Discos Mas US Vinyl & CDs

Review: We finally get treated to this superb 7" from Grupo Majezza on Discos Mas which was due for release late last year. It features one of the band's more fiery dance floor tunes in 'La Chica Pikosita' which is all shuffling rhythms and lush string instrumentals with playful chords, percussion and vocals. It is backed with the just as hot and bhangra-tinged 'Cumbia de los Puchikas' on the reverse. These two glorious cumbia tunes are ripe for DJs and dancers alike and have never before been on wax.

Review: Mexican duo Isidro Cuevas and Willy Cabanas first joined forces a year or two back on a fiery two-tracker for psychedelic, 21st century cumbia specialists Discos Mas. Here they return to the Oakland, California-based label with two more slabs of mind-melting goodness. A-side 'Cumbia Dimension' brilliantly joins the dots between cumbia, reggaeton and dub, adding spacing synths and auto-tune heavy vocals to deep bass, jaunty riffs and cumbia beats. Flipside 'Tu Selva' explores similar sonic territory, albeit via a deeper, warmer and woozier sound, with far more extensive lead vocals.

Review: Cumbia champs Philthy Dronez have been turning out their quirky and curious takes on the genre since 2005. For their next outing on San Fran's Disco Mas they link with Su Brigada De La Cumbia for a brace of bonkers beats. Opener "Vamos A La Playa" is characterised by a big and wonky accordion line that reminds us of global dance smash "Heater" by Samim from a few years ago. It's as silly as it is fun, while "Sabor De La Cumbia" is a much heavier and grittier affair. Shades of digital dub define the grooves while a rather haunting lead keeps you on edge as it trundles along.