Music for the Native Americans

Commissioned to come up with a soundtrack for the 1994 Turner Network Television special The Native Americans, Robbie Robertson delivered some of his most haunting and evocative work to date. Combining the sleek atmospherics of 1991's Storyville with traditional tribal chanting and instrumentation, Music for the Native Americans often manages to sound both contemporary and timeless. Unfortunately, Robertson's lyrics are often as clunky as they are well intentioned--though brief, his liner notes are far more powerful and informative--and his gravelly speak-singing is consistently outclassed by Native American guest vocalists Pura Fe, Soni, and Jen, whose "Mahk Jchi (Heartbeat Drum Song)" is also the album's highlight. File under "flawed but interesting." --Dan Epstein