Track Listing

1. Chi Mi Na M�r-Bheanna - The Rankin Family
2. Yhanaway Hay Yowna - Sherry Blakey-Smith, Sherry Blakey-Smith
3. Phnom Penh Lullaby - Marc Marder, Hun Sarath
4. Ana Latu - Kingdom Of Tonga Cultural Group, Kingdom Of Tonga Cultural Group
5. Berceuse - Houria Aichi
6. Hace Tuto Guagua - Familion
7. Mayi a Gaye - Boukman Eksperyans
8. Ag Croist an Siol - Maria Doyle-Kennedy, Kieran Kennedy, Liam � Maonla�
9. Sweet Bitowo - Wes
10. Sleep, Queen of the Dolls - Baluji Shrivastav
11. Fais Do Do, Colin Mon Petit Fr�re - Sophie Meriem Rockwell
12. Noomey - Yermi Kaplan, Haya Samir
13. Itsuki No Komoriuta - Japanese Music Ensemble Of New York, Japanese Music Ensemble Of New York
14. Schlafe, Mein Prinzchen Schlaf Ein - Michelle
15. Moe Moe - Hinewehi Mohi
16. Oj Talasi - Trebevic Choir

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13138 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.com
Everything about this CD, from its eye-popping cool packaging to its beautiful booklet, is wonderful, perhaps peerless. It's a study that spans 16 countries, catching paeans to childhood sleep from varied traditions. The set traverses the Cape Breton Gaelic tradition with the Rankin Family, Haiti with pop stars Boukman Eksperyans, and the African continent with music from Tonga, Algeria, and Cameroon. Despite their distances from each other, at times the songs sound quite alike. Voices might begin alone but then gather into choral size, with a reliance on wordless passages to emphasize the flow of time as sleep encroaches. In execution, the surprises are many. Algerian Houria Aïchi sounds East Indian; the Traditional Japanese Music Ensemble of New York sounds poised somewhere between a stately concert of historical court music and a touching homage to childhood; and German singer Michelle sounds pop-music ready even as she toes the line on singing a sleep-triggering song. Beyond being a great collection of international music, this is probably the most interesting mix available of cultural voices approaching the issue of children sleeping. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

the archetypal longing for peace
My visiting year-old nephew was fussy and his parents were taking a much-needed break. I put on A Planet Sleeps, sat down in the rocking chair, and was enveloped in the profound longing that parents all over the world and in all times feel to protect their children, to provide them with safety and peace. It was beautiful not only to feel my nephew melt out of his agitated uncertainty with this strange aunt into total trust, but also to feel myself held by something larger: an archetypal parental longing for and invocation of peace in music and song. Don't miss reading the beautiful little booklet and finding out the story of the songs. The write-up on "Oj, Talasi" (Oh, The Waves) alone is worth the cost of the CD. It was recorded in 1994 in the Sarajevo Cathedrahl, despite bitter cold and constant bombardment. The song, translated, ends: "On a long journey today I go and you, sea, remain calm until safely home I come, until safely home I come."

The most beautiful CD ever to grace my home.
This CD is exactly what I have been looking for. I play it softly as background music while playing with my 2 year old and 6 month old. "Ana Latu" is one of our favorites. I also feel that the write-up on "Oj Talasi" alone is worth buying the album. David Field journals his work at compiling these lullabies, adding to the feeling of connectedness that imbues from this collection. I was especially glad (and surprised) to find a lullaby from my own distant heritage, "Yahnaway Hay Yowna". This disc makes a wonderful baby shower or blessingway gift for expectant parents. The "jewel" case is all-natural, too, better for our Mother Earth!

wonderful and soothing compilation of world lullabies
This CD was a wonderful find for our family. While we bought it for our newborn, this is music that we all still enjoy. There are lullabies here from the US (Iroquois), Cambodia, Algeria, Tonga, Chile, Haiti, Ireland, Cameroon, India, France, Israel, Japan, Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina and New Zealand (Maori). The songs are performed beautifully by singers from the country represented.

An accompanying booklet gives information about each country and song with anecdotes by the performers.

This will be a wonderful addition to your family's CD collection whether you add it to the lullaby or world music section. Another great CD in a similar mold is "On a Starry Night".