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Latitudes: International Music You Must Hear Now

The artist from Belgium known as Stromae poses in Paris in July 2013.
AFP
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AFP/Getty Images
The artist from Belgium known as Stromae poses in Paris in July 2013.

Globally, it's been a very busy month for music, especially at the intersection of art and politics. There's the brand-new Pussy Riot video from Sochi published Wednesday, as well a real groundbreaker of a video released on Valentine's Day by the Iranian legend Googoosh — one that celebrates LGBT relationships and apparently has already been widely viewed illegally within Iran itself.

But there is a lot of other great new music to hear — politically topical and not — plus the curious case of a years-old, Balkan-flavored track that's made its way to the heights of the American charts in a slightly different guise. Come take a listen.

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Anastasia Tsioulcas is a correspondent on NPR's Culture desk.