Mr Bongo Record Club Volume Two

Brighton's estimable Mr Bongo label started its record club as an opportunity to air obscure vinyl finds from its crate-digging around the world. The radio show that inspired the current series of compilations is a truly eclectic affair that reflects the label's apparent raison d'être of making diverse musical obscurities old and new accessible to all. And so we open with Luiz Henrique's extraordinary supine version of ‘Mas Que Nada’ and follow it with Elbertina ‘Twinkie’ Clark's equally extraordinary ‘Awake O Zion’. Arguably, this bizarrely rococo disco creation could have been happily left in its crate. But that is the price you pay for such heterogeneity. Like its predecessor, Volume Two offers idiosyncratic rare grooves mainly from Brazil, Africa and the US. There are more hits than misses and listeners' lives will be enriched by the likes of the Kelenkye Band's electric ‘Jungle Music’, Teaspoon & The Waves' infectious ‘Oh Yeh Soweto’, Tom & Dito's irresistible ‘Obrigado Corcovado’ and The Beaters' hypnotic ‘Harari’. Inevitably, this is an uneven affair, but there's lots to love here. If you like your music to surprise you, this compilation will oblige in spades.