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This gem of a compilation is a sequel to one of the best collections of north and west African music to be found anywhere. Both this and its predecessor are 2-CD sets with a detailed booklet of notes in three languages and complete with pages of gorgeous photographs of the artists and their environments. The "desert blues" theme is not strict. Few of these pieces are really related to blues roots, no matter how speculatively construed, and a number of the pieces--notably those from Guinea--don't come from the desert. But no matter. As a unifying concept, the image works, and more importantly, these pieces from Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Sudan, Guinea, Senegal, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Western Sahara really go together. No clunkers. No disturbing shifts of mood. Just fine, deep, moody and beautiful African music, start to finish.

Majid Bekkas sets the mood with a bluesy, guitar-driven adaptation of Moroccan Gnawa music. A wooden flute shadows his soft, raspy voice over a broken shaker rhythm. There are some great tracks from Algeria, notably female gnawa Hasna El Becharia who accompanies her soulful voice with a guitar that could easily be an oud, and Cheb Mami's "Trab 2." This masterwork from the prince of rai music puts him in an unconventional setting, backed by accordion, clarinet, piano and bass, but when he sings, he proves one of the most nimble vocalists on the scene today.

Mali is richly represented by everyone from Habib Koite playing slow blues ("Forobana") to a Nahawa Doumbia wassoulou track, two sweet numbers from troubadour star Boubacar Traore, the slow, smoky "Laïdu" from Rokia Traoré, and "Mande Djelilou" from guitar virtuoso Djelimady Tounkara's recent acoustic album, Sigui. The strongest desert vibe from Mali comes from the Tuareg group Tartit. "Aïtma" finds Tartit in their trance-guitar mode, a la Tinariwen, but whether or not the track is representative, it's mesmerizing. One quibble: while including two tracks from Mali's under recognized singer/guitarist Lobi Traoré was an inspired choice, it would have been better not to have both of them come from the album featuring French harmonica player Vincent Bucher. A more contrasting track would have given a sense of Lobi's terrific range as a songwriter and arranger.

Topping the Guinean offerings here is Momo Wandel Soumah, whose inspired rendering of jazz with traditional West African music definitely merits its two tracks. Guinean guitar legend Grand Papa Diabaté's "Mamaya" starts out starts out rough, but then soars memorably. The old guy's determined, clunky acoustic guitar lifts off nicely when he solos, and vocalist Sona Diabaté shifts from stilted French to swinging Manding praise singing.

Then there's Rasha from Sudan with her sultry, jazz-tinged "Azara Al Hay," and Mansour Seck of Senegal with his lullaby "Yango." Perhaps the most powerful track of the lot is Netsanet Mellessé & Wallias Band's "Minew Jal" This brooding classic from one of the great acts of contemporary Ethiopian music absolutely smolders with foreboding, and the production completely avoids the artificiality found in so many Ethiopian pop songs. Once again, Network delivers a definitive compilation, one that can live for days in your CD player, and years on your A-list music shelf.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org