Real World 25

Real World began life in 1989 with Passion, the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's movie The Last Temptation of Christ, scored and performed by the label's founder Peter Gabriel. Since then the studio, with its headquarters in Box, Wiltshire, has released more than 200 albums by scores of artists it helped make familiar to new audiences, including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Remmy Ongala, Pape & Cheikh, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Afro Celt Sound System. Its output bears the unmistakable stamp of Gabriel, whether technically – in the huge ambient soundscapes, tribal rhythms and polished mix – or in a willingness to bust genres, popularise and cross over. Choosing 48 representative tracks across three CDs to mark the label's silver jubilee was probably a trying task but the result is a scintillating survey of modern music from all points of the compass. Who wouldn’t delight in Los De Abajo's raw, upbeat ‘Resistencia’, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's mesmeric ‘Mustt Mustt’ or the Afro Celts’ trip-hoppy ‘Release’, with Sinéad O’Connor on vocals. What shines, as well as the eclecticism, is how catchy and dance-friendly Real World's catalogue is, whether in the shape of Bangladesh DJ collective Joi's hip, urban ‘Fingers’ or Dub Colossus’ addictive ‘Guragigna’. The label also has an empathy with Asian sounds, including oft-ignored Far Eastern music: taiko drummer Joji Hirota, Mamer and Guo Yue are all included here. The sheer guts of the label in backing the mad, the unorthodox and the audacious as well as the wronged and the exiled, is something to really celebrate.