World Music: The Rough Guide, First Edition (Rough Guides) (Paperback)

~ Simon Broughton (Editor), Mark Ellingham (Editor), Dave Muddyman (Editor), (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Once you start flipping through World Music, there's no stopping. Unlike other genres, world music spans so huge a territory (the world) that there are surprises and new pleasures for everyone. The table of contents sets the tone. Laid out as a map of the world, the chapters are located directly on the map. This is followed, however, by a traditional table of contents, laid out in linear 1 to 13 format for those who don't go for the visual approach. However you chose your dive-in point, you won't be disappointed. A tremendous amount of work has gone into this guide, covering a remarkable number of subgenres and groups. Search for a group you've heard of, read up on a specific genre like klezmer or flamenco, get CD recommendations, or troll for new finds like Altan, the Irish band of the '90s, and Ibrahim Tatlises, the premier Kurdish performer. There's a wealth of sounds out there that Rough Guide makes accessible. --Stephanie Gold

From Library Journal

Hats off to anyone with the guts to publish a guide purporting to deal with all the music in the world-and hats off twice to the editors of this book, who have succeeded not only in providing such a guide but in doing so with wit, succintness, and mind-boggling thoroughness. And talk about user-friendly-the table of contents consists of a big world map with boxes pointing to various regions and directing the reader to the appropriate chapter. Each musical style is given a brief but thorough overview, while sidebars provide information about especially significant artists. Every section ends with a selective discography. It doesn't seem that any musical tradition of any importance has been left out: you'll find essays here on everything from Colombian vailenata music to Moroccan chaaoi. What could have been unwieldy sprawl is made easily manageable by an exhaustive index. Given the price, this guide is budget-friendly, too, and should be considered an essential resource for even the most limited music collection.
Rick Anderson, Contoocook, N.H.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 1 edition (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858280176
• ISBN-13: 978-1858280172
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,184,022 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the Gold Standard for the Curious, January 14, 2009

By	James Scharnott "Unca Jim" (Noo Yawk, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Growing up, I would check out nearly any unusual recording from the public library, just out of curiosity. Learning about far-off lands and cultures via record labels like Folkways and Lyrichord, I was into "world music" ages before that phrase was used to pigeonhole any sort of ethnic folk or pop.

This book, initially checked out from the library with an equal degree of curiosity, opened my eyes and whetted my ears' appetite for armchair world travel. Reviews of regional music and culture (from dancing to politics), photos of artists and obscure album covers, and discographies of mostly vinyl and audiocassettes, all combined to create an intoxicating, seductive overview of much of the world's musical contributions.

So fifteen years have passed, and newer, expanded editions of this guide have hit the bookshelves. But I still appreciate having all of this information in one volume, and will refer to it first, even before doing online research. The essays and photos still enchant, and the discographies now contain geuinely rare recordings for which I will eternally quest.

If you are curious about world music, and don't wish to invest in heavier (both in weight and content) volumes, this book is an ideal place for bith study and browsing. The writing is informative while remaining funny, and the whole package will answer many questions before sending you into the world for any further information.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good Introduction to World Music, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This is a good introduction to the major figures of world music and is a handy companion for anyone exploring the music. My other favorite world music book is "The Brazilian Sound" (Temple University Press, 1998), which I also purchased through amazon.com.

4 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Keep politics out of world music, February 16, 1999

By A Customer

I purchased this book because I wanted a guide to unfamiliar (for me) world music. It is wide ranging and if browsed quickly, appears encyclopedic. Imagine my surprise when I searched for Israel and find NOTHING. There is a large section on Palestinian music, which is rife with anti Israel rhetoric. Music is a universal language. All cultures have much to offer of interest. Music is a force for peaceful interaction among people of different cultures. Even peoples whose politics are in conflict have found common ground through musical expression. I am dissapointed that a book with such promise turns out to be an outlet for some of the contributors political views. I write this not merely because I disagree with the point of view of the editors: I feel we should KEEP POLITICS OUT OF WORLD MUSIC.