Tribal Fires: Contemporary Native American Music
This collection of Native American music manages to avoid a lot of the problems common in compilations of this type. It lacks the new-age trappings of too much reverb and electronic "nature sounds." It focuses, instead, on contemporary songwriters with modern themes. Featured artists include Gerry Alfred, Robert Mirabal, Quiltman and Joanne Shenandoah, each of whom contribute strong tracks to the set. There are some techno attempts that fall pretty flat, with processed voices of tribal elders (this is supposed to give it a dream effect, I guess) and some hip-hop references that just don't work. But the tranquil beauty of Shenandoah and Quiltman, and the rhythmic groove of Mirabal more than counter the effect.--Louis Gibson