Zouk! “Tabala Mouv” is a standout from the impossibly rare Tabala Vol. 1 compilation (1986), which will probably only be familiar to the deepest Zouk freaks (do you even exist?). The devastating dancefloor potential of this tune is evident from bar one, but once those disco strings and synth toms roll out, its a wrap. Motor City Drum Ensemble have been rinsing this in their sets for a while, and now you can too, thanks to Vive La Musique boss Aroop Roy, who tracked songwriter Maurice Agad all the way to the Caribbean island of Martinique to get permission to reissue it. Includes a tightly wound rework by Roy as well as a slightly more gentle edit by Truccy, but the ‘Version Originelle’ is the real prize here; residing somewhere between Sade and Ata Kak and primed to tear up floors for years to come. Recommended.

• official reissue
• pic sleeve
• music label: Vive La Musique 2018

reviewed by sakura incident 08/2018