As Smithsonian Folkways' Music of Indonesia illustrates vividly, the archipelago known as Indonesia contains a vast array of music. This album takes a somewhat less academic approach to the styles than the label's other collections. While there's gamelan from CBMW, and a classic song from Waldjinah/Gesang, there's also a great deal of pop styles, especially dangdut, which has become the national popular music, borrowing from both Arab pop and Indian film to create silky, mellifluous grooves as exemplified by Rhoma Irama, Sandii, and 3 Mustaphas 3 bassist Sabah Habas Mustapha. But burrow deeper in this collection and there's Grup Bamba Puang, whose guitar styling could have come from Appalachia, or the entrancing (if odd to Western ears) sound of Ibu Maimunah Mochtar and Group. While it's impossible to cram everything onto one disc, this does an excellent job of showing some musical facets of Indonesia. --Chris Nickson

$14.98