This album of Macedonian music was primarily licensed from the
Macedonian Mister Company
, with bits from Dutch and Turkish labels to boot. The major figures of Macedonian music are present here, from the older singers (such as
Aleksandar Sarievski
) to the young instrumentalists (such as
Ilija Ampevski
). The album starts out with a vocal work from the venerable
Esma Redzepova
before an accordion work from
Milan Zavkov
and a song from western Macedonian
Biljan Stojanoski
.
Naat Veliov
's
Kocani Orkestar
provides a somewhat stereotypical gypsy ensemble
folk
piece,
Vaska Ilieva
provides another song, and the
Brass Band Maleshevski Melos
pumps out a veritable college marching band number. A more contemporary songstress is shown off with
Vidanka Djordjievska
, and
ARC
stable artists
Strune
provide a great instrumental track. The great
Sarievski
's voice is recorded for the ages, followed by another piece from
Melshevski Melos
, a nice clarinet work from the young
, and a second track from
to bring the listener back to the tone of the album's opening. While the music of Macedonia is a highly varied mix of sounds, the album manages to represent most of those sounds and presents them in a series that lends the works some sense of order and coherence. As with many compilations of ethnic musics, the album makes a grand starting point to jump off for deeper listening in the various sub-genres, but perhaps not the best album for people already acquainted thoroughly with the artists and genres that make up the country's music (at least when compared to full albums from the various artists). Pick it up as a curious listener first, and secondly as someone looking into a more varied structure of Macedonian music. ~ Adam Greenberg