Author: Nigel Williamson
View album and artist detailsArtist/band: |
VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Label: |
CPT |
Magazine Review Date: |
April/2022 |
The World Music Charts Europe was founded 30 years ago by the European Broadcasting Union and has been compiled every month since by a panel of DJs and specialists from two dozen countries. Unsurprisingly, there is much among these 30 ‘great tunes’ drawn from the world music charts over the past 12 months and spread generously over two discs that will be familiar to Songlines readers and the likes of Aziza Brahim, Tamikrest, Lakou Mizik, Damir Imamović, Amira Medunjanin and the Garifuna Collective have featured on our own Top of the World CDs. Yet even the most enthusiastic ears cannot take in everything and so one would imagine most will also find new gems of delight here. Smarter readers than me may have picked up on them before, but the wonderful Merema from the Russian Republic of Mordovia were previously unknown to this reviewer. Nor had I formerly heard the splendid voice of Guinea’s Nakany Kanté and somehow the excellence of Iran’s Nelia Safaie had also escaped me – all personal oversights that have now been corrected.
Some will argue that compilation CDs are redundant in these days of streaming and might feel that a Spotify playlist would serve just as well. But for those of us who still like to have a physical artefact, replete with informative liner notes, this anthology is more than welcome.
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