Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up

Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up
Label: Numero Group
Rated: NONE
WorkNameSort: Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up

The best thing about Belize City Boil Up isn’t the fact that it shines a light on a woefully underdocumented (and equally underappreciated) music scene. No, what makes this 16-song collection a winner is the fact that it’s completely, undeniably and overwhelmingly funky. Central America might be a surprising place of origin for gutsy and gritty urban tunes, but there it was, right there south of Guatemala. Documenting roughly 15 years (mid-’60s through late ’70s) of a music scene informed by Caribbean calypso, reggae, soundtrack-psychedelia, New York soul and a city-demolishing hurricane, this disc – like its name implies – is an aromatic and spicy stew concocted from wildly divergent ingredients. And damn, it’s funky.

This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 1, 2005.