French Caribbean

Another world music sampler from the Putomayo label. This one features music from, as the title suggests, the francophone regions of the Carribean. The sounds here are pretty diverse and the music is generally upbeat and fun, featuring lots of horns, various percussion instruments, piano, and the occasional violin and bass. The style blends Creole, calypso, jazz, and French music. Take your pick as they’re all interesting songs.

1 Fast drums with some electronic flourishes layered over traditional instrumentation and vocals.
2 Relaxed feel incorporating keyboards and soulful singing.
3 More of a Latin American feel to this song; lots of nice string instruments and an accordion.
4 Instrumental with horns, acoustic guitar, keyboard. Nice Mediterranean swagger to it.
5 Recording quality here isn’t as good as the other tracks, but it’s still very nice. Vocals sound as if they’re coming through a poor speaker, but it doesn’t detract from the song at all.
6 A bit flashy with deliberate instrumental layering and polished recording quality. Still danceable and upbeat though.
7 Rootsy bass and guitar with very elegant piano. The contrast is very interesting.
8 Really deep singing/rapping with choral hooks.
9 Sounds a bit like Jamaican soul, but with a different emphasis on the instrumentation.
10 Live cut with very upbeat, bright singing and playing.