Giving The Compilation Album A Good Name

World music is bedevilled by the curse of the compilation album, there are some unspeakably naff ones out there when the marketing men have been given free rein ahead of the creatives. I only have a couple in my collection and although the packaging of this double cd is not the most tasteful, it is full of great music. The title is another aspect with which I would quarrel, Sahara Blues Of The Desert, since I have spoken before about the laziness of sticking the blues label onto various world musics. But it does have more relevance here; even if the links aren't as direct and close as many would have it, the soulful and bluesy feel is undeniable. Among the 21 tracks are some of the usual suspects ( Tinariwen, Ali Farka Toure, Baaba Maal, Youssou N'Dour ) who are all on good form with judicious track selection in the cases of those who aren't so inherently bluesy as a rule, such as Maal and N'Dour. Most of the artists come from countries bordering the Sahara, with just two from Ethiopia and one from Madagascar plus American Markus James and the English Robert Plant and Justin Adams collaboration who are caught playing live at the Festival in the Desert. The only totally incongruous track is the Bill Laswell new age remix effort from Ethiopian Gigi. Inspired standouts for me would be Oumou Sangare and Boubacar Traore and the oud workout from Compagnie Meskaoui. It's also good to hear several powerful female voices included.