A Guide to the Birdsong of South America

With passions for conservation, bird-watching and South American music, British producer Robin Perkins decided to combine all three here. He asked ten of his favourite South American artists to remix the birdsong of ten endangered bird species for a compilation whose profits would go towards conserving those species. It's a noble cause and one backed up by great music. The emphasis here is on the electronic, with many names from the constantly growing tropical bass scene, such as Dengue Dengue Dengue! and Chancha Vía Circuito. But there's also plenty of variety, with Brazil's Alessandra Leão offering a fiery, guitar-driven elegy for her bird of choice, while the Colombian/Argentinian duo Lulacruza contribute a gloriously sanguine opener. The birdsong samples form a stylistic glue that surprisingly never becomes an irritation, instead allowing some of the most innovative and forward-thinking artists in South America the opportunity to experiment. If only all charity compilations could be this good.