Tags: Zouk

Review: Inspired by his own experiences growing up in apartheid-era South Africa and his travels through music, Esa Williams has put together a compilation of contemporary electronic music from around the world. "Amandla: Music To The People" is well worth your attention and contains some genuine gems. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the percussive, chant-along sweatiness of Penny Penny's "Shilungu" and the loved-up, pitched-down dreaminess of Alaska's "Accuse (Instrumental)", to the sweet, life-affirming cheeriness of Os Panteras' "Melo Do Anjo (Outro Edit)" and the thrusting, Italo-disco style dancefloor masculinity of Masalo's "Yera". Esa's own late '80s style pitched-down South African house jam "Pantsula Traxx" is also superb.

Review: Labels Hot Mule and Secousse have teamed up to deliver something special: a killer EP of "lost gems from the golden era of Zouk and Gwo-Ka" in Guadeloupe (that's 1985 to '92, fact fans). The four tracks showcased here were performed and produced by an artist whose fame in Guadeloupe sadly never spread any further, Max Rambhojan. The A-side boasts two versions of the rather brilliant and suitably cheery "Tou't Jou Pa Min'm": the jaunty, sun-kissed, whistle-sporting 1986 original mix, and Rambhojan's heavily electronic, synthesizer-heavy, calypso-tinged 1992 re-make of his biggest local hit. Over on side B you'll find the bubby dub bass, sparse synths and flute solos of the decidedly tropical "Cecilia" and a suitably breezy, sunset-ready gem entitled "On Jou Matin".

Review: In 1977, Gaye Mody Camara, a young Soninke raised in Mali's Kayes region, settled in France to found his own empire modelled psychically after the great Soninko empire. Initially selling wax, kola nuts and other goods in his Parisian outlets, he rapidly started distributing cassette tapes and eventually producing a multitude of recordings for his own label, Camara Production. Crossing paths and collaborating over the next four decades with legendary artists, griots and industry moguls like Boncana Maiga and Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Camara became one of the great independent music producers of his generation, and a pillar of the Parisian Soninke diaspora. Released in close collaboration with Camara and with the assistance of Daouda N'diaye, one of A.P.S' (Association pour la Promotion de la langue et de la culture Soninke) historical members, this selection of songs and accompanying notes aim to shed a light on an intricate culture and its modern music, unjustifiably unknown outside of West Africa and the various diasporas around the world.

Review: Guts is a renowned French producer, DJ and vinyl connoisseur known for curating impeccable selections of global sounds. He has done so three times before for this series on Heavenly Sweetness and now returns with a fourth volume that arrives just in time for party season. This essential compilation traverses vibrant Latin rhythms, dynamic Afrobeat, soulful grooves and infectious tropical rhythms to make for a far-travelling listen. Again it shows off Guts' unmatched ability to uncover hidden gems and present them with fresh energy in an eclectic yet cohesive celebration of music's global spirit.

Review: Oliver N'Goma was a Gabonese Afro-zouk and soukous singer and guitarist whosadly passed away in 2010, leaving a handful of albums and singles as his musical legacy. His debut album Bane is one of the highest selling African albums of all time and this Best Of collects songs taken from that and other releases, all hand picked by the artist himself a few years before his death. For the very first time, this compilation is now available on vinyl - so, what are you waiting for?!

Review: Thanks to an upsurge in interest in zouk, the synthesizer-heavy tropical style that emerged from the French Antilles in the early 1980s, reissues of superb but hard to find gems from the style's original heyday are becoming increasingly popular. This one from Strut Records is a peach. Originally released in 1988, "Las Pale" is the sole album from Feeling Kreyol, a female trio from Guadeloupe assembled and produced by local studio buffs Darius Denon and Frankie Brumier. It remains a brilliantly effervescent and colourful set, with the trio adding strong and attractive to distinctively tropical drum machine rhythms, shimmering synths, kaleidoscopic melodies and jangling guitars. In other words, it's a giddy blast of electronic tropical brilliance. Don't sleep.