Various

Montreal's Soundway Records score with this gem-packed collection of rare tropical finds 23 tracks deep. Series compilers Roberto Gyemant and Miles Cleret brought in Will Holland (aka Quantic) on the track-by-track liner notes, which also contain images of the original vinyl faces. (Gyemant journeyed to Panama to source the records from dusty crates.) This edition explores the rich '60s and '70s period of Panama's musical evolution, featuring a stew of influences from neighbouring Cuba, Trinidad and Columbia, plus European and indigenous flavours. The lively mix works in vintage boogaloo and cumbia, with the cuts from the Combos Nacionales that fused salsa, calypso, jazz and soul with black power influences, like Los Mozambiques' "Llegamos Ya" and Little Francisco Greaves' guitar-tweaked "Moving-Grooving." Several other standout tunes include the many bilingual Calypso Panameños here, like Lord Panama's "Fire Down Below" and Lord Cobra's infectious "Colón Colón." The sound quality is about as perfectly dirty as it gets.