This mostly excellent pan-Afro compilation was originally issued as a musical calling-card for the extraordinary European exhibition of the same name. The fact that it stands equally well as an informed introduction to several currently relevant strands in pan-African popular music is due in part to Sai Sai – no, not the famed downtown L.A. Japanese restaurant, but the production team that helped assemble the disc, including Lucy Duran (BBC broadcaster and a world authority on Malian music) and top London Afro DJ Dudu Sarr. Expectedly, the main areas covered include the Sahel sound ( Mory Kante, mbalax superstar Youssou N’Dour, Senegalese elder- statesmen Baobab, Malian femme fatale Oumou Sangare, Kandia Kouyate, and the beautiful sound of the Mauritanian harpist Malouma); and several contrasting styles from Africa’s own most popular pop music, that of the Democratic Republic Of. Congo.

But there’s also a handful of other tunes that should enter the ears of those rock and dance music fans who believe that African music starts and ends with Fela Kuti. Try Bissau singer-songwriter Manecas Costa, whose Afro-Portuguese-inflected gumbe music is one of West Africa’s comparatively undiscovered gems; or Mozambicans Ghorwane (an inclusion possibly inspired by Duran’s recent fascinating Radio 3 series on the music of Mozambique). If you like African hip hop and urban beats, Kenyan posse Juliani, Johny Boy, K-Swiss and Agano are among the leaders of Nairobi’s bourgeoning rap scene, whilst young South African singer Thandiswa Mazwai samples a track from her debut solo album after leaving Mzansi-beat pioneers Bongo Maffin.

One of Africa’s most exciting recent exports has been the fast-developing ‘desert beat’ from the various refugee camps in southwest Algeria and Western Sahara. Last year, the group Tinariwen played Europe to ecstatic reviews. And Mariem Hassan & Leyoad’s ‘Wajadu’ has something of Tinariwen’s fierce, untamed sound.

The album’s only weak point, in my view, is the inclusion of Zimbabwean Thomas Mapfumo, once a legend but now well past his sell-by date: his fellow countryman Oliver Mtukutzi, one of Africa’s three or four best living songwriters, would have been my choice.

On the other hand, the choice of Congolese music here simply re-confirms my long-held view that Kinshasa and Brazzaville have always produced the most thrilling, innovative, accessible (to Western ears) and inspiring music on the continent. Wisely, the compilers have highlighted the dizzying versatility of the Congolese diaspora, from war-torn Kinshasa’s weirdly effective electro-rumba sound-systems (Konono No1), through Tatouages’ chanson-flavoured ‘Silence, on reve’, into Awilo Longomba’s 1998 underground African dance smash ‘Coupe Bibamba’ – and finally, the veterans of the golden age of Congolese rumba, Kekele.

Full and informative sleevenotes on each artist and track add the finishing touch to a fine collection, that manages to avoid the worthier-than-thou dystopia that many worldbeat projects seem to inhabit these days.

NU TROPIC – VOCE SABE (COMET)(www.nutropic.net)

Afrobeat lovers will know and love Paris-based Comet for Manu Boubli’s excellent three sick-rare Afro compilations, but the label’s now branching out into original recordings and the omens are all good if this imaginative collaboration is anything to go by. Think Rainer Truby’s ‘Intuit’ project from last year (whose strong horn section this record shares) and you’ll have a handle on DJ/production team Nu Tropic’s vibe. The set draws on Europe’s refound appetite for old-school jazz-funk flavours, but with a house-y production edge: Paul Murphy’s Afro Arts catalogue being another touchstone.

Nu Tropic are respected jazz/beats jock Jazzamar and technical wiz DJ Link, but that’s just the beginning. Nu Brazil flavours abound: Trama artist Fernanda Porto does her famous Braz d’n’ b thing (‘Leva E Traz’), whilst comparative newcomer Anna Torres covers Sao Paulo nu-disco and Brazilian r & b corners (‘Sambador’ and ‘Voce Sabe’ respectively). Washingtonian-turned Parisian session multi-instrumentalist Allen Hoist continues the career switch to jazz vocalist (the beginnings of which we saw last year with 12” remixes by 4 Hero and Raw Deal) with charm and ability. Trumpeter Stephane Belmondo’s jazzdance cruncher ‘We’ve Got It’ is already being charted by floors such as John Kong’s Movement, whilst the cool French hip hop corner’s held up by Beat Assaillant.

Great pan-Parisian music for open ears. Keep a copy in the car for those long August drives down to San Tro!

THE REAL THING – THE REAL THING (MIND RECORDS) (www.mindservice.com)

Mind is the new brainchild of former Comet a & r man Manu Boubli and Paris remixmeister Doctor L. After an encouraging start with an imaginary rare-groove compilation (Rare Moods) and a well-received debut solo-artist set (Psycho On Da Bus), the label notches up a gear for this eclectic and satisfying foray through a variety of downbeat moods, from Cubano (Waiting For El Sun, featuring Orisha’s ) through broken Roldan Gonzalez Rivero), blues (Rare Mood’s ‘Warm Up For A Second’), loft jazz/spoken word (Dom Farkas, Omar Sosa), and Bugz-type brukbeat (Dom Farkas again, Da Linck). The one familiar cut will be the Doctor L rework of last year’s David Murray underground jazz hit ‘Gwotet’, a milestone of a composition that takes up where tenorist John Stubblefield left off two decades ago, with the creative combination of African American jazz and Guadeloupian gwo-ka drumming traditions.

The fourteen tracks here are not immediately accessible, but that’s what they said twelve years ago when Mo’Wax Records hit the scene, and look how that sound has now become an indivisible part of modern music’s lexicon. Play this more than just twice or three times, and the hidden treasures will begin to reveal themselves – that’s a promise.