LATIN GROOVE
OnLatin Groove, classic Latin traditions are transformed to the  brink of mutation, but their native elegance is left intact. Funkanzazenji weave  flamenco guitars and kora-like glissandi through sturdy colonnades of drum &  bass on "Latin Flavor." El Conjunto Massalia's "Chan Chan" is based on asonby Compay Segundo, but veers off into Steve Cropper guitar riffs and  prurient, Serge Gainsbourg-like vocals. "Yorulamento," by the German-based  producer Supatone, mutates a stately charanga string section via reverberant  synths and drum machines. Colombian rockers Los Aterciopelados, with their  slap-happy montuno/house rhythms and whiskey-voiced chanteuse, are silkily  subversive, while Ozomatli's "Cumbia de los Muertos" grounds a Mexican cumbia  with heavy hits of reggae and hip-hop. As with Putumayo'sArabic GrooveandWorld Loungecompilations, these tracks are post cards from the world music frontier, where  mischievous, culturally promiscuous DJs are constantly inventing breathtaking  new hybrids.--Christina Roden