Putumayo Presents - Greece - A Musical Odyssey

With the Olympic Games in Athens on the horizon, this is probably the first of many Greek compilations during 2004. And Putumayo is certainly well-versed in compilations. There are some fairly well-known artists here, from George Dalaras, who's one of the country's superstars, to Melina Kana and beyond. Certainly for most listeners, virtually all the names will be unfamiliar. The music sticks close to the accessible side of the different Greek sounds -- there's no hardcore rebetika here, for example -- rather than fully exploring the culture. At just over 40 minutes it's short, as so many of this label's compilations tend to be. It would have been nice to have had a wider exploration of the different facets of Greek music, adding artists with global reputations like Eleftheria Arvantaki and Kristi Stassinopoulou. But this stands for what it is: a very basic introduction to Greek sounds.