It's time to once again check around the world music blog world, and see what everyone's up to:

World Music Central has a review of a CD called Introducing Hanggai. Hanggai is a group from the grasslands of Mongolia, and they combine throat singing, folk instruments, and other eerily beautiful Asian sounds with some modern influences.

Calcopyrite Communications shares their impressions - and their favorite new finds - from the Harrison Festival of the Arts. They super-loved this group called Delhi 2 Dublin, who I now have to obsessively stalk to learn more about, because the folks over at CC always seem to have rather exquisite taste.

Spinner's Around the World Column takes a look at (and has a chat with) Northern African musician Rachid Taha, who is sitting right at the brink of world domination. Well, in a musical sense, at least. He's got a pop star mentality, and the chops to back it up, and it's likely that you'll continue hearing more and more from him.

And finally (for today, anyway) World Music Newswire digs deeply into the history of the balafon (African xylophone), via the music of Famoro Diabate. The Diabate clan is one of the great legendary griot families, and the family includes Toumani and Mamadou Diabate, among many others. It's always nice to learn about a new (to me) musical legend in the making!

Read anything great on a world music blog recently? Feel free to leave a comment and share!

World music lovers around North America have some great options for amazing live music this weekend. Up Canada way, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival has all sorts of great stuff, from desert blues band Etran Finatawa to Abigail Washburn's Sparrow Quartet, featuring Bela Fleck.

Over in Northern California, the California WorldFest has a seriously impressive lineup, including amazing Haitian songstress Emeline Michel, Ivorian diva Dobet Gnahore, and Latin Rock superstars Ozomatli.

And lastly, Upstate New York offers up the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival. This is actually the festival that I work for (my "day job", if you will), so I'm entirely biased. However, it is worth taking note of, if you're a world music lover - the aforementioned Etran Finatawa will be performing, as will Nigerian highlife group Toby Foyeh and Orchestra Africa, mbira player Samite of Uganda, and country-rocker Lucinda Williams.

There are also dozens of wonderful smaller concerts and festivals around the country, and I wish I could be at all of them at once! Don't you just love the summer?