Album: Various artists, The Rough Guide to World Lullabies (World Music Network)

This makes for a very pleasant hour: lullabies are the most universal of art forms, and the wishes expressed by these mothers are both multifarious and significant.

An African wants her child to be as strong as a lion, a Russian wants hers to become a tough peasant who will never know hunger; a Turk prays that her baby will be safe from the evil eye. Omara Portuondo, Ali Farka Touré, and Toumani Diabaté star, though my favourite tracks come from Armenia and Corsica.