VARIOUS

Perú Selvatico (Analog Africa)

You don’t need to have been from Africa to have your old music reissued by Analog Africa these days, as demonstrated by this 18-song collection of slinky dance jams from early-70s to mid-80s Peru, but you’d certainly require analog(ue) equipment if you wanted to play the original 45s. Not to mention deep pockets and, most likely, the ability to go record digging in Amazonian outposts of the South American country. Praise be for this record label for doing the legwork as usual, eh?

The style of music on Peru Selvatico is a homegrown one: named cumbia Amazónica, it modifies the more rounded and brassier cumbia popular across most of the continent by making the guitars extra twangy, pushing forward the organ lines and powering it all with quickstep percussion. What with these tracks being instrumental more often than not, it often resembles a reimagined Latin take on 1960s surf rock. Add in filtered-down splashes of psychedelia and salsa-style flourishes, plus typically informative Analog Africa sleevenotes, and you have another bonzer musical archive project to dive into.

words NOEL GARDNER