Luisito Quintero - Percussion Madness Revisited

This release is a remix of a previous album called (you guessed it) Percussion Madness. Opening track Music for Gong Gong has a strong fast-walking beat, and the call-and-answer vocals bring it back to its Afro-Venezuelan roots. It's a punchy afrobeat tune, but is brought down by the tinny, stiff sounding horns and the generally rigidity of the track. Although the album title makes it sound like the drums will be going ballistic, they keep pretty in line, and a 4/4 house beat prevails. Our Love, Skinny Papa and Quintero's Jam sound more acoustic, authentic, and groovy, whereas some of the earlier tracks get a bit close to cheesy. This album would be a good accomplice for a house DJ wanting to put something with real drums and a bit of groove in their set. [Josh Coppersmith Heaven]