Another World Is
Possible (CD/various artists)
Sound: B Music:
B- Essays: B
As a partial salute to The Clash and part politically
aware work, Another World Is Possible (2005) brings together ten brief,
smart essays (in various languages to boot including Noam Chomsky, who’s work
is elsewhere on this site) in a hardcover booklet the size of a CD case, then
includes a CD. The art is a world map
out of UPC scan-bar symbols and a title nowhere to be found. Think of it as a sort of “Neo-White Album”
of some sort.
The music is obviously diverse, with the only acts I
recognized including Femi Kuti (reviewed on DVD elsewhere on this site), Emir
Kusturica, Moby and Massive Attack. The
less familiar artists include Manu Chao & Tonino Carotone, Asian Dub
Foundation & Zebda, No One Is Innocent & Orchestra National de Barbés,
Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra (all duets it would seem), The
Skatalites, Lee Scratch Perry, Tiken Jah Fakoli, Idir, Salif Keita, Nitin
Sawhney, and Granddaddy. Like the old
Nonesuch record label samplers of music back in the vinyl record days, this is
a fine sampling of major talent worldwide in a set that makes you think and
consider the true nature of world politics and events. Even if you do not agree with the politics,
they are presented in a mature, intelligent fashion and the music is solid, if
a bit uneven in the case of this particular compilation.
The genres run from Rock and Electronica to more organic,
even ethnic music you may not have necessarily heard of before. The PCM 2.0 16Bit/44.1kHz Stereo is pretty
good throughout considering the tracks run over five years in their production
ands varying conditions thereof. The
bottom line is that this set is about getting people to think about the
downside of Globalization and more important, how the rapid changes are
happening without being questioned.
Chomsky’s observations about the 1990s boom and who was included have
great weight, while Shirin Ebadi offers a very agreeable definition of poverty,
Naomi Klien is on the right track about big corporations and the “mall world”
she criticizes, but may be overreaching in some of her overgeneralizations
about what is a “Pac-Man” company, and Arundhati Roy makes a compelling
statement about the position and role writers (like all those on this site)
should consider and what that means in the near future. I again think some of it is speculative, but
even when any writer (here on this site, in this set or elsewhere) goes
overboard, it is worth it just to consider some things to their possibly
logical conclusion. The essays
(compiled from the 1997 – 2004 period) all holds up pretty good. The music has just about as much heart, so
go to www.discograph.com for more
information about this Uncivilized World Records
release in conjunction with the non-profit organization Attac.
- Nicholas Sheffo
