Nick Cave’s music has a dark cabaret soul and narrative bent that conjures southern gothic writers like Flannery O’Connor. Resurrection Drive is developed on these pillars of moody and edgy cabaret with pinches of understated country flavoured roots. The country element avoids the hokey and embraces more of a moody film aesthetic – a dark mystery that takes place in the south – a David Lynch film where the setting is some lost saloon at the end of the world.

The sound of the world’s youth knocking on North American ears. A concept that showcases contemporary voices from Spain, France, Africa, Portugal, Italy and Latin America. Fancy some kuduro, psychedelic chicha, Italian hip hop or maybe some mestizo? It's all here, a mesmerizing journey of foreign expression with just a touch of the English language to keep all this tropical sass grounded. Celebrating kaleidoscopic variety that will make you forget you don't actually understand what they're saying as you revel in the universal language that is music.

Inspired by the provocative globe-trotting slate of exotica only a maverick like Paris based Radio Nova would dare to push. A concept that links new and old as it dances on fashion. There are no rules except every cut needs to have attitude, panache, drip glistening creativity and be uniquely genius. A deliberate leap from Ethiopian speak easy voodoo, wildly jagged Turkish groove, blunt minimal NY post punk, smouldering Saigon pop, outer worldly transmissions from the heart of Thailand, French strut, Brazilian audacity, African polyrhythmic science, and there's more…much more. Like an Iranian rug, meticulously stitched together to create a tightly knit tapestry of themes that shouldn't work but do so effortlessly.

Sometimes there are only a few select cues to develop a concept, in this case, a desire for rNb of a decidedly different stripe - something akin to the artist Sza. And so, Rocket Science became a journey into slow and moody head snap beats splashed across a stark canvas of contemporary underground rNb tap dancing across oceanic sheets of sound. A bold futuristic meditation crackling with the brass of youth perfectly balanced between edge and intoxicating accessibility.

Inspired by notorious desperado Ninco Nanco terrorizing southern Italy in the mid 1800s. La Torre Di Babele is an uncompromising leap into the technicolor world of classic Italian folk, Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, raucous hard bossa, eccentric samba soul, and sass from the hip to be square swingin' 60s. A concept that revels in the excess and pastiche of the era and yet audaciously bubbles with surprise after surprise from the deep easy listening vaults of legends gone shockingly rogue.

The Sound of late 70s hedonism with knowing nods to David Mancuso, The Gallery, and The Paradise Garage. Picture that discreet New York loft party you may have imagined and the type of unknowable deep disco and rare groove pulse that seemed endless, captivating and hypnotic. A string of jewels you never seemed to find on any collections you vainly bought back in the day. This is the soul of Keep It Up - a quirky progression that pulls in all wallflowers and passives down the maw of this sweaty rollercoaster into the metronomic trance of 4/4 music. Brimming with rare gems crate diggers delight - a disco aficionado's manifesto.

A spell of alluring baubles conjuring the image of some avant-garde fashion show crossing psychedelia with modern way out. Contact wears its freak flag with seductive charm. It's the imaginary soundtrack to that delicious 60s Italian classic you've never seen till now. Would you expect less from a soundtrack that jumps from Brigitte Bardot to rare library jazz, one-off psych experiments by Brazilian pop stars to the suddenly perfect early Kinks obscurity? It sounds like a period piece but then again, it also sounds like a theme party on some colony deep in space in some future time and place.

A period piece harvesting from the more tropical and piquant sides of Latin America, zig zagging from Peru to Cuba along with multiple journeys into Colombia. This is the intoxicating blast of vintage 50s Latin big bands, jungle cumbia, and psychedelic Peruvian chicha grounded in the fusions of New York's golden era nu yorica giants. Willie Colon! Ray Barretto! Charlie Palmieri! They give all this an Anglo tilt though naturally a decidedly Spanglish vibe.

Rooted in those very 80s muscular basslines of bands like Gang Of Four, A Certain Ratio and ESG. In Johnny Lucky the thrust was to conjure up the spirit of early 80s punk funk and N.Y. no wave, not as a period piece per say, but more through the lens of contemporary underground indie stylists perfecting that daring Bowie sneer while spastically appropriating dance culture cues with little regard for rules - throwing shade on notions of cool. It's kooky, fun and jagged, and dares you to stand up and cut loose.

The soundtrack to red and white checkered tablecloths, wine wrapped in raffia, and doomed black and white mug shots of boxers both legends and locals who might have, could have, and should have...! It's the echo of that guilty pleasure old world Italian institution that remained stubbornly the same despite the times. It's Louis Prima’s Closer To The Bone (The Sweeter is The Meat) proudly in lockstep with perfectly sculpted and expertly brylcreemed ducktail rockabilly from the likes of Gene Vincent. It's hell yeah! Las Vegas era strutting Elvis Presley, medallion prancing Tom Jones, and of course we can't forget Frank, because what would a classic Italian eatery be without ol' blue eyes - it's beating heart.

The clattering of southern swamp string bands dancing with the devil way past fretting if they'll see mornin'. It's the stomp box and the churning groove of the stand-up bass freshly cut from a new generation with religion lodged in their throats. Top that off with a dash of unhinged mutant rockabilly and a cavalry of Balkan wild dogs to create the spell of deliverance.

For the very late and very early hours landscape an impressionistic mood piece flickering exotica from the past as well as arty expressions from the now. Crossing more than a dozen styles all obsessed with connecting the dots across culture and language - eclectic by design. African west coast ephemera sways into L.A. urban beats that fall into the hypnotic sway of classic bossa nova and the swell of classic Havana. Silky 70s rare groove also fills the frame before contemporary indie rNb takes the main spotlight away from modern cinematic jazz, Portuguese nu fado, and French chanson both new and old. This just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Summer concert series assembling many stars of Cuba’s music scene. The beating hearts of the Toronto Latin music community assembled with a wide array of Toronto’s finest DJs to fill the Ritz Carlton patio with nights of hedonistic soundscapes and the blast of electricity that comes with being in such close proximity to undeniable talent.