Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential, 8 Aug 2000
By A Customer
Along with The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD by Richard Cook & Brian Morton, the original edition of this has acted as my Bible over the last 5 years or so, costing me a small fortune in recordings that I didn't know I needed along the way! So, here is the new edition - expanded, updated and now in two volumes. In keeping with the original edition, the people at Rough Guide have commissioned a wide variety of writers to contribute individual chapters on their own particular area of expertise, resulting in a truly authoritative body of work. The first volume which is now in the shops covers Africa, Europe and the Middle East, with Volume II (Americas, Asia and the Pacific) following later in the year. It is a sign of how interest in World Music has grown over the last few years that each individual volume is now larger than the original book. As a result, even if you already own the original, the fact is that you are going to have to buy the new version as well, because there is so much new information. The huge growth in the availability of CD's from various parts of the globe is one of the reasons for this, but the new volume also covers areas which the original did not touch.Inevitably there is (quite literally) a price to pay for this growth. One of the frustrations for myself, is that my main interest lies in African and Latin music. Unfortunately, while African music is contained in Volume I along with European music, which is not one of my major passions, Latin music is contained in Volume II. Similarly when looking at Klezmer music, for example, the Eastern European areas from which it is derived are in Volume I, but you will have to wait until Volume II to find out about developments on the New York scene. Still these are minor irritations in what is a major piece of work. Despite the awesome size of these tomes, the Rough Guide to World Music succeeds on two levels: it can be used as a reference book to check out details about artists and their body of work; however, the easy style, characteristic of the whole Rough Guide series, allows it to be read as an informative and entertaining book in its own right. An extensive directory of record labels and shops, including internet addresses is included. In addition to the vast amount of new information, the Second Edition is arranged in a more sensible and accessible order than the original. If you haven't already got it and you have any interest in this type of music, then this book has to go at the top of your "wants" list. Then there's just a small matter of a few CD's to listen to while you're reading... Stewart@cdrecords.co.uk
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Not Just a Lunatic fringe but Academic & Scholarly fringe Book!", 3 Jun 2009
I must admit that I was not aware of the existence of this awesome reference book on World Music - when I wrote my own understanding of music from across the globe. On reading Andy Kershaw's front cover quote: "A work of lunatic scholarship" reminded me of the 1981 Fun-Boy Three hit single: "Lunatics have taken over the asylum"!
More seriously, as my main interests are contained in Volume 2 in terms of Music from Asia, luckily, the section on Europe included a sub-section on: "England/UK - Bhangra/Asian Beat: One way ticket to British Asia" by DJ Ritu on p83-90 was a bonus for me, as being my main area of interest.
Initially, I was also looking out for the mention of the first Asian presence in mainstream charts with "Ever so lonely" by Monsoon & sung by Sheila Chandra who appeared on BBC TV Chart show Top of the Pops in 1982 and this historical event is referred to in the book: Dis-Orienting Rhythms (The politics of New Asian Music) by Sanjay Sharma, as well Apart from this the success other most recent success was by Apache Indian when he reached No 5 in the British Charts with "Boom-Shak-a-lak" in 1993!
Other Asian artists who are mentioned in the section on England/UK Bhangra/Asian Beat include some familiar names I have not hear for while like Najma Akhtar and whose Ghazal & Jazz album - "Qareeb" one of my favourites. Groups & artists like Cornershop, Nithin Sawney, Talwin Singh, Sangeeta, Joi & groups like Sohtas, Safri Brothers to name a few, are all there.
Also, I was struck by the section on the music from Czech & Slovak Republics at p49 in the sense of the title "east meets west" as I also quote this line in a review of Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens & friends compilation: "I have no canons that roar" not far from the east meets west fault line of Bosnia. After reading other sections, I now know who Cheb Khalid & Thomas Mafumbo are & what Music they play and so on...
As someone, who had subscribed to Sound lines magazine on and off over the years - I was familiar with one of the main editors: Simon Broughton and I found the book fascinating, informative and entertaining with some very extensive information on record labels, shops and web-site addresses.
Overall, there is so much information from across the globe & it is put together in easy and digestible format with over 80 expert contributions, almost 200 biography-notes on world musician & review of their best available CDs.
It goes without saying - you must buy Volume 2 edition of the World Music the Rough Guide to complement this volume & it is well-worth buying. I am looking forward to reading volume 2!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb comprehensive guide to music, 21 Dec 1999
I've just purchased this brilliant book. It's a vast improvement on it's predecessor,as it is a lot more comprehensive, with vitually every country in Africa ,Europe and the Middle Easy, represented. All in all, if you like World Music, this is an essential buy
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