Found Treasures in the World Music Collection

Though Pima County Public Library has transitioned largely into digital music distribution through freegal, many treasures are still available in the CD collection at your nearest library.  And because borrowing music from the library is free, why not take a chance on some unknown music, maybe even some unknown music from a distant land?  This is a practice I have begun, and it has broadened my musical horizons in wonderful ways.  Read on to hear about my favorite random finds from PCPL's World Music collection.

Fela Kuti -- The Best Of The Black President, vol. 2

So I once was fortunate enough to be working at a used record store in Phoenix when someone traded in 10 CDs by Fela Kuti, each a "two-fer" (two albums on one disc).  I knew enough about world music then to know I needed these, so I bought 'em all ... and then promptly forgot about them for several years.  Fela Kuti was a Nigerian musician active between the 1960s and his death in 1997 whose music was uncompromisingly radical in its socialist, anti-colonial and anti-military politics.  Once I finally got around to listening to Kuti, the experience was every bit as exciting and satisfying as many critics have described his music. I've since gone on to collect several more CDs by Kuti (and I love 'em all), so I was most intrigued by the copy of Best Of The Black President I saw at the library one day....