The music blog Dinosaur Discs is one of those American things that are just beyond amazing. It is a wonderful site that is dedicated to finding rare American music in the same way that Alan Lomax tried to record it in the 1930s.
Not only does it do that, but it also offers one of the best Christmas presents you can ever get for yourself. Back in the 1970s the US Library of Congress published 15 LPs charting ‘Folk Music in America’ with 252 songs and 12 hours of music. Not only that, but it can be downloaded for free here.
This is a real addition to the famous Anthology of American Folk Music compiled by US musicologist Harry Smith. The songs cover spirituals, ragtime, ballads, polkas, protests and even dances. It takes about an hour to download on a broadband connection and all of the files can easily be exported to iTunes by finding ‘add to library’ from the File section.
If you put all 15 albums into one file, they can be transferred almost instantaneously. I’m listening to this music as I write and I can’t recommend it highly enough. THE BARGAIN OF 2013.
Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.
