TITLE: The Rough Guide To Latin Rare Groove
LABEL: World Music Network
World Music Network kicks off its new Rare Groove series of Rough Guides with this collection of Latin-soul deep cuts selected by Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead. You pretty much never get a bum steer from Bongohead, and you certainly don’t here: this one’s a straight party in a box. Two-thirds of the album is dedicated to vintage material; in an unusual move for collections of this type, seven relatively recent sides are included as well. New or old, it’s highly likely you’ve never heard any of these 19 tracks before. Bongohead has unearthed gems from Venezuela (track 2, more than slightly reminiscent of the Young Rascals’ “Good Lovin’”), Peru (10, dig the crazy organ), Colombia (12, Discos Fuentes’ take on chicha) and the USA (5 is spectacularly cheesy, 9 is a downtempo groover that starts with an Also Sprach Zarathustra quote). And the quality digging extends to the recent material: 16-17 (best played as a medley) is a fabulous Latinization of “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” and 18 is a delightfully greasy slice of Latin disco-boogie. Right on, brother – keep digging.
TOP TRACKS: 2 5 9 10 12 16-17 18
ALSO RECOMMENDED: most of the rest of them
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