As a jobbing DJ – weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs – I am always looking for those interesting rootsy thumpy things to play so you can engage and play up the crowd.  But good ones are few and far between so I was pleased to discover Ex-Centric Sound System’s West Nile Funk (EXS) where several very useful tracks are to be found.  I agreed with bassist Yossi Fine who said “I am a dj too – most world dance albums are too soft on the beats or soft on the African element.” So he went away and did something of hardness and durability.  There are some very good big, little and medium thump beats here expertly intertwined and woven into the original songs, shifting things round the bones of the “songs” recorded in Ghana, Israel and New York.  Dubbing it up tastefully, dropping the beats, going round a corner and taking the track somewhere else.  Interesting stuff.

-- Dave Hucker