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Reves d'oasis: Desert Blues 2 Network, $31.96 .

Over the past five years, as world music has become a more viable category, record companies have rushed to offer themed albums that incorporate whole regions of a continent. Africa has been especially vulnerable to themes that seem manufactured, but this double-CD is a welcome addition, despite some of that under-one-banner approach that can be misleading.

"Reves d'oasis: Desert Blues 2" features artists from African countries that touch or are near the Sahara. The emphasis is on acoustic songs that are blueslike, such as Momo Wandel Soumah's "Felenko Yefe," an intense eight- minute meditation about a mother who wonders whether her daughter will ever return from a circumcision ceremony. Soumah, who is from Guinea, sings with the verve of someone (he's in his 80s) who has seen a lot in a lifetime. The same can be said of Hasna el Becharia, a veteran singer and guitarist from Algeria whose song "Hakmet Lakdar" -- about a person who's been betrayed and has only "God and my parents" -- is the strongest lamentation of this collection.

Despite these songs about people's worries, "Reves d'oasis: Desert Blues 2" isn't some kind of melancholic tour of African music. There is plenty of majesty in these two CDs, typified by "Lees Waxul," the sublime collaboration between Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour and his countrywoman Yande Codou Sene, who sings in praise of a holy man and religion. Familiar names are sprinkled throughout "Desert Blues 2," including N'Dour and Mansour Seck from Senegal; Mali's Habib Koite, Rokia Traore and Boubacar Traore; and Cheb Mami, the Algerian rai singer who lives in France.

Is Mami's song on "Desert Blues 2" really bluesy? Not really. But the Network label had to call this beautifully packaged collection something, and it had to make a connection to its 1998 release, "Ambiance du Sahara: Desert Blues." So be it. The breadth of songs on these two albums is more important than any quibble with the title.

Rating: Excellent

-- Jonathan Curiel