I'm in a mood. See, I found myself in a social situation with people I'd just met, and the topic of work came up. I was asked what I do for a living, and I explained that, among some other consulting and freelance work, I write a website about world music. One woman started laughing. "I'm sorry," she explained, "you just don't seem like 'the type.'" I calmly explained that yes, I write about world music, and yes, many different people listen to world music, and invited her to poke around my site sometime. Secretly, though, I wanted to just ask her where her prejudiced ideas came from, and why I look like I couldn't possibly listen to world music. Was it my high-heeled shoes, or the fact that I have (let's face it) obvious highlights, not dreadlocks, or was it just that I didn't have a djembe strapped to my back? Since when does world music -- the umbrella definition for the genres of music that most people in the world listen to -- have a "type" of listener? The only near-absolute constant that I know of about world music listeners in the Western world is that we revel in diversity and multiculturalism. But how can you tell that about a person just by their clothes?

This isn't the first time I've gotten annoyed about this very subject, though. In fact, one of the first pieces I wrote when I came to work here at About.com was a little ditty called "Top 10 World Music Myths." It's been revised and updated a few times since, but the gist is the same -- world music isn't any one thing, and the people who listen to it aren't, either -- and now I'm inviting you to jump right in and vent, as well! Tell us what world music myths drive you crazy! Let it all out -- many of us are in the same boat!

Once upon a time, in my not-so-far-away youth, a magical thing would happen on Thanksgiving night. Induced into a 12-hour coma by massive consumption of fat and carbohydrates, the whole world would drift off to sleep, and when we woke up, the magical Christmas elves had appeared and every shop window and light pole in town was adorned with a wreath or twinkly lights or even a Christmas tree. Jolly Christmas carols would pour out of doorways, and shopping would gaily begin.

Nowadays, the Christmas season seems to start on Labor Day, giving us all a hefty four months to get tired of Santa's big dumb face and peppermint sticks, and hearing exactly 4,500 versions too many of the godforsaken "Little Drummer Boy." Now, I'm a notorious Scrooge, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but the whole watering-down of the holiday is part of why I've grown to detest it so much. Also, it coincides with terrible snowy winter, which I also hate.

So what's my solution to the madness? Well, I've tried beating 'em, and it doesn't work, so I'm just going to join 'em. Joy to the world, or whatever. Seriously, though, if we must begin celebrating the holiday four months early, we may as well demand better (or at least more interesting) music to go along with the occasion. Why torture ourselves with "Jingle Bell Rock" and any number of permutations of "Fa-la-la-la-la" when we could be listening to music that's actually great, and just happens to be holiday-themed? Thus, my friends, I present you with my favorite world music Christmas CDs and a hefty list of more specific Celtic music Christmas CDs to get you started. Now is definitely the time to stock up -- think of it as "good taste ammunition" which you can use to ward off the old standard-fare boredom as soon as you get the chance.

Got any favorite world music Christmas CDs? Leave a comment and let us know what they are! And feel free to be Grinchy -- if you'd rather share your least favorite Christmas music, go ahead and post that, too. You're in good company around here!

Very sad news is just starting to come in from Mali: Wassoulou diva Ramata Diakite has passed away after a long illness. MaliWeb is carrying the story (in French), and they state that she passed on October 30, sadly only five weeks after marrying her new husband. The article lists her as being 35 years old, but other sources say she was born in 1976... in either case, entirely too young.

Known as one of the Wassoulou region's most talented singers, and the best-known, second only to reigning queen Oumou Sangare, Ramata (sometimes called Ramatou) Diakite was a strong ambassador for her culture. I was fortunate enough to see her once, and I (along with the rest of the crowd, which included country singer Patty Loveless, who had played earlier on the same festival stage) was captivated, and I've been looking forward to seeing her again ever since.

Update: Diakite's friend and manager Erich Ludwig has further information and touching remembrances at his personal blog.

Watch Diakite's "Leroule" Music Video on YouTube.

I don't often give bad CD reviews, mostly because I don't often really dislike music. I'm pretty open-minded and I can think of good things about almost anything. In fact, I can even think of some good things about former Celtic Woman Orla Fallon's new release Distant Shore. I just never want to have to listen to it again.

By anyone's standards, it's a well-made CD. The production value is high, the talent is evident, and there's nothing that stands out as "wrong." And frankly, I think that Distant Shore has pretty widespread appeal. However, Michael Buble, ankle boots, and shredded coconut also all have widespread appeal, and I wouldn't mind if all of them just went away, either.

When it comes right down to it, I just think Distant Shore is too pretty. I like my Irish music with a proper layer of grit, and I'm just not finding any here. Then again, to call this CD "Irish music" would be like calling Shania Twain's music "country" (as Minnie Pearl rolls over in her grave). No, it is (at best) Celtic-tinged, despite the fact that Fallon has pretty substantial traditional Irish music street cred, having won a number of prestigious competitions as a harpist. And though I can occasionally get behind a good pop record, this one just does very little for me. Have you heard it? What do you think?