This page features reviews of a bunch of compliation albums that don't quite fit into the other categories of world music that are reviewed on Slipcue.Com. As my interest in some of these styles broadens, I may expand some of these reviews into larger sections of their own, but for now, this seems like a nice spot to tuck them all together.
The Main World Music Index links to larger sections on Cuban, Brazilan, Celtic and other styles of music.
French Music has its own page... Originally part of my "Pop" section, this is is now being expanded to include traditional music and chansons
Various Artists "ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE" (Uncivilized World, 2005)
What's that old saying about "if I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution?" Well, the super-diverse cast assembled for this anti-globalist, crosscultural world/dance/sociopolitical mash-up can help you cover all those bases... There's music from a wide range of artists (with a notable emphasis on weird Balkan music; it seems to be the "in" thing these days...), with artists ranging from Femi Kuti, Salif Keita and the Skatalites to Asian Dub Foundation, Moby and Massive Attack along with written commentary from Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy and other intellectual political luminaries... For folks in the anti-WTO contingent, this may become the soundtrack for their lives; it's a little aggressive for me, but still has some cool stuff on it, including two Clash covers (including Emir Kustica's thickly-accented, semi-absurdist rendition of "All Lost In The Supermarket"). Plus, how interesting and odd is it to find out that Manu Chao's father is some sort of prominent political academic in the economic development field...? Who knew? A well-packaged set that packs a real wallop... in more ways than one.
Various Artists "BERLIN: 1925-1936 -- THE CABARET YEARS" (EMI, 2001)
An outstanding collection of German popular songs dating from the downhill side of the Weimar years, and cautiously edging into the Nazi era. Some obvious big names are here -- Marlene Dietrich and the Comedy Harmonists -- but this album is primarily a treasure trove of lesser-known German stars such as Paul Linke, Marek Weber, the Weintraub Syncopators and the delightful English-born UFA Studios movie star, Lilian Harvey, who is probably my favorite new discovery on this disc. Obviously, there are hundreds and hundreds of other great songs that could have been anthologized, but this is a nice way to get your feet wet if you want to check out some of the best music that the Weimar Republic had to offer. Recommended!
Various Artists "BROWN GIRL IN THE RING" (Rounder, 1997)
Children's rhymes are one of those great mysteries of life... how do they persist? Who keeps them alive? And isn't it wonderful to see the oral transmission of culture survive in the face of modern communication? This CD is made up of schoolyard chants sung by kids in the Caribbean... they combine the winsome innocence of little kid's voices with the dry folkloric charm of English folk music (fans of Shirley Collins, in particular, may find some of these tracks irresistible...) Some songs are led by older islanders, and their wizened, gravelly voices have a charm of their own -- many songs are also written local dialects, which have varied degrees of impenetrability... Admittedly, the charm may wear thin if you try to listen to this collection all the way through, but taken in small doses, it's just wonderful.
Various Artists "FROM AVENUE A TO THE GREAT WHITE WAY: YIDDISH & AMERICAN POPULAR SONGS FROM 1914-1950" (Columbia Legacy, 2002)
This fine 2-CD set traces the growth of Jewish American popular music from its roots as an Eastern European dance style, through the thriving Yiddish theatre scene, and into its role as one of the pillars of modern American pop. The first CD may be rough going for the Yiddish-impaired; very "ethnic" sounding, and slightly impenetrable, although it does feature rare recordings by many of the genre's biggest stars -- Molly Picon, Abe Moscowitz, and klezmer pioneer Abe Schwartz (see above). Disc Two kicks off with an Irving Berlin song, and proceeds straight into the American mainstream, and an increasingly English-speaking and bilingual mileaux. Eddie Cantor, Fannie Brice, Sophie Tucker, Benny Goodman and the Gershwin sibs all get their due, and a parade of great recordings zip by. Some of the skits are hilarious, but as they are chosen for historical relevance as well as artistic content, some listeners (depending on their temprament) may find the content -- particularly the ethnic stereotypes that thrived in the vaudeville and Catskills theatre circuits. Anyone who wants to research this subject, though, will find this collection invaluable. Great liner notes -- both informative and hilarious -- by producer Harry Sapoznik.
Various Artists "HOT WOMEN: WOMEN SINGERS FROM THE TORRID REGIONS OF THE WORLD" (Kein & Aber, 2003)
Cartoonist Robert Crumb's passion for record collecting and antique culture is well known, as evidenced by his tenure in the Cheap Suit Serenaders band, his similar forays into French musette, numerous comic strips devoted to notable Depression-era blues and jazz musicians, and his earlier collection of "sweet band" jazz, Now That's What I Call Good Music. Still, this far-flung collection of vintage "world music" recordings, spotlighting old 78s by female artists who've been washed under the sands of time, is a pleasant surprise, even from such an eclectic and crusty uber-collector. The two dozen tracks gathered on this disc come from Crumb's own library, and feature Cajun, Cuban, African and Arabic, Greek, Hawaiian, South American and Sicilian singers and -- most intriguingly -- artists from Asian nations, such as Burma and Siam where few record nerds have dared to look. I was excited to pick this up, although I have to confess, I was disappointed when listening to it, and didn't wind up hanging onto the album. I'm not sure why. I mean, I like oddball, obscuro music as much as the next fella, and I've certainly developed an ear for the rarified, attentuated sounds of old discs from the 1920s and '30s... But for some reason this album couldn't hold my attention... The songs all seemed to hold a keening, grating quality to them, and began to sound too much alike from track to track... Some songs would stand out a little, but as the disc went on, I just found myself getting annoyed with its monotone feel. That being said, this disc has a ton of fascinating old rarities and should certainly be picked up and tried out by any devoted old/world music fan. Your experience of it may be completely different than mine.
Various Artists "KLEZMER MUSIC -- EARLY YIDDISH INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: 1908-1927" (Arhoolie, 1997)
Various Artists "YIKHES: LINEAGE -- EARLY KLEZMER RECORDINGS: 1911-1939" (Trikont, 1996)
Jewish klezmer music, even in its modernized, toned-down form, might not be for everyone... Still, this infectious dance style can be incredibly captivating, filled with dazzling clarinet solos and inventively bouncy melodies. For anyone who's already a fan of the style, these two CDs are a must. They come from UC Berkeley professor Martin Schwartz's vast collection of rare 78s, and each volume features some of the most stunning early Jewish music set on wax at the start of the 20th Century. These CDs are also an invaluable historical resource, since many of these recordings are unique, and no other original copies exist other than the ones that went into the creation of these collections... For an ecstatic and authoritative look at the major pioneers of the style, this is where to look.
Various Artists "LA MUSICA DELLA MAFIA 1: IL CANTO DI MALAVITA" (PIAS, 2002)
Various Artists "LA MUSICA DELLA MAFIA 2: OMERTE, ONURI E SANGRE" (PIAS, 2002)
Hey, forget about Dino, Sammy and Ol' Blues Eyes... or the Sopranos soundtrack, for that matter (how many times do you need to hear Travis, anyway?) Anyone interested in the Mafia's true musical culture can now head straight for the source, the folk ballads of rural Calabria, one of the original strongholds of Italian organized crime. These two CDs collect several dozen rare examples of canti di malavita, songs of the 'Ndrangheta, or Calabrian mafia. Although these gruesome acoustic ballads are hard to differentiate musically from other Mediterranean folk styles, their mere existence is controversial in Italy, where over the last few decades civil government has made a concerted effort to root out the long-lived crime families from their Southern strongholds. Regardless of how you feel about decapitations and car bombings, these discs are fascinating documents of a hidden and secretive culture. Thematically, the songs are all rather similar, meditations on the importance of "honor" and omerta -- the well-known Mafia code of silence -- and the consequences that befall anyone who narcs on their buddies. On "The Law of Silence," El Domingo softly croons, "Mentri cantara la lupara..." ("when the sawed of shotgun sings..."), while on "The Dance of the Mantalbanu Family," the narrator concludes his description of a crime family's cruel reign with an entreaty that the listener -- apparently a police informer -- "come out of the crowd now, and let me twist my knife deep within." Although critics charge that these collections romanticize criminals, a quick glance at the liner notes proves otherwise. The lyrics are surprisingly unglamorous, mainly about police raids, jail time and violent reprisals, with little of the free-drugs-and-fast-living sexiness depicted in the Martin Scorcese ouvre. There's a brutishness about these songs that belies their perky acoustic melodies -- naturally, it all sounds more graceful in Italian, but still not that pretty.
Various Artists "MUSIC OF SARDINIA" (Arc Music, 2005)
The island of Sardinia, located smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, off of Italy's western coast, has a musical culture that will still sound exotic and fresh to all but the most jaded world music fan. This collection, which draws on several European labels, is packed with unusual sonic treasures, music that will perk your ears up and make you sit up and take notice. Only towards the end of the album, when a few more modern-sounding recordings were included, did my attention start to wander...
Various Artists "PLANET SQUEEZEBOX" (Ellipsis Arts, 1995)
An entire 3-CD set devoted to the humble accordion? Egad. Yes, it's true -- this sweeping collection gathers examples of accordion, bandoneon and concertina work ranging from Irish jigs, Louisiana cajun music and zydeco, Argentine tangos, Brazilian forro and French musette, as well as Columbian dance music and contemporary art-folk tomfoolery of all sizes and descriptions. It's amazing how widespread the squeezebox has become, and how many styles have adapted to include its dulcet tones. This impressive collection may be for true believers only; but prolonged exposure may well draw you into the accordion cult.
Various Artists "PUTUMAYO PRESENTS: FRENCH CARIBBEAN" (Putumayo, 2003)
A nice, smooth set of modern pop songs drawn from the French-speaking islands of Guadeloupe, Haiti and Martinique, lingering on the more tuneful and diverse end of the Caribbean musical spectrum. For someone like myself, who quickly tired of the landslide of manic, monotonous soca and zouk records of the 1980s, this disc came as a pleasant surprise. It's very listenable and engaging, a nice selection for someone looking for some accessible, poppish world music.
Various Artists "PUTUMAYO PRESENTS: ITALIAN CAFE" (Putumayo, 2005)
Super cool! For me, Italian music has always borne the mark or terrible, terrible, terrible bad taste, from their love of watered-down disco and bland, overripe romantic pop to the kitschy croonings of various American pop vocalists (Dean Martin, et al) which just consigned the nation's music to the back bins, as far as I was concerned. Well, I take it back, at least some of it: this is a superb collection that reveals Italian music's hitherto unsuspected depth, variety and good humor, drawing on several decades of somewhat off-the-radar Italian artists, musicians who dip into playful acoustic jazz and swinging pop vocals. Following World War Two, the playful beat of American swing entered the Italian musical vocabulary, and that tradition is still strong today, as herad here. Some of the early Italian swingers are featured here, such as Fred Buscaglione and Quartetto Cetra, whose stars rose in the late 1940s and early 1950s, up through playful modern artists who cheerfully mix Italian tradition with acoustic jazz, swing, and gypsy rhythms... The well-known eclectic crooner Paolo Conte is sadly absent from this set, but his brother Giorgio fills in, one of many musicians here whose bright performances light up this disc. This album is a real treat, a collection full of surprises and one artist after another that seem worth checking into at greater length. Nice when a whole new country's worth of music opens up before you... Bravo, Putumayo! Keep up the good work.
Various Artists "RASTLIN' JACOB: THE MUSIC OF THE SPIRITUAL BAPTISTS OF TRINIDAD" (Rounder, 2003)
Fascinating field recordings made in 1939 by the husband-wife folklorist team of Melville and Frances Herskovitz, who also preserved dozens of secular Trinidadian songs at the same time. This disc documents the music of the "shouter" sect of Trinidadian Baptists, whose ceremonies had actually been outlawed by the colonial authorities in 1917, on grounds of alleged "indecency." They certainly were wild: the uninhibited exclamations, hoots and shouts of sect members come through unnervingly loud and clear in these old recordings, helping make this some of the most unusual and distinctive music you're likely to ever hear. Admittedly, these recordings are not very accessible to the average listener, but fans of archival folklore will find this album a wellspring of pre-pop culture recordings, music that clearly has its own history and unique cultural roots. The thick dialect and idiosyncratic rhythms somewhat mask the British origins and religious nature of many of these songs; in many cases, only after a refrain has been repeated dozens of times will the words become clear: "Onward Christian Soldiers," "When The Saints Come Marching In" and "By And By" never sounded like this before! Very unusual and striking -- maybe not the kind of thing to put on when you have company over for dinner, but for those fascinated by how radically music can change from culture to culture, this disc is amazing.
Various Artists "SOUND OF THE WORLD: COMPILED BY CHARLIE GILLETTE" (Wrasse, 2005)
A fine, admirably diverse, well-programmed collection of music from across the globe, put together by BBC music reviewer Charlie Gillette (who can often be heard on the BBC public radio co-production, The World). The pacing of this 2-CD set is dynamic and thoughtful -- it feels like a good, well-planned radio show, or even a fairly aggressive club mix, with a few softer songs thrown in to vary the tempo and timbre... Anyway, it's a very good selection of some of the more striking, memorable releases of the past year. Definitely worth checking out!
Various Artists "WOMEN OF REMBETICA" (Rounder, 2000)
A fine compilation of archival Greek rembetica recordings from the early 20th Century, including two stars of the genre, Rita Abadzi and Rosa Eskenazi, who are also mentioned above. Truthfully, this collection gets a bit shrill, and may be difficult to listen to from start to finish... but the material is pretty cool, and pretty rare, outside of collections such as this... worth checking out, especially if you're already a fan of the style.
Various Artists "WORLD 2004" (Wrasse, 2004)
A generous 2-CD overview of new "world music" material from across the globe, compiled by syndicated public radio DJ Charlie Gillett... It's a bit more on the aggressive and electro-flavored side than I prefer (but not entirely so), but still a nice cross-sampling of what's going on these days... Features many bands you might have already heard of -- Khaled, Lo'Jo, Tinariwen, etc. -- but numerous others that are farther off the beaten path. Many of these artists (and Gillett as well?) seem to be trying a little too hard to boggle and wow our minds with "trippy" sounds and multi-culti musical mish-moshes, but the set's still worth checking out; chances are you'll find a few new artists you'll get all excited by...
Various Artists "ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE" (Uncivilized World, 2005)
Various Artists "BERLIN: 1925-1936 -- THE CABARET YEARS" (EMI, 2001)
Various Artists "BROWN GIRL IN THE RING" (Rounder, 1997)
Various Artists "FROM AVENUE A TO THE GREAT WHITE WAY: YIDDISH & AMERICAN POPULAR SONGS FROM 1914-1950" (Columbia Legacy, 2002)
Various Artists "HOT WOMEN: WOMEN SINGERS FROM THE TORRID REGIONS OF THE WORLD" (Kein & Aber, 2003)
Various Artists "KLEZMER MUSIC -- EARLY YIDDISH INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: 1908-1927" (Arhoolie, 1997)
Various Artists "LA MUSICA DELLA MAFIA 1: IL CANTO DI MALAVITA" (PIAS, 2002)
Various Artists "RASTLIN' JACOB: THE MUSIC OF THE SPIRITUAL BAPTISTS OF TRINIDAD" (Rounder, 2003)
Various Artists "SOUND OF THE WORLD: COMPILED BY CHARLIE GILLETTE" (Wrasse, 2005)
Various Artists "WOMEN OF REMBETICA" (Rounder, 2000)
