Just a week to go until the Croydon World Party on July 15th and Mela on July 16th.

I think I will give the Mela a miss. We have our own in Crawley later in the month so I shall go to hat instead of making the trip up to Croydon two days running.

For me, the two main attractions of the World Party – apart from the wonderful atmosphere there – are Ojos de Brujo and De La Soul, but looking at the rest of the line-up, there are a few other acts who sound like they may be interesting.

There is the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra for a start. He was a member of Fela Kuti's band and Femi Kuti's band so he has a bit of pedigree. I have never seen any afrobeat live (I don't think Baaba Maal, Angelique Kidjo, Youssou N'Dour and Salif Keita count as afrobeat) so it will be a new experience.

Other acts include a local band, Size 9, who play a "fresh mix of jazz tinged with rock, ska, soul and reggae", Daby Balde who sounds like he will be a bit like that Sissoko chap I saw at the RFH last year, Mukka ("a dancy mix of gypsy, Klezmer and jazzy Middle Eastern overtones"), Laxula (who "fuse Latin, flamenco, Arabic, Indian, Yiddish folk, indie and rock music") and Bellagios who have been described as "The Beastie Boys meets The Fugees meets Manu Chao…" and are as happy rapping in French & Portuguese as in English.

Most intriguing is an act called Chi 2, described thus:

CHI2 are Chinese born violinsts/composers Sarah and Liz Liew. Their
sound is a cross pollination of their chinese roots and own individual
music sensibility. Described as 'double violin assault specialists' they
fuse electronic beats and effects with melodies and improvisations on
electric and Chinese violins and keyboards, layered with angelic vocals.
Chi2 has also toured/recorded with Moby, Lamb, Boy George, KLF/Orb, pop sensation Anastacia & Barry Adamson amongst others.

"double violin assault specialists"? I thought that the pair of Frenchmen playing electric tambourines I saw supporting LNV a few years ago were a bit avante garde but this is going into whole new territory.

And they have recorded with Anastacia, so I do hope Damian will be making the journey to Croydon to pay homage. 

Even if I only like 4 of those 9 it will be a great day's entertainment.