VA - Tumbele!: Biguine, Afro & Latin Sounds From The French Caribbean 1963-1973

From the moment we first threw this one on we knew that we had a winner, a sentiment confirmed by the steady line of customers asking about this disc. Soundway is one of our favourite reissue labels, leading the pack with the best African comps of the last few years, plus popular collections of Panamanian and Colombian music. This time they’ve switched focus to the music of Guadeloupe and Martinique, a highly unlikely source but one that has proven irresistible on the dancefloors of the rising “tropical funk” movement spearheaded by Miles Cleret (the man behind the Soundway label), Quantic's Will Holland, and Toronto’s own Symon Warwick, whose regular Turning Point dance parties are always a reliably steamy night out. The selections here are some of the most infectious grooves you’ll hear all year, combining calypso melodicism, latin rhythms, afro-charged horns and percussion, and New Orleans jazz. It’s a delicious mix of influences that will have you dancing in your kitchen for months.

(UPDATE: Soundway's Miles Cleret will in fact be guest DJing at the next Turning Point dance party, Sat. Nov 7 at the Gladstone Ballroom!)