"Serious Tam" is yet another excellent offering from the Real World label. If you're looking for strictly "indigenous sound," search elsewhere. However, if you're keen on instruments and songs of the South Pacific augmented by washes of guitar and treated with studio effects, this is the album for you. George Telek effectively marries the traditional music of his native Papua New Guinea with Western pop influences. The result is surprisingly warm and earthy, and the rock trappings don't detract from the beautiful harmonies and interesting acoustic percussion that make Telek unique. This album is smartly-orchestrated global pop, in the proud tradition of albums like Geoffrey Oryema's "Beat the Border."