Various Artists - Elsewhere CC (Les Disques Bongo Joe)
The grooves are eclectic, the tempos varied, the vibe set to smile & the call to shake it unignorable..
A few brief thoughts…
Don't sleep on the impeccably curated Elsewhere CC compilation of tropical treats by DJ soFa for Les Disques Bongo Joe. Spanning decades & continents, the cuts have been fiendishly unearthed & consummately sequenced, the grooves are eclectic, the tempos varied, the fusions fanciful, the hooks kooky, acid test results high, the vibe set to smile & the call to shake it unignorable. Your summer party soundtrack is here.
Have a listen…
(As of writing the label are taking their time making all the tracks available on Bandcamp, but it’s available on all the streaming platforms in the meantime.)
During my time in London I went on one of the Future World Funk boat parties run by Russ Jones, who now seems to more into cycling, and DJ Cliffy a Brazilian vinyl digging legend, who I last heard had also moved to Portugal but who also seems to be a bit quiet musically. It was an epiphany.
Obviously the fact it was a warm summer night on a boat going up and down the Thames set a pretty special scene, but what really blew my mind was the range of music played, not to mention the dancefloor endeavour of those present, who were gamely trying to throw unusual shapes to all these unfamiliar sounds. The vibe was special, smiles were everywhere and I was an instant world music convert. So much so that I started digging deep for more far flung sounds - not so easy around 2000, and started incorporating them into my then more nu-jazz focussed DJ sets.
After a few years my music tastes started to wander again and I drifted away to the less joyful but more musically exciting dubstep/post-dubstep scene, but if I find time - especially as the internet has eased access to the world’s far flung sounds, it’s something I’d like to dip into more. In the meantime I’m quite content to let the scene DJs like soFa lead me around.
Saying that, I do pick up a few tracks during my digital digging and throw them in the Slow World Playlist if you fancy diving in.