- Reissue culture can mean everything from rehashing old knowledge ad nauseam to unearthing vital music from other times and other cultures that was otherwise lost to us. Take the work that the Sofrito DJs and label do, pulling up tracks from Madagascar, Cape Verde, Haiti and the Caribbean that thunder in the present moment. After the astonishing set of zouk music compiled by Julien Achard and Nicolas Skliris on the sunny Digital Zandoli set, consider this four-tracker from Guadeloupean music master Erick Cosaque to be its heavier counterpart.
While zouk is song-based (and Zandoli focused on songs using early drum machine beats), the gwo ka that Cosaque has plied for decades is all about the drums and the chants that are incanted as they thunder along. The Kaloukera Percussions EP draws from 1988-1993, though you won't notice much of a time shift. "Flan'm Cho" is a stomper, as effective a dance floor track as can be, rendered with only drums and shouts. "Banbou La" also features those unceasing drums, though there's a sense of effortlessness to them as people play and laugh in the background, imitating dog barks and yips. Female vocals make the hook of "Kowidow Man'm Boe" standout, while "Bazouka" is nothing but round after round of Cosaque and a battery of hand drums working into an entrancing frenzy. It would sound perfect both on the island under the sun or in the dark of a techno club.
TracklistA1 Flan'm Cho
A2 Banbou La
B1 Kowidow Mam'm Boe
B2 Bazouka