World Groove

A couple of years ago I was in a music store in Chicago picking up some vinyl for a DJ friend of mine. This place was no Sam Goody but a hard core, trip-hop, trance, techno Mecca on the "bad side" of town. I hate to write a sentence that's cliché, but it's true. I had the cab driver wait. Since then I have developed a ove for all sorts of electronic music -- especially ambient and jungle -- but at the time I had very little clue about what I was buying. Since I was dropping $500 of my friend's money, I was being very adamant about getting only the titles that were on the list. But I did let the stores owner, DJ Sonik, talk me into one addition: Quango's World Groove. I didn't have time to listen to it and, to tell you the truth, I half bought it because of the mounting cab fare and half because of the cleanly designed CD cover.

I probably own about a thousand CDs; it's one of a few indulgences. Out of my collection there are many favorites, but it is rare that any of those has stayed in rotation on my changer for more than a couple of months, but Quango's held its place there for nearly three years. Besides the few occasions that I have reluctantly let someone borrow it, I have listened to this CD constantly. Well, not constantly, that would be way weird, but at least weekly. At least part of it is due to the fact that this music just happens to bridge two of my main musical interests, world and electronic music, but mainly because it's just that damn good.

Quango is a subsidiary of Island Records started by two Los Angles DJ's, Bruno Guez and Brit Jason Bentley, as well as George Ghiz, the former manager of Mr. Mister. If you love electronic music, the selections on this disk are unlike anything you've probably ever heard. The rich juxtaposition of a range of world music, including Indian, Nigerian, Brazilian, and Australian influences, fused with the techno samples and loops of electronic music, echo both the West and the World. The fusion feels both familiar and utterly foreign. All of the songs have their own elegance, but my personal favorite is track 4, " Gapu" by the Australian aboriginal group Yothu Yindi.

As a curious footnote, Kendall and I probably saw Yothu Yindi in 1988, because apparently they toured with Midnight Oil, who we saw supporting their Diesel and Dust album. I do not remember them, specifically, but I do remember that the opening act rocked and we danced our asses off.

The CD is a few years old, but I tracked it down. If your interested you can get a copy from the Island Life site.