soFa – Elsewhere CC

Billed as a ‘digger’s paradise for tropical gems,’ DJ soFa’s latest compilation spans 1972 to 2023, inspiring listeners to imagine the delights of sifting through crates of weathered singles and discoloured album sleeves in locations from balmy Barbados and breezy Brazil to the more bracing climes of Canada and Belgium. The result however has less the impact of, say, Analog Africa’s coherent collections, or Soundway’s often magical forays into the likes of tropical Panama or West African markets. SoFa exudes over the ‘super-rare’ ‘So Close to Me’ from Dominican singer Jeanette Azzouz & Belles Combo but the groove, although pleasant, does not jiggle like a Caribbean classic. Better are oddball cuts from Belgium’s Ginger Bamboo ‘Stinlo’ and Harry Panday’s entreaty, ‘Love Your Mother and Father’ – neither though will fire up global dancefloors. Soca classics win out in the end, with Joe (Tempo) Caesar’s ‘Soca Mosa’ skipping along hypnotically and trumpeter Errol Ince’s ‘Sabrosito Asi’, a steaming Trini carnival soca-jazz.