The Rough Guide to the Music of Indonesia is a world musiccompilation album originally released in 2000. Part of the World Music NetworkRough Guides series, the release covers a broad swathe of the music of Indonesia, both traditional and modern. The compilation was produced by Phil Stanton, co-founder of the World Music Network. Paul Fisher compiled the tracks and wrote the liner notes, and Duncan Baker coordinated the project.[1][2]
The album met critical appraise[clarification needed] upon release. In his review for AllMusic, Bret Love rose the subject of non-gamelan Indonesian music's obscurity in the West, calling the compilation an "accessible introduction to some very unfamiliar musical traditions".[2]Robert Christgau called it "crass" even by the standards of the series, and "at least as edutaining as Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?".[3] Writing for JazzTimes, Josef Woodard called it "as much a treat for the ears as it is a challenge to our preconceptions".[4] Both Christgau and Woodard contrasted the record with the 20-CD Music of Indonesia series by Smithsonian Folkways, comparing the latter's ethnomusicological focus with the Rough Guide's pop overtones.[3][4][5]