Various artists
Unwired: Acoustic Music from Around the World Various Artists (World Music Network)
With interest in unplugged sounds way up, “Unwired” is a timely reminder that in most of the world, acoustic music isn’t just a fad, but a way of life. This varied compilation features big names such as Cape Verde’s Cesaria Evora, Argentina’s Adriana Varela, and Cameroon’s Manu Dibango (in a delightful collaboration with Cuba’s Cuarteto Patria from whence springs Buena Vista’s Eliades Ochoa). It also highlights lesser known but vital artists such as the Sudan’s exiled Rasha and the Chinese/Japanese duo of Guo Yue and Joji Hirota. In each case, the music is full-bodied, whether joyful or sad, and strangely familiar. When it comes to plucking, strumming, hitting and stroking, the sounds may be limitless but the intimacy–whether in the Klezmatic’s “The Well” or Baaba Maal’s “Djam Leeliii”–is universal.