Five Reasons Why Globalization Rocks

[Above: The Very Best]

The world is getting smaller. We're increasingly more connected to folks around the world and have broader access to other cultures' news and arts than ever before. We at Paste are continually excited as global collaborations in the vein of Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mombazo's Graceland seem to be springing up every day. Some are made possible by the ease of modern travel, others by the infinite potential for exploration in the internet's music library and the growing bandwidth that allows musicians to telecommute across continents, laying down synth in Brooklyn and drumbeats in Bangkok. Here's a list that celebrates the cross-cultural collaborations made possible by our seemingly shrinking globe.

Artist: Zee Avi
Key players: Izyan Alirahman (a.k.a. Zee Avi) of Malaysia, Monotone Records' Ian Montone of Los Angeles, Calif.
The story: After studying at a London university, Avi had moved home to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she began recording videos of simple uke and guitar songs and posting them on YouTube. These home-movies began buzzing around the blogosphere, and within a year, they wound up in the hands of producer Ian Montone (The White Stripes), over 7,700 miles away. In December 2008, Avi was on a plane to Los Angeles where she had landed a record deal with Monotone Records and Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records. Her self-titled debut, released this May, taps into the island sound of her hometown and the Western pop on which she was raised.

Artist: The Very Best
Key players: U.K. (by way of Sweden and France) DJ duo Radioclit, Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya
The story: This Malawian transplant was running a second-hand shop in East London when a pair of DJ's came in to buy a bike. Radioclit partners Johan Karlburg and Etienne Tron invited the shop-owner to a party at their flat, and there, the trans-continental collaboration was born. Late last year, the three released a 15-track mixtape as a free digital download, sampling Sri-Lankan-born M.I.A and New York-based artists Santigold and Vampire Weekend. Their debut LP The Warm Heart of Africa is set for a fall release and features an original track with Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig.

Artist: Shanghai Restoration Project
Key players: New York producer David Liang, China Records
The story: Liang's music fuses the sound of traditional Shanghai jazz with Western hip-hop and electronica. In 2007, he worked with the Chinese government's record label China Records to produce Remixed and Restored, Vol. 1, on which Liang sampled familiar Shanghai jazz tunes. This year, the Project took on a new partner as banjo-picking Nashville songstress Abigail Washburn contributed to Afterquake, a record whose proceeds support children displaced by the Sichuan earthquake of 2008.

Artist: Adam Klein
Key players: Athens, Ga.-based singer/songwriter Adam Klein, Malian studio engineer Baru Diallo 
The story: Klein spent 2002-2004 as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Dougouolo, a village in the Segou region of Mali in West Africa. Back in Athens, Ga., the artist released two LPs, both heavily inspired by his time abroad. Now, he's gearing up to make his third, this time using more than Malian memories for inspiration. In a recent cry for help via fundraising website Kickstarter.com, Klein announced his plan to return to Mali, this time to the captial city, to work with Diallo (whom he met through a Peace Corps radio program) and a handful of Malian musicians at Studio Yeelen. The record will be called The Mande Sessions, and thanks to Kickstarter, you, wherever you are in the world, can be another dash in the melting pot that helps bring Klein's project to fruition.

Artist: Playing For Change
Key players: Santa Monica, Calif.-based producer Mark Johnson, over 100 musicians worldwide including street performers, local choirs and U2's Bono.
The story: Moved by the conviction that "music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people," Grammy Award-winning producer Mark Johnson set out with a mobile recording studio and film crew to unite musicians from different cities across the globe on the same album--even the same tracks. The project began in March, 2005 when Johnson recorded Santa Monica street musician Roger Ridley singing "Stand By Me." The next four years brought Johnson's team on a tour around the world with stops in five continents. In Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Dublin and dozens of other cities, Johnson equipped musicians with headphones so they could play along with fellow performers across the globe. These recordings were mixed together on Songs Around The World, a CD/DVD package released April this year. And the project continues through this fall as a handful of contributors tour North America as the Playing For Change Band.