Born Into Brothels
The Academy Award-winning documentaryBorn Into Brothelsdepicts the struggles of the children of Calcutta prostitutes, who are given cameras in order to document their lives and find a way of escape. The score was composed by John McDowell, leader of the group Mamma Tongue, and a man with experience working in spiritual settings, from gospel to Sufi music. This goes a long way toward explaining the soundtrack's overall inspirational tone. Those intimidated by something that would be too "world music" can also relax knowing that the flavor of this disc is decidedly mild. The vocals, for instance, are shared by Kirtan-chant specialist Krishna Das (born Jeffrey Kagel) and Sabina Sciubba, the Italian-German singer of the New York-based bandBrazilian Girls.And when things threaten to become a little too yoga-class, the CD gets an energy boost from two Bollywood tracks, "Pairon Mein" and "Ankham Khuli" (from 2000'sMohabbatein), the latter of which features Lata Mangeshkar, the Indian film industry's most famous playback singer.--Elisabeth Vincentelli