Start your journey with a compilation

Say you’re fresh from a vacation, with hypnotic rhythms still swaying in your head, or you’re struck by some exotic fragment from a movie soundtrack that seems to have followed you home. You trek to your favorite music store’s “World Music” section.

Tracking down the sound should be simple. But the selection -- with plenty of evocative photos and less-than-helpful labels such as “music of the northeast” -- can be daunting. There is a bit of learning curve -- even for nonbeginners -- when it comes to sampling the expanse of world music.

One solution: the compilation.

Be forewarned. Even here, there’s a mind-numbing array, says Viola Galloway, world music buyer for Amoeba Records. “Some collections just compile -- like Rough Guide or Putumayo. Some put together their own productions, like Real World and Network. There are others that offer field recordings. There’s “lifestyle music” compilations put together by DJs that serve as introductions to different styles.”

But several high profile and/or highly regarded compilations seek to make the world both smaller and more expansive by introducing the sweep of the world’s music of celebration, ritual, love, leisure and whimsy. They’re likely starting points for what might otherwise be a difficult journey.

For decades, collections such as Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and Nonesuch Explorer Series have created extravagant, comprehensive collections: Javanese Court Gamelan, Japanese shakuhachi and Bulgarian song. For the serious listener, they have provided attractively produced sets that are evocatively packaged and boast comprehensive notes.

Peter Gabriel’s Real World, a joint venture with World of Music Arts and Dance, by contrast, creates collaborative projects that link artists from opposite sides of the globe, seating them side by side to create impromptu, cross-cultural conversations.

For those who are venturing for the first time into a particular style or region of the world, though, Galloway recommends series such as Putumayo or Rough Guide. “Putumayo sometimes among purists would get bad-mouthed -- ‘Oh, they’re for beginners,’ ” she says. “But really, Putumayo was the king with their friendly packaging and interesting compilations.”

Putumayo, founded by Dan Storper in 1975, was envisioned as a “global lifestyle company,” encompassing everything from a clothing line to philanthropy. Putumayo World Music, the label, was founded in ’93 and has become well known for accessible, high-profile, brightly hued compilations that dip listeners into upbeat roots music -- French Caribbean songs, salsa, Brazilian grooves, Gypsy music, covers of classic pop songs and music from the “coffee lands.”

The philosophy, Storper says, is pretty straightforward: “We travel the world and try to find great songs.” He’s looking for upbeat music with wide appeal, which he measures in in-house groups. “My feeling is if people of all ages and ethnicities can all appreciate the same song, there’s a pretty good chance that the general public will appreciate the song.”

The Rough Guide series, almost a decade old, has also embraced the idea of creating a network to connect people with information about music of the world. Back in the early ‘90s, World Music Network’s managing director, Phil Stanton, got word that the Rough Guide travel series was planning to publish a book called “The Rough Guide to World Music.”

Stanton suggested a collaboration, and that led to the first CD, “The Rough Guide to World Music.” (The book has become an indispensable resource.)

Now there are more than 100 Rough Guide CD titles, created by teams of “expert compilers.” The discs “usually include some classic songs by the best-known artists, covering all the main styles, some examples of new developments, one or two older pieces to indicate how the music has grown and progressed,” Stanton says, “as well as a few pieces from left field that we think are exceptional for one reason or another.”

Ultimately, music is a through-line -- a form of expression in which we often see our commonalities more than our differences. “All kinds of people are interested in the culture of different peoples around the world,” Stanton says, “and this is reflected by the audience. We sell in over 30 countries around the world. Very few -- probably none -- will like everything they hear, but given the diversity of styles, most people will find something that they like.”