Jamaica - The Rough Guide To The Music Of Jamaica [ECD] - Various Artists

Advantages: great selection, good variety
Disadvantages: somehow mistitled, mostly traditional stuff

...Rough Guide, best known for their budget travel guides, has been steadily expanding in other areas, and has been responsible for quite a few musical "guides" over the years. This 1998 album, marketed as "Rough Guide to the Music of Eastern Europe", does pretty much exactly what is says on the package: provides quite a wide ranging overview of folk and (occasionally) folk-inspired music of Eastern Europe. This is an album that pretty much started my liking for "world music" coming from my part of the world, and despite its age it remains a good compilation which really does showcase the variety of what's on offer quite well. One thing that this "Rough Guide" album needs is perhaps a better definition of what is considered Eastern Europe: this is a surprisingly woolly category (I always remember somebody commenting than Poland... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A good combination of flavours
Disadvantages: Quite sweet

...Cadbury Bournville Old Jamaica (180g bar) Look what I found on the shelves at Morrisons! Well, I checked with Ciao that I could review this bar. They replied that I must point out at the beginning of this review that it is about the new bar and not the old one as this is the general topic for the product. Cadbury discontinued Old Jamaica a few years ago but now it is back by popular demand. Hooray!!! The details on the back of the wrapper say that, like the original bar, they are still using cocoa beans shipped from Ghana and the much loved raisin and rum flavours. It then goes on to say that Bournville are proud to unveil a new twist on an old favourite. I am going to have to delve deep into my memory to try and establish what this ?new twist? is. As with all my other reviews, I write about my experiences as I sample... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Interesting concepts in the film about olden days and smuggling?
Disadvantages: Poor acting from all main characters, poor direction from Hitchchcock

...their plight and then see the local squire keeping most of the money from the ship wrecks you see how the rich control the poor and think really how little times have changed overall. Ok so I might be getting carried away here comparing smugglers with big corporate raking in the big bucks and paying their hard working staff low wages in return, but I?m trying to find something positive to come out of the film for me and if that?s making comparisons between the way the rich and poor behaved 200 years ago and now, please forgive me! Jamaica Inn is definitely not Hitchcock?s finest hour by any stretch of the imagination. I?d go as far as to say that this is the worst Hitchcock film I?ve seen and I?ve seen quite a few. I found the music in the film quite intrusive and it could certainly have done with being toned down a few notches. All in all... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful