It was the South African sounds on Paul Simon's Graceland that first brought world music into the spotlight, and from there it's continued to shine. This album doesn't try to be The Indestructible Beat of Soweto; instead, it covers a wider canvas of the country's musical range. Along with mbaqanga, the style that's become so recognizably South African, there's the reggae of Lucky Dube (who would love to be Bob Marley), township jazz from Miriam Makeba, straight jazz from Hugh Masekela, and the ineffable Zulu harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, whose a cappella singing has both richness and emotion. The late Mahlathini roars in his unique lion voice (and he really does sound like a lion), and his backing band, the Mahotella Queens, brings "Mbube" (known in the West as "Wimoweh") back home again, where it belongs. In truth, there's not a bad track here, from the superb Soul Brothers to Johnny Clegg. As much as any one record can act as an introduction to a country, this does an excellent job. --Chris Nickson