The Far East may have held a fascination for western travellers for centuries, but strangely enough, the region's music has remained largely unnoticed. For the first time, the Very Best of the Far East links some of the world's most ancient and beautiful cultures and sounds with the bustling vitality and creativity of a largely urban generation. Thus Japanese producers mix Vietnamese, Indonesian or their own traditions with modern dancefloor and laid back rhythms, Okinawan music meets Brazilian beats, or indigenous Japanese music is updated into a living, breathing exciting roots sound. Elsewhere, Vietnamese musicians add jazz inflections to traditional tunes, centuries old Chinese instruments are brought storming into the 21st century with ambient, electronic sounds, while western musicians too add their input to the melting pot. This is a CD to blow away your preconceptions of Far Eastern music, that instead celebrates the diversity, yet unites the music of a region that finally comes of age, the equal of anything, anywhere on the planet. Nascente. 2005.

Madonna’s 14th studio album, Madame X is influenced creatively by living in Lisbon, Portugal over the past several years. Madame X is a collection of new songs that celebrate Madonna’s career-long affair with Latin music and culture as well as other global influences.