V/A - !Ya Basta! 10 Years After

!Ya Basta! is the French label set up by one third of the Gotan Project, Phillipe Cohen Solal, in the early 90s. The name, which roughly means 'enough already', is responsible for outputting a wide range of world music in a dance vein, from d&b to dub house, to bossa nova, tango, and dancehall, for the express task of revitalising the house and techno scene with world flavour. The tracks on this cut represent ten years of the label's roster, which also happens to feature Solal on every single track, bar two written and performed by David Walters. It has been compiled and mixed by Michael Cook.

The Gotan Project feature predominantly, alongside the Ya Basta crew, Stereo Action Unlimited, The Boyz from Brazil and Solal himself. The rhythms of South America and Europe resonate throughout, and there is a marriage to the political when Subcommondante Marcos - a spokesperson for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation - appears in spoken word format on the first two dub/dub house tracks by The Ya Basta crew. The Gotan Project are brought in for some light tango relief with unplugged guitars and accordion for good measure on El Norte: painting the scene for a detective mystery set in the imaginary Cafe le Rouge, central Paris. Solal's Psycho Girls and Psycow Boys is heavily influenced by Solal's time in Nashville, resulting in a Beck-style indie folk rock with lamenting harmonica. In contrast, The Boyz from Brazil's Bom Bom Be, (you guessed it, another production from Solal, with Christoph H Muller) takes it further down the coastline for Brazilian beats and experimentaion with latin rhythms, with a house backdrop.

It's a little 'quaint' at times, but for the most part the tracks are all subtle remixes, using different artists to bring out different qualities in the music: The Gotan Project's Santa Maria (del Buen Ayre) is remixed by Tom Middleton to emphasise the house elements. The album takes in all the major cities and cultures of the world as it traverses across the genres, so you're going to be hard pressed to not find something you like. [Alex Burden]