VA - Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up

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Belizian's call it Boil Up, and it's anything but leftovers. Mix equal parts R&B, calypso, disco, funk, reggae, bruckdown, soul, folk, and whatever else can be found back on the bottom shelf of the musical pantry. Get ready to feast on passport stamped rhythms, second-deck cruise ship melodies, hotel pool calypso, soundtracks to movies not-yet-made, and anything else savory, or unsavory, enough to throw into the pot.

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Tracklist:
1 Lord Rhaburn – Disco Connection 4:44
2 Harmonettes – Can't Go Halfway 2:29
3 Jesus Acosta & The Professionals – Guajida 3:13
4 The Web – The Same Old Me 3:24
5 Professionals – A Part Of Being With You 4:33
6 Lord Rhaburn – More Love Reggae 4:40
7 Professionals – The Back Stabbers 2:27
8 Web, The – Rated G 2:34
9 Harmonettes – Shame Shame Shame 4:31
10 Soul Creations – Funky Jive Part II 2:54
11 Lord Rhaburn – Don't Fight It 2:26
12 Nadia Cattouse – Long Time Boy 2:47
13 Lord Rhaburn – Boogaloo A La Chuck 2:52
14 Professionals – Theme From The Godfather 4:12
15 The Web – Things Are Going To Work Out Right 4:18
16 Soul Creations – Funky Jive Part I 2:48

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Never heard of the funky soul and reggae music of Belize, that sliver of Caribbean coastline just east of Guatemala and south of Cancun? You're probably not alone, and the Belize City Boil Up compilation (the 6th this year from crate-digging music salvagers the Numero Group) is the varied and danceable introduction for the interested yet uninitiated. Soaking up influences from their Jamaican neighbors and their soulful Motown/Stax brethren from the north, these little-known groups recorded a handful of albums and singles in the 60s and 70s. The results showcase rootsy reggae (Belizean patriarchal funkster Lord Rhaburn's "More Love Reggae", The Web's "Rated G"), covers of Wilson Pickett and Johnny Nash, and some funky I-can't-believe-it's-not-sampled beats of the Harmonettes "Shame Shame Shame" and Rhaburn's "Disco Connection". Soulful standouts The Professionals (whose album covers noted their "promptness and reliability") cover both the O'Jays "Back Stabbers" and "Theme from The Godfather" - now that's a group with range! -- Ben Heege

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