While a compilation, Mondo India is essentially a celebration of the work of A.R. Rahman--possibly the greatest of the modern filmi composers, and a man who can seamlessly marry Indian and Western melodies, instruments, and techniques in a way no one has managed before. While there"s a track each from his mentor R.D. Burman and his disciple Vishal, it"s Rahman"s work that sparkles with melody upon melody and an almost infinite sense of invention in the songs. He is to the Bollywood scene what Ennio Morricone or Nino Rota have been to European cinema: people who transcend the idea of score and soundtrack to bring forth pieces like "Dheeme Dheeme" that can stand alone as pieces of music. He"s not perfect--the ambient-oriented "Alyaiyo Kanavaa" never really goes anywhere, for example--but the vast majority of Rahman"s work outstrips his contemporaries, both Eastern and Western. He"s been called a genius; on the basis of this collection, that"s not idle chatter. --Chris Nickson