and excellent "new" listen again and again

I have owned this CD since the year that it came out - over a decade ago now. Yet again and again when it goes into my player I hear something new. More often than not it makes me stop what I am doing and listen, eyes closed, to something beautiful I have never noticed before. This innovative and varied collection gets better and better with each listen.

The ultimate introduction to the music of Madagascar

This is the album that started it all, that brought dozens of Madagascar musicians to Western attention. Guitarists Kaiser and Lindley brought a digital recording deck to Madagascar and spent two weeks recording as many top musicians as possible, sometimes joining in with them. They recorded five full CDs, including the first two "World Out of Time" compilations. This one is easily the best of the three CDs in the series (it got way more of the 'A' material than Volume 2.) Almost every track is a gem, ranging from true revelations to the merely very good. My favorites are Tarika Sammy's "Hana", a Malagasy translation of an Okinawan pop song (probably Kaiser's idea) with phenomenal singing and great kabosy playing, and Rossy's rocking "Ambilanao Zaho". There is dance music from Roger Georges, folk from Dama Mahaleo (perhaps the most famous Malagasy musician), valiha music (a native instrument, a tubular zither) from Sylvestre Randafison, Tovo, and Voninavoko, blues from the 70-year-old flute player Rakoto Frah, virtuoso guitar playing from D'Gary, and a closing cover of "I Fought the Law" from Rossy. The only track that's hard to take is by Mama Sana, an elderly woman who sings in the Malagasy equivalent of a very raw blues style. Following the success of this album, many of these artists got the chance to release their own albums in the U.S. Sadly, everyone seems to have now moved on to the next big world music thing, and no Malagasy band except Tarika (a Tarika Sammy spinoff) gets their albums released here anymore. If you like this album (and you will), check out anything you can find by Rossy, Tarika Sammy, or Mahaleo.

what field recordings ought to be

Ethnomusicology suffers from one of the diseases of Western science... the idea that you can, and *should*, observe without contact. They go out with the best intentions, do their field recordings of genuine peasants, and go home, with no more emotional contact than a hooker and a john.

This album (and others from the World out of Time and Sweet Sunny North series) is different. Henry Kaiser and David Lindley aren't scientists - they're musicians, adventurous ones with profoundly personal styles and great ears. They don't just record the proceedings, they participate as well. But they don't just use ethnic musicians as spices for their own recipes, a la Paul Simon or David Byrne. Instead, they adapt themselves to the local music - or stay out of it altogether, when appropriate. I have never heard a field recording with so much *respect* for the musicians being recorded, much less such excellent taste.

When i got this album a few years ago, i called it the best album i bought that entire year. It might just be the best album i've bought since then.