The recent events in the former Yugoslavia give the music on volume five of the World Library of Folk and Primitive Music a special air of poignancy. Peter Kennedy, who was an associate of Alan Lomax, recorded all of the tracks at a folk festival in 1951, at a time when the Communist government believed it could forge a single national identity by showing the similarities between the various regional folk cultures. To that end, they gathered the best village musicians from all over what was then Yugoslavia and presented them in a series of concerts. Kennedy realized that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and recorded dozens of performers including ballad singers, tamburica players, choirs, and dance bands. All of the music here is of the highest quality, although some of the recordings from the stage are somewhat muted. This two-CD set includes a well-annotated 20-page booklet that features both the original notes from the 1954 LP version as well as corrections and additions that reflect recent scholarship. Although much of the music here will be primarily of interest to ethnomusicologists, there is still plenty here for the casual listener to enjoy. --Michael Simmons