The label 'world music' tends to put us off as it generally insinuates one of those coffee table compilations that you would pick up at Starbucks or at your friendly neighborhood bookstore. Barcelona's nine-piece Ojos de Brujo has undoubtedly been placed in that generic category time and time again. Known largely as a flamenco-based collective that employs heavy doses of rumba, hip hop, and electronics, the multi-piece, multi-ethnic group branch out sonically with the help of both well-known and less prolific remixers on this nine set collection. ODB's latest LP, Techari (2006) serves as the source material.
ODB appeared on Nitin Sawhney's Philtre and he returned the favor by producing "Feedback." His own reworking of the track does not deviate too much from the original, which is a good thing. Gone only are the heavy human-beatboxing and some of the live instrumentation - replaced by mellower electronics and a shuffling flamenco groove. "Silencio" was a largely smoky affair with Marina "la Canillas" showing off what she does best; her Spanish folk vocal style. Both remixes of the track take on a drum n' bass approach. Drum n' bass stalwarts London Elektricity turn the original into a dark, all out stomper while the Max fx remix keep intact a lot of the lyrics and guitars.
"Todo Tiende," one of the highlights of the original album was a melting pot of tried and tested ODB flamenco, Spanish rapping and Prithpal Rajput's ('Cyber' from Asian Dub Foundation) dhol drumming alongside a wicked mid-tempo groove. The Nasha crew twist it into a murky, Asian breakbeat monster; we'd expect nothing less from Ges-E and gang.
The rest of the tracks are hits (DJ Floro's bass heavy "Runali" remix) and misses (Jim Janek's reggaeton influenced "Sultanas De Merkaillo" remix and Panko's "Todo Tiende" mix). While this package does not have as much of a dancefloor appeal as a lot of the other remix sets put out by Six Degrees, it will still manage to win Ojos de Brujo many more fans, especially those looking for the next big Asian and Latin drum n' bass or breakbeat anthem.
