Even when paying homage to the Moroccan music she grew up with, vocalist Natacha Atlas can't help but let the multicultural and modern seep in. With bossa nova, Western pop, and just a thin slice of electronica figuring into the mix, the "back to my roots" album Mish Maoul is a rich collection of music that doesn't sound decorated but natural coming from an artist who prides herself in being a musical nomad. Easy to believe a nomad's memories of her homeland would be foggy and sentimental, and easy to believe the modern nomad's soundtrack would sound something like this – only something like this because this is far and away Atlas' most personal album. Suitably, she seems totally in charge of its construction, making interesting production choices with the help of Temple of Sound, Timothy Whelan, and others. For someone who has worked with Transglobal Underground, Art of Trance, and Jah Wobble in the past, the restraint Atlas uses on the rhythmic and ritualistic "Hayati Inta" is surprising and creates an intoxicating tension with only a slight bit of electric guitar revealing this isn't a field recording.

It would have been groundbreaking enough for the Israeli Ofra Haza to have performed an album of Yemeni Jewish songs. But when she and producer Bezalel Aloni added synthesizers, drum machines, and a generous helping of dance beats, they ended up creating one of the seminal records of world music–one of the very first ethno-techno releases whose reverberations extended into dance clubs around the globe, most especially with "Galbi." While its contemporary sound might make it seem shallow, there really is a lot of depth here, the lyrics coming from the poetry of 16th-century rabbi Shalom Shabazi. Along with fellow spirits like Dissidenten, Haza helped pave the way for Transglobal Underground, Natacha Atlas, and Banco de Gaia.

Eric Truffaz has covered a lot of ground - both literally and metaphorically - since releasing his first album on the Blue Note label in 1996. Recorded in several locations but cut to sound like a single concert, Face-a-Face reveals the success of this artist who, with consistency and determination, has travelled a long road to success that has been filled with detours, long stretches in the fast lane and occasional pit stops, but which has never veered away from the source of his originality and the happiness of his waking dream. For Truffaz, each concert is a chance to meet his public "face à face". And it's this exchange between musicians and their audiences - the source of his inspiration - that Truffaz has set out to recreate in venues across the world (a point he makes between two tracks on the album) from Mexico, Saint Petersburg and Madrid to Bombay, Lausanne, and Paris.

Jordi Savall examines 500 years of history in this portrait of a city that symbolises like no other the fruitful, and at the same time, conflictual encounter of the three monotheistic religions. The succession of the Zirid, Almoravid, Almohad and Nasrid dynasties, their relationship with the neighbouring Christian kingdoms and the often precarious situation of the Jews (the first inhabitants of this area) are reflected in this wide musical fresco, in which each culture displays its most advanced refinement.

This feast for the ears almost defies classification. Richard Horowitz is probably best known for his award-winning score to the Bernardo Bertolucci movie, The Sheltering Sky. Featured on the album is Tehran singer Sussan Deyhim; her voice is extremely expressive in an "x-tatic" Middle Eastern style, with its distinctive embellishments and phrasing. Horowitz takes recordings of her voice and layers it in subtle yet exotic tapestries and harmonies. This is not the ripoff sampling done so often on ambient dance albums. Deyhim's voice is the center of the compositions, and her artistry is always honored. At times, her combined voices sound like the Manhattan Transfer, but when the title track features 84 recombined samples of her voice, the result is very unique. Although the sound processing is important, the album features many live musicians, including world music expert Jaron Lanier and members of the Moroccan National Radio and Television Orchestra. Majoun offers layers upon veils of mysteries and never stoops to trite Middle Eastern musical clichés. Highly recommended.

In 1997, Marcel Pérès and his Ensemble Organum began a simultaneous exploration of the Mozarabic rite (the liturgical chant peculiar to the Christians living in Spain at the time of Arab rule) and of the Samaa spiritual practice of Morocco. Setting aside the theological differences between the two faiths, the artists discovered a great deal of kinship between the two forms of musical expression. A veritable utopia, the idea for this recording then suggested itself: through music, to regain the lost accord of human brotherhood.

Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, professionally known as Dalida, was a French singer and actress, born in Egypt to Italian parents. She won the Miss Egypt beauty contest in 1954 and began a 31-year singing career in 1956, selling 170 million albums and singles worldwide. Dalida earned 45 gold record awards and a pair of platinum records for her sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Japan, and was the first singer to receive a diamond disc.. A superstar in France and much of the rest of Europe, Dalida enjoyed hit records in three different decades.

Singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef is one of the most appealing stars of world music, yet his music still resists categorisation within that vague genre. Last year we heard him in a "supergroup" with Omar Sosa and Anga Diaz, but he sounds more comfortable accompanied by the talented crop of Norwegian musicians loosely associated with "nu-jazz". This cool style of playing, loose-limbed and hard-edged, provides the perfect backdrop to the Mediterranean warmth of Youssef's compositions. The most significant collaborator is producer-guitarist Eivind Aarset, who supplies backdrops of wide-ranging style and density, while remaining empathetic to Youssef's musical personality. Youssef can be deep, light-hearted, complex, funky and achingly romantic, sometimes all within one song. The album's pace is leisurely, full of atmosphere, groove and great playing, but rarely self-indulgent; you never forget whose album it is. By taking the most positive aspects of nu-jazz, Aarset and Youssef have forged a thrilling new sound that could make Divine Shadows a crossover hit.

Sun Within is Karunesh's dynamic new world fusion CD, combining a variety of relaxing grooves with exciting new beats and vocals. Enjoy the warmth and seduction of female vocals and slip into the mysterious unknown world of the East. A rich original album supported with instruments such as bansuri, dobro, duduk, guitar, sitar, violin and percussion. It will take you on a world wind journey during which your inner light - the Sun Within - will shine and lead you on your way. Born in Cologne, Germany, Karunesh released his first album Sounds of the Heart in 1987, which quickly became a new age classic. More albums followed and Karunesh became established as one of the best known artists in that genre.