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MUSIC REVIEW
Musical World: Romania Pegasus AMHCD024

by Joel Crotty
October 2004

World Music is big business. Go into any CD store and you will find racks and racks of recordings purporting to feature music from the four corners of the globe. Radio stations in many Western countries are keen to capitalise on this interest and have dedicated programmes that broadcast the latest tracks. But where did it all start? It is not an easy question to answer. Some say it was Paul Simon's Graceland album from 1986 that set the pace but I think it was much earlier than that South African-infused pop music. The jazz world has been influenced greatly by music from outside its Afro-American roots. Carmen Miranda and her kooky fruit-laden hats helped popularise Latin music such as the samba and the bossa nova.

For those of us old enough to recall the Beatles at their peak, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band (1967) was full of musical influences from outside the commercialised world of Anglo-American popular music. So, ''cross-over'' music was well established before the 1980s. However, the difference between the pre-1980s and post-1980s in world music is the marketing strategies. And this is where the traditional musicians have been let down. Paul Simon was the only name on the Gracelands album's front cover - even though Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Savuka had considerable input into the production. The Africans were at least credited but it was well away from the front of the disc and therefore the glancing eyes of the buying public. A far worse situation was found in the case of Deep Forest. It was a hit around the world in the early 1990s but little or no money was given to the pygmy tribe that supplied most of the music.

A spin off for the record companies has been the growing market in so-called traditional music. Many people, initially attracted to the poppy crossover sounds, have been seeking the real music from Africa or wherever. There are some labels such as Celestial Harmonies that have been distributing discs that are properly recorded and thoroughly researched. Yet there are other labels that take a far less rigorous approach, one of them being Pegasus. The company, which is possibly located in Germany but this is not clear from my review CD, has released many discs over the years covering European and Latin American folk music. The Romanian disk is woeful in every department. The CD booklet is merely a list of pieces. Performer details are not particularly clear and there is not even a sentence or two to describe the individual items. The sound editing is second rate with some very dubious studio manipulations. This is the sort of CD that you find at airports and aimed at tourists desperate for some sonic souvenirs before boarding their flights. If you do see this disc at Otopeni walk right past it.

Joel Crotty is a lecturer at Monash University's Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne, Australia, and writes music reviews for The Age.

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