JUNGLE FIRE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Los Angeles 12-piece Jungle Fire rarely fails to deliver the goods, offering a heatwave-hot fusion of Latin and African rhythms, rousing horns and infectious instrumentation. This was evident from their earliest releases, particularly debut album Tropicoso, which has now been given the reissue treatment (on pink vinyl, no less) after being out of print for the best part of eight years. It's packed to the rafters with inspired workouts, with our highlights including the glistening guitars and punchy horns of Afrobeat workout 'Comencemos (Let's Start)', the Fela Kuti-esque brilliance of 'Firewalker', the pitched-down dancefloor tropicala of the superb title track, and the toe-tapping, sweat-soaked heat of Afro-funk bomb 'Village Hustle'. In a word: essential!

Review: Jungle Fire are an LA-based megagroup mainly dealing in a modern take on Afro/Latin funk, working in every instrument from electric guitar to djembe to a full colliery section. Flat-caps, shades and trilbies aplenty, their latest album Jungle Fire established a self-starting genre they dubbed 'TropiFunk', a boxy and lo-fi funk sound informed by the haunted fuzz of lost tape music. Now Colemine deliver a new 7" study on their two best tunes, 'Slipshot' and 'Pico Union'.