Search - Various Artists :: Mondo Platinum (Dig)

A label sampler for Mondo Melodia, this 14-track compilation focuses on Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Most of it is world music by default, for the individual singers collected here are pop stars from their respective nations, albeit ones utilizing the musical flavors of their homelands. The styles are varied: Italy's Zucchero performs a heartfelt ballad, the group I Muvrini gives traditional Corsican folk a pop twist, and Egyptian vocalist Hakim, in collaboration with U.K. groove collective Zohar, invokes an otherworldly Jon Hassell feeling. Hailing from France, Emma Shapplin beguiles with heavenly, multitracked vocals on "The Inferno," a dreamy ambient electronica selection heard on the Red Planet movie soundtrack. The album's dark horse is Canadian singer Alannah Myles, who performs the stirring "Alibi," a well-known Greek song featuring her newly penned lyrics. Additional contributors include Cheb Mami, Khadja Nin, George Dalaras, Notis Sfakianakis, Andy and Soraya, Haris Alexiou, Faudel, Rachid Taha (with Femi Kuti), and Khaled. Nicely packaged with liner notes, Mondo Platinum offers many interesting selections that should appeal to pop fans trying to stretch their listening boundaries just a little bit farther. --Bryan Reesman