Photo by Jeanne McHale

Summer is slow news time all around the world and also here in our little paradise. Your Co-op Listener has kept her ears open for news of freshly recorded local musical offerings in the form of new CDs in the collection for sale at the Co-op, which I am obliged to mention in every column. Alas, I have turned to the cornucopia of worldly treats in the Putumayo World Music Collection, to tide me over until new local releases appear.

You have probably seen the colorful array of World Music CDs in the display at the Co-op. Here are some choices! My gaze settled on Women of the World Acoustic, a compilation of 11 songs from 11 different women from more than 11 different countries. None of the artists are from the US, and only two songs are in English. The album cover states that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each CD are donated to the Global Fund for Women, in support of human rights for women and girls. I thought it would be fun to listen to these tunes, though sadly I cannot interview these amazing women to get their personal stories. So I will try to tell you how the songs on the album give some glimpses into these stories.

A number of European contributions are heard, including the first track, which is a little anthem of self-love: “M’envoyer des Fleurs,” by French actress-songstress Sandrine Kiberlain. With the help of the liner notes and a vague recollection of high school French class, I gather that this silver-throated jeune fille is either very narcissistic—sending herself flowers and looking at pictures of herself—or perhaps on a path of recovery from low self-esteem. No matter—she has a lovely voice. The second tune on the CD is an interesting Latin folk song sung by a Czech native Marta Topferova, who now lives in New York. Venezuelan harp and husky vocals are featured on this one. A song in English, “Sunnyroad,” is sung by a woman of mixed Italian and Icelandic heritage who sounds a little bit like Madeline Peyroux if she had listened to Björk a lot. It is a simple guitar-backed plea to an old lover to get together again. This is an artist, Emiliana Torrini, I would like to hear more of.

Track 4 brings you Brazilian Luca Mundaca singing “Não se Apavore” in sultry bluesy style. I can’t understand a word here, but the song still speaks to me. The words sound fun to sing, and there is fine guitar playing on this one. The fifth track takes you to Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa, where Luca serenades you in a song about a mother’s advice to her son. An Algerian singer named Mona plays and sings a breathy folk tune with Arabic-Andalusian roots. Track 7 is my favorite. Here, Croatian singer, composer and flutist Tamara Obrovac, backed by accordion and mandolin, displays an impressive emotional and tonal range in a soulful song for which the title translates to “Touch the Moon.” The snippet of translated lyrics on the liner notes is beautiful poetry. Track 8 features Greek folk singer Anastasia Moutsatsou singing a plaintive love song.

A sad song called “Paula Austente” (Absent Paula) by Marta Gómez of Columbia, was inspired by a book written by Chilean author Isabelle Allende about the loss of her daughter. In the same vein, Kaissa of Cameroon sings of her departed sister in “Wa” (You). The rhythms and lyrics here have a soothing, meditative repetitiveness. Wrapping up the album is “One Voice” by the Wailin’ Jennys, whom you may have heard on the Prairie Home Companion radio show. This song is all about harmony, on at least a couple of levels. “This is the sound of all of us,” they sing. It’s a nice finale for this collection.