Not many compilations can put tracks by Nat King Cole and DJ Shadow side by side and get away with it, but Jose Padilla knows what his doing – and in this typically wide ranging comp of international music he manages several more daring combinations. So it is that the energised Nitin Sawhney track ‘Shadowland’ rubs shoulders with the rather more languid Natalia Clavier’s ‘El Arbol’, a typical example of Padilla’s willingness to try something different. Meanwhile more modern sounds come courtesy of Jazztronik and the disco-fied Blair, but the most striking track is undeniably the Kronos Quartet’s ‘Perfidia’, the quartet backing a high pitched instrument that turns out to be the edge of an ivy leaf. No, really! Such discoveries are what makes this compilation well worth the outlay, and that’s before you get to the handsome presentation.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood
