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Customer Reviews
Good world music, even if it is from the US and Europe
This MP3 set brings together two songs each from five bands on the National Geographic label. If you didn't know National Geographic had a label, get in line. I'm sure there are plenty of us out there. But judging by this sampler, they are doing some good stuff -- except for the first track, which in my view is really pretty bad.

The main nit I would pick is that the label seems to be positioning itself in "world music", but the bands here are all strictly rich-world groups -- based in places like Paris, New York or Madrid. No Africa- or South America-based music here. That being said, the bands here are all good at bringing a fusion of "world music" sensibilities with US or European tastes and production values.

The first two songs are from Bibi Tanga and the Selenites, who are based in Paris, although Bibi Tanga is from Bangui in the Central African Republic. The band says of itself that it is attracted to "groove in all its shapes". But judging by the first track, some shapes might be better left alone. It sounded, to my admittedly old-fashioned tastes, like a bad disco nightmare, a bad Rick James knockoff, sung in a falsetto à la Eddie Murphy's "Roxanne" in "48 Hours". The second track is a great improvement -- the falsetto is still there, but it works much better.

The second two tracks are by DePedro, a Madrid-based band -- which you can hear in their in their Spanish accents when they sing. For my tastes, these are the best songs on the collection. The first, "Comanche" has great slide guitar riffs and a funky rhythm, while the second is good laid back track with xylophone and a banjo riff to kick off. The band's lyrics are really pretty good and add to the music.

Next up, Grupo Fantasma is a US-based Latin orchestra that gets good reviews for its tight arrangements and playing. The sound has a modernized Latin orchestral sound with strong guitars giving an American feel. A little like Tito Puente meets Santana. Nice stuff, but right now I'm not concentrating on Latin orchestral music. If you are, you should hear these guys.

Balkan Beat Box is a New York-based band that also has roots in Tel Aviv. It was founded by Tamir Muskat, formerly of Gogol Bordello, and Ori Kaplan, formerly of Firewater and bringing a background in klezmer clarinet. MC Tomer Yosef is also key to the sound. Their music is sometimes called gypsy punk, and there is a definite Balkan/gypsy feeling. But there are strong dance beats and rapping, as well as influences from around the Mediterranean. This is club music with a more inclusive and informed musical sensibility than a lot of the other stuff out there. Not my cup of tea, but for its genre it seems a cut above.

The set closes out with two tracks from Forro in the Dark, a group of Brazilians who got together to make music in New York. The music has a lot of Brazilian-inspired, but Americanized rhythms. I enjoyed the cuts here. David Byrne has recorded with them, so they have certainly reached a certain level of street cred. The first cut is a rocker, relatively speaking, and the second a rousing instrumental with a flute lead.

Overall this music is definitely worth a listen. I might even consider buying something by DePedro later on. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that a lot of people with different tastes and interests than mine are inspired to check out the other bands here. Good stuff!