Various: Africhill

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * )

A free-ranging 14-track collection of urban African artists (and the odd French studio wizard) which runs from evocative pennywhistle (better than it sounds, believe me) through Afrojazz and closes with Ladysmith Black Mambazo remixed by South African production team Spiral Staircase.

Nana from Swaziland offers a quietly stalking soulful warning to rural sisters about getting caught up in big city destructiveness, Vivian N'dour's seductive Stay is a highpoint, and Agricantus from Sicily are a surprise inclusion.

Proof that judiciously selected African music of all persuasions can sound as chill as anything out of Vienna.

Label: Rajon