Gilles Peterson

Not to be confused with the two Brazilica compilations Peterson put together for his one time label, Talking Loud, this mix CD trawls through 15 years of the Far Out Records catalog. I love me some Gilles and have been deeply influenced by his attitudes towards groovy music but in the last decade there have been a few instances of him just phoning it in. Not so here. Brazilika brings out the best in Far Out, juxtaposing their trademark bossa nova core with stranger sounds, expertly blending older and newer tracks in a way that demonstrates the label's continued commitment to the diversity of Brazilian sounds. Although it would be just as easy to put together a very smooth mix of what the label does, Peterson takes a rocky road in every sense with dramatic transitions, dissonant sound effects and snatches of spoken word bouncing from ear to ear. As with most successful mixes, it compels the listener to dig deeper into the parts that make up the whole.