Music Review: The Secret Museum of Mankind series(8 albums)

So, what is an Electronic Musician doing reviewing acoustic ethnic music from around the globe, all recorded from the 20s to the 40s? The answer is simple: great music is great music. Genres are really just labels, nothing more. Music is the art of sounds, harmonies, melodies, rhythms, cultures, individuals ,and ideas and if you are at all interested in traditional music of the world outside of the U.S. and U.K(and you should be)made before western pop music infiltrated much of the world, then this series is a treasure trove of sparkling gems. Every single one of the albums is filled to the brim with short pieces ranging from dance music(like the Romanian song above in the video) to virtuoso instrumental pieces to art music to folk songs and more. Sometimes, a stray western track pops up from time to time as a reminder that ethnic music also includes western music, but for the most part, this series concentrates on African, European, Asian, Latin, and other non-western countries. 3 of the discs offer music from specific areas, namely Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, and Central Asia and they are all terrific as well.  To someone unaccustomed to music outside of the west, much of this music will sound strange indeed, but this is a good thing, as it exposes them to music that will challenge their ideas about the possibilities and the realities of global music culture. Sadly, much of the traditions that led to the creation of this music are being lost as our global culture assimilates and disposes of traditional musics made before industrial music production started taking over global culture in the 50's. These seem to be mostly field recordings from a bygone era, clouded in mist and legend, even as you listen to them. In other words, these are recordings to treasure and hold onto the rest of your life.
The Secret Museum of Mankind series on Amazon