World Dance

Consider this: What would happen if you gave the cream of the DJ and remix fraternity the world? Well, here's the answer — perhaps the most exotic collection of beats and rhythms ever assembled beneath our Essentials umbrella. Groove your way into the playlist with the Nuyorican Soul version of Femi Kuti's "Truth Don Die" before savouring the skills of Austrians Kruder and Dorfmeister as they separately reinvent Latin source tunes.

We expand the united nations of groove in Next Steps.

The electronic Franco-tango fusions of the Gotan Project are spicy enough without any embellishment — having said that, Tom Middleton's Cosmos remix of "Santa María" enriches the outfit's core appeal with an injection of dance-floor soul. And Brooklyn's Kenny "Dope" Gonzales somehow intensifies the percussive South African tribal vibe of Mafikizolo's "Morena" without burying the track's smooth vocal harmonies.

Your passport to global clubland picks up more stamps in Deep Cuts.

Most bands tend to work within standard generic boundaries, but Barcelona's Ojos de Brujo (trans. "Eyes of the Wizard") stand alone with their "flamenkillo" — a unique hybrid of hip-hop and flamenco (with dashes of Afro-Cuban and Indian spice). Send this concoction through the remix blender, and we're left with the excellent Memorias Perdidas cut of "Rememorix". And "Mahli", by Algerian guitarist Souad Massi, gets a subtle, but highly charged, dance overhaul.

If we were to draw a diagram to show how influences and ideas cross-pollinate between artists and countries within these World Dance Essentials, it would have to be fractal and kaleidoscopic, so rich and rewarding is this international tapestry of sound. Take, for example, the remix of "Hare Krishna", from which tendrils reach back to connect jazz clarinetist Tony Scott's Juilliard training, his work with Billie Holiday, and his subsequent interest in folk and the music of meditation . . . then on through King Britt's alternative hip-hop history with Digable Planets, and beyond. Such a whirlpool of creative juice in just one track sets the tone for the rest of this incredible collection.