Various

The Global Explorer series marries world music to dance and electronica, usually with interesting results. The first disc opens with Fatboy Slim’s fascinating remix of Tranquility Bass’s “La La La.” Asian Dub Foundation’s “Storm The Neighborhood Watchtower” mixes dub, bass and drum and Indian music while Bi Polar’s “Night Air” has a distinctly Joy Division sounding bass line. There’s more Indian bass and drum in DJ Die’s (from Reprazent) “Achilles Heel.” Sidestepper gets dubby and funkier than the others do before Foreign Devils step up with Asian flute and vocals in “Beware of Fire.” If you want massive drums, synth blips and Indian chanting then Syzygy’s “Kush” is the ticket for you. The second disc is tad mellower and opens with Transglobal Underground’s infectious tribute to Nasrat Fateh Ali Khan, “Ali Mullah.” Somatik have a whack of sitars and such in “Awake,” but it ultimately sounds like an electronica version of a sitcom theme, not necessarily a bad thing. The strangest cut, and winner of the “what the fuck…?” award, is Pfink’s “First Day.” It features part of the Book of Genesis sung by a female Jewish cantor. Tucked away at the end of the second disc are the artists’ bios, a Phat Boy remix software demo and a Terra Musica version of Breakout, that old block busting game.