S&D: Rough Guide to the Music of...

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There's the music of Africa, Scotland, the jazz of Africa, Mali, etc.
are any of these compilations really good or informative?

― A Nairn (moretap), Sunday, 9 February 2003 00:43 (twenty-three years ago)

yes!

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 9 February 2003 00:49 (twenty-three years ago)

sorta sure this has been done but among many others the rough guide to franco and the rough guide to the soul brothers are fantastic.

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 9 February 2003 00:51 (twenty-three years ago)

What about some of the world music ones? Which one's of those have people been impressed by? I just got the Africa one and like it.

― A Nairn (moretap), Sunday, 9 February 2003 01:08 (twenty-three years ago)

the one on youssou n'dour and etoile de dakar is great, esp. since
i think that stern's isn't putting out the etoile records any more. as james mentioned, the franco one is hot shit too. dunno about the more broad-themed records though.

― dave k, Sunday, 9 February 2003 01:17 (twenty-three years ago)

I've read very positive reviews of a lot of these. I don't particularly like the salsa one, especially considering that they call it the Rough Guide to "Salsa Dance." This doesn't seem like a very good introduction at all, to me. A lot of this stuff isn't even salsa, in the narrow sense of the word (and the broad sense is so broad that it would probably overlap with some of the other compilations). It could use more clssic, mainstream, Puerto Rican salsa. A couple Colombian tracks would be nice too: no Joe Arroyo or Grupo Niche? But instead we get the (zzz) Afro-Cuban All Stars.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 9 February 2003 01:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I have heard almost every RG, and it's a pretty impressive series all around. Kenya & Tanzania is my favorite, it's nearly perfect, love the way it moves, actually prefer it to Guitar Paradise of East Africa. The Classic Jazz, Cuba, Congolese Soukous, Soul Brothers, Franco, Paris Cafe Music, Cumbia, Youssou N'Dour and Etoile de Dakar, Hawaii, and the forthcoming Highlife volumes are also fab (and I'm forgetting a few). Except for some series samplers, pretty hard to go wrong w/any that might look decent.

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 9 February 2003 02:01 (twenty-three years ago)

though Rocket Scientist's gripe certainly has merit--I know very little about Latin music fan so I can't say so much there, though my understanding of the Salsa Dance one was that it was mostly recent stuff.

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 9 February 2003 02:03 (twenty-three years ago)

also - they're cheap! good smash-to-cash ratio; I do know there are at least a few that struck as definite duds though.

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 9 February 2003 02:04 (twenty-three years ago)

yes! like $12 new

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 9 February 2003 02:19 (twenty-three years ago)

my understanding of the Salsa Dance one was that it was mostly recent stuff.

Six tracks are from the 70's: Charlie Palmieri "Al Que Le Pique" (1975); La Sonora Poncena "La Pollera Colora" (1976); Tambo "Coco My My" (1975); Miguelito Valdes w/ Tito Puente "Los Hermanos Pinzones" (1971); Joe Cuba "Prestame La Olla Teresa" (1971) [from the same album as the Valdes track]; Willie Colon w/ Hector Lavoe: "La Murga" (1972). I don't mind the fact that it includes material from the 70's, but a lot of this stuff doesn't really present the distinctive sound of salsa. I don't have enough technical knowledge of the various forms to really explain this (and anyway, it would be a debateable issue). If you want to call son and guajira and cha cha cha salsa, then okay, this is all salsa; but if you mean it in a narrower sense, then I don't think it all is.

The more current selections depend excessively on the Rykodisc label, which has it's own particular, almost "alternative" take on Latin music--not entirely a bad thing, but not very representative. According to the liner notes, the Afro-Cuban All Stars is a "thirteen-piece band, comprising four generations of Cuba's finest musicians, . . . brought together. . . as a backing band for. . . some of the greatest singers of 1950s Havana. The resulting album. . . pays homage to that golden age with exuberant, contemporary arrangements." There is an atmosphere of nostalgia for older forms of Latin music here, which doesn't really do justice to salsa as such. (Granted, salsa is old enough as it is.)

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 9 February 2003 03:04 (twenty-three years ago)

It's too busy trying to be a guide to the roots of salsa (particuarly son) rather than just an introduction to salsa.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 9 February 2003 03:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Actually, the Rough Guide has a Rough Guide to Salsa, which does indeed feature Joe Arroyo, as well as some other contemporary Colombian artists. What I have is the Rough Guide to Salsa Dance. The Rough Guide to Salsa looks like it might be better, though I am a little leery after that other one.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 9 February 2003 03:18 (twenty-three years ago)

I have the Mali one, and I really like it. I'm nothing close to knowledgable about Malian music, though, so I can't say if you'd be better off getting a different compilation.

― lyra (lyra), Sunday, 9 February 2003 03:36 (twenty-three years ago)

I saw a bunch for only $5. I justed picked up the Africa one, but maybe I'll go back and get the Mali, Congolese, and African jazz ones too sometime.

― A Nairn (moretap), Sunday, 9 February 2003 03:46 (twenty-three years ago)

the South African Jazz one is really iffy, you'd be better off getting a different African one or a different jazz album. (try Music Club's Freedom Blues, which is really good and even cheaper, around $10)

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 9 February 2003 04:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Bhangra one is pretty good, if not exactly comprehensive (although, to be fair, it doesn't make any claims for that). The Rai is not bad either.

TMFTML
http://intonation.blogspot.com

― TMFTML (TMFTML), Sunday, 9 February 2003 16:18 (twenty-three years ago)

How's the Brazilian one? Does it have much batucada/bateria stuff?

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 9 February 2003 19:20 (twenty-three years ago)

The Brazilian one is good; a few real gems, sort of all over the place stylistically

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 10 February 2003 02:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The reggae one is vast, and apparently authoritative, but then as you start adding up the hits and misses within you begin to realize that it is deeply, willfully perverse. But after much study I think the thing is that they boost artists and records big in JA but not elsewhere, and dock artists and records bigger elsewhere than in JA. E.g.: Tappa Zukie, dismissed out of hand apparently because white punks liked him.

― Cheeses K. Reist, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 04:13 (twenty-three years ago)

??? it's one disc, how can you expect it to include everything? (actually both the Reggae and Jamaican discs are good)

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 09:52 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Cheese is talking about the book, not the CD.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 10:01 (twenty-three years ago)

oh, of course. that's true then

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 10:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I've got the Paris Cafe one, and I was pleasantly surprised by it, having known little to nothing about this music, save for the fact that I don't like Edith Piaf.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 16:39 (twenty-three years ago)

There's an East Africa one which I've only seen on tape which has some sublime stuff on it. To add to Rockist's confusion there's also a Latin Dance one Isabel got me for Christmas. She owns the Greece one too - I tend to use them mostly for musics I'm a little bit wary of, like that.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 17:24 (twenty-three years ago)

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