VARIOUS ARTISTS
Spice Groove
Music Mosaic (2003)

review by Bill Binkelman

Those expert compilation assemblers at Music Mosaic are at it again. Spice Groove is yet another collection of licensed material gathered from artists around the world and sequenced to produce a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Here, the emphasis is on high energy world fusion music that is frequently (but not always) wedded to modern day electronica beats and synths. While the results are not unanimously perfect, the hits on this CD far outstrip the misses. The result is a winning excursion into the middle ground where third world instruments and chanting meld with 21st studio wizardry to create an enticing and exotic stew, bubbling over with an assortment of musical spices.

From the opening East Indian fusion piece, "Lord Shiva" (performed by Bhakta) which has a sexy shuffling rhythm, to the passionate and fiery acoustics of the last number (Dago's "Indiaespara") with its Mediterranean guitar, East Indian sensibility, and soaring violin (one of the few non-electronica tracks here), Spice Groove is all about having a world of fun (pun intended, obviously) - dancing, twirling, bopping and tripping all the way from beginning to end.

My favorite songs here are the ones where electronics play a prominent role. These include Lee Bolce's "Ceremony" which has a deceptively slow start before seriously funky beats erupt out of nowhere and blend with soaring guitar chords, Soulfood's "Chamber 15" featuring a superb mixture of pulsing synths, wooden flutes, mysterious vibes and a great vocal refrain of "Watoo…watoo," and James Asher's "Serpent of the Nile," another rhythmic fusion masterpiece from this English drummer/synthesist.

Be forewarned that more than a few songs here feature some kind of vocals, whether it be chants, refrains, non-English language singing, or what have you. In many cases, the human voices are used much more as another instrument than outright singing, but I know many people out there consider vocals to be "verboten" on any CD they might buy. Frankly, I think buying world fusion music without some vocals is an absurd notion, but to each his own.

As has been the case with most compilations from Music Mosaic, I am impressed with the selection and sequencing of tracks. Spice Groove proves no exception to what has come before. Recommended for fans of intercontinental finger-snapping and toe-tapping.