musicians I could have chosen from Mali, but no one represents their country to the West like blues guitarist Ali Farka Toure and this time he’s teamed up with harpist Toumani Diabaté for their latest project, In the Heart of the Moon.

Download “Simbo” from In the Heart of the Moon

Abdullah Ibrahim is a jazz giant from Cape Town, South Africa heavily influenced by the American masters of the 50’s like Duke Ellington and Ornette Coleman. Born Adolphes Johannos Brand in 1934, his mother led the local choir and he started playing piano at age seven. In the 1970’s he converted to Islam and emigrated to New York to avoid South African apartheid. He now splits his time between New York City and Cape Town, where he has founded a local music school. In 1996 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by the University of Cape Town.

Download “Ornette’s Cornet” from Blues For A Hip King

26-year-old Sabrina Malheiros is more than another pretty face. She’s the best thing I’ve heard come out of Brazil since Bebel Gilberto. According to her bio:

“Sabrina is the daughter of Alex Malheiros, bassist from legendary Brazilian band Azymuth. Her grandfather played with Sergio Mendez and was the first Brazilian to manufacture an electric bass, whilst her uncle was the premier violin craftsman in Brazil!

Whatever her musical lineage, the talent shows.

Download “Terra de Ninguem” from Equilibria