Big Blue Ball a Great World Music Sampler

After 17 years of production and mixing, Peter Gabriel and Karl Wallinger finally released "Big Blue Ball" this year with little fanfare, and the disc generated little excitement. The lack of attention is a reflection of the sad state of the music industry, not the quality of the record.

I nominate "Big Blue Ball" as album of the year, though it is more of a digital-age release: a collection of 11 strong, unique tracks rather than one solid concept. Still, I urge listeners to go old-school and buy the blue vinyl or the CD. The liner notes are detailed and interesting, and the sound quality of either format still tops digital download formats.

Peter Gabriel is best known to '70s music fans as a co-founder of Genesis, and to '80s music fans as the guy who did the "Sledgehammer" video. Today, however, Peter gabriel is sort of the secretary general of a musical United Nations. He created the Real World label and the WOMAD tour to celebrate and promote music from all corners of the globe.

To that end, Peter Gabriel co-founded the "Big Blue Ball" project with Wallinger of World Party and the Waterboys. They invited dozens of musicians to Peter Gabriel's country studio to relax, mingle and record together. They arrived for three weeks of music and partying in 1991, 1992 and 1995.

The recordings were buried for years before Stephen Hague, a famed producer of 1980s synthpop, started cleaning them up and polishing them with new state-of-the-art equipment. The resulting "Big Blue Ball" recordings sound fresh and new, thanks to Hague's production as well as the continuing unfamiliarity of world music to the American ear.

I'll give a track-by-track rundown of "Big Blue Ball," and you can listen to samples of each track here, but please buy the whole thing and expand your musical horizons.

1. Whole Thing - To ease Western music fans into the concept, the disc opens with a piece of standard Peter Gabriel fare, but for the subtle instrumentation. Reggae musician Alexis Faku plays a stirring bass line, and Cameroon's Francis Bebey plays a two-note flute. On a sad note, Bebey, died the same year as the recording, so he never heard the final product.

2. Habibe - This seven-minute song is a fabulous introduction to the diverse and mesmerizing world of Middle Eastern pop music. Proving the global nature of the "Big Blue Ball" project, a Belgian singer provides the vocals while accompanied by authentic Egyptian strings and drums. The original take was reportedly more than 20 minutes in length. Here's hoping for the extended release next year. I could listen to another 15 minutes of this track.

3. Shadow - The second true standout of "Big Blue Ball," this track exemplifies the brilliant, genre-melding nature of the project. Papa Wemba's famed Congolese vocals meet Spanish flamenco guitar and a storm of percussion in joyous pop exaltation.

4. Altus Silva - Long before he had reached his current fame, Peter Gabriel recognized the talent of Joseph Arthur and invited him to work with Papa Wemba, a French techno group and an Irish singer for a track that recalls Genesis' prog rock era.

5. Exit Through You - The liner notes dismiss this song as a throwaway composed in an hour and recorded with just three main musicians. However, it's still beautiful, intricate and deserves repeated listens just to unfold all the layers.

6. Everything Comes From You - It's no mistake this lands in the middle of "Big Blue Ball." It is the album's centerpiece, with Sinead O'Connor's always mesmerizing lead vocals mixed with a heady world-music collaboration unlike any of her previous diverse work. She is backed by a howling Uzbek singer, subtle Chinese flutes and arresting Japanese drums.

7. Burn You Up, Burn You Down - One of the only songs that sounds dated, this Peter Gabriel-fronted collaboration sounds like early 90s synth-pop (which it was). It's unfortunate the track doesn't put the Holmes Brothers to better use. The gospel-blues trio's beautiful voices are all but lost in the mix.

8. Forest - This is another example of the mix that could only be created within this kind of open-minded globe-spanning project. A joyous Tanzanian vocal is backed with African hand drums, Armenian Doudouk and funky guitars by Vernon Reid of Living Color fame.

9. Rivers - Interestingly, this takes the project in the opposite direction. Much slower and more haunting, the song is essentially a solo showcase for Hungarian singer and flutist Marta Sebestyen.

10. Jijy - Americans may have invented rap, but it is truly a global artform now, as showcased by Rossy of Madagascar, who lays down a giddy, expressive rhyme while Jah Wobble plays bass. According to the liner notes, Rossy also plays some kind of homemade harp fashioned from bamboo and bicycle brake wire. Finally, Gabriel's longtime percussion collaborator Arona N-Diaye plays a frantic beat.

11. Big Blue Ball - The closing track again recalls Gabriel's solo efforts, even though the main vocals are a Karl Wallinger falsetto. It would be at home alongside "In Your Eyes." Wallinger's lyrics expand on the idea behind the name: "You're just living out life on a big blue ball, no trouble at all."

That's it for the CD, but I'm hoping for volume two. The "Big Blue Ball" Web site brags about a whole mess of other contributors including Van Morrison, Joe Strummer and Iggy Pop. Hopefully, their recordings are still in the mixing stages.