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Rough Guide to World Music Volume One: Africa, Europe & The Middle East
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Rough Guide to World Music Volume One: Africa, Europe & The Middle East Customer Reviews
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An Essential Guide for World Music Lovers
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Even after all these years, this book is an essential for world music lovers, from novices interested in learning more about something they just heard off the radio to seasoned music lovers interested in rounding out their collections. This encylopedic work (the first volume in the series) gives a brief survey of the different music traditions of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, divided by country, region, style or ethnicity. Each article was written by different authors, so obviously there is some variation, but they include very thorough details on the history, culture, background and style of the music, along with a sample discography at the end. Most articles include one or two profiles of famous artists from that country.
The first section, Europe, covers almost every country in Europe, as well as giving articles on the Saami people of Scandinavia, Gypsy music, regional cultures from Spain (like the Basques and Galacians), and Bhangra, the festive dance music of Britain's Punjabi diaspora! Everything you would expect is here, like Spanish flamenco, Portuguese fado, Greek rembetika, Norwegian fiddles, Scottish bagpipes, Celtic music from Ireland, Swiss alp horns, the haunting vocal music of Bulgaria and so forth. There are also quite a few surprises hidden in here too. Much of this section tends towards the folk, for obvious reasons.
The Middle Eastern chapter covers the music of Turkey, Iran, Israel, Armenia, Georgia and the Arab states (except for parts of North Africa), as well as Kurdistan and the Sephardic Jews. Theres alot of variety here, from the classical Arabic pop music of Oum Kalthoum, Fairouz and Abdel Halim Hafez, to modern Egyptian pop like Amr Diab, Natacha Atlas, and Hakim. Along the way, theres also the haunting sound of the Armenian duduk, Nubian music, Persian and Turkish classical traditions, Lebanese dabke, dervish rituals, Georgian polyphonic singing, Sephardic romances, Iranian-American pop music and Palestinean folk songs (which is great to see them acknowledge that Palestine DOES have a unique culture). This section is very good, with a very rich mix of traditions and cultures.
The biggest part of the book deals with Africa, with a very strong emphasis on regional pop music. Some countries (like Libya, Somalia and Namibia) are sadly overlooked, but all the powerhouses of African music are hero... Ethio-jazz, Algerian rai, high life from Ghana, Congolese soukous, Malagasy pop from Madagascar, Kenyan benga, South African gospel, Nigerian afrobeat, Senegalese mbalax, Moroccan gnawa, mbira music from Zimbabwe, Kabylie Berber music, east African taraab, recordings of the Pygmy people of Central Africa, Mande music of Mali... so much gets covered here, including numerous lesser known traditions (like the music of Zambia, Sierra Leone, or the Indian Ocean). Its by far the most exhaustive part of the book, full of great information, important artists and numerous CD recommendations.
Over all, its a wonderful introduction to the vast (and sometimes confusing) world music scene. The book was written in the late '90s, so some of the information is a little dated and a few REALLY great new artists or CDs aren't mentioned, but thats a minor detail. In fact, many of the CDs mentioned in the suggested listening section remain best sellers today! Theres also the occaisonal trend of focusing in on pop music or CDs more readily available in the west, but again, theres nothing wrong with this. Think of this book more as an introduction or a guide book and you'll be fine. Once you get into world music, or even just a particular culture or region, you'll be good. So check this book out and see what you like (or don't like). |
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