Customer Reviews
Various Artists: Sound of the World Presents Beyond the Horizon - By: T. Whitney, 24 Jul 2008 
The annual globe-hopping compilation from writer & broadcaster Charlie Gillett is a showcase for both headline stars & obscure gems. It's no surprise, then, to find tracks from stars like Toumani Diabaté, Orchestre Baobab, Israels Yasmin Levy or Uzbek diva Sevara Nazarkhan, but the oddities are often as arresting. Here's a reggaematic Romanian love song from Germany & the yearning tones of Australia-based Tartar singer Zulya. Beautifully sequenced, the 34 tracks from 28 countries make clear that the world's music (not world music) is increasingly hybridised & perennially fascinating.
The Observer
Various Artists: Sound of the World Presents Beyond the Horizon - By: A. Heng, 24 Jul 2008 
Charlie Gillett's annual compilations should need no introduction by now.
The latest edition strikes a valedictory note -- the final track amounting to a farewell from the murdered South African reggae star Lucky Dube. There is no avoiding the hyperactive Manu Chao these days, but for sheer substance & guile, it is hard to beat the young Brazilian vocalist CéU. Daniel Melingo -- an eccentric but charismatic Tom Waits-ish tango artist, who made an impressive South Bank debut at La Linea a couple of months ago -- rightly makes the cut as well. Orchestra Baobab represent Africa's old guard, but there is no sign yet that Gillett has lost his knack of unearthing gems from off the beaten track.
The Sunday Times, July 6, 2008
Charlie Gillett pulls out the gems again! - By: Mr. A. D. Seel, 24 Jul 2008 The title may have changed, but the format is thankfully the same. Charlie Gillett's annual two-CD round-up is now firmly established as one of the events of the summer, & this is another entertainingly varied guide to the expanding global music scene. Some of the artists are well known, so there's a reminder of the recent, exquisite work by Toumani Diabate & Orchestra Baobab, along with a tribute to South African reggae star Lucky Dube, whose murder was one of the tragedies of the year. Then there are the newer favourites, from tango star Melingo & the Israeli singer Yasmin Levy through to our own Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara, the American/Cambodian pop exponents Dengue Fever, or Brazil's most interesting new female singer, Ceu. There are some surprising omissions - where are the Garifuna Women's Project or Mor Karbasi? - but then there's welcome promotion for lesser-known artists, from Rajery, Madagascar's master of the valiha, an instrument constructed around a bamboo tube, to the Palestinian oud exponents Le Trio Joubran. But this year's real discovery is an unexpected, thoughtful balladin Afrikaans by Gert Vlok Nel.
The Guardian, Friday July 4, 2008 ****
