London's best tropical bass nights

As the icy nights draw in, we crave something to crank the temperature up to scorching. Luckily, the rest of clubland is thinking the same thing too, and there's a heatwave of parties steaming into London's basement clubs this month that mix up tropical rhythms with groin-stirring bass.

While continent-hopping crate-digging has been popular here for years thanks to our unique, forward-thinking and multiculturally diverse nightlife, this modern take on tropicalia puts a fresh spin on global beats. Proponents mix up the likes of African and Brazilian music with electro, dubstep, funky and other London electronic mutations, all underlined by heavy basslines. And, thanks to the internet, new sub-genres are being born every day.

Pollinate is just one place to hear such sounds this weekend. 'Sonically, our parties are about rough and heavy percussion, raw and electronic tribal beats that power your feet on the dancefloor and melodies that make your soul scream. Think big bongos, fluttery flutes, tribal choirs, accordions, power synth stabs, warped bass and sexy, bastardised rhythms,' explains Rob Cunningham, who is behind the night and Pollinate label. His parties aim to be non-genre specific, but throw emerging micro-breeds like moombahton (essentially, house music slowed down to a reggaeton tempo) and tribal guarachero, the latest Latin-electronic movement from Mexico City, together.

DJ Hugo Mendez's Sofrito warehouse party is another spot to sample world music under the influence of UK club culture. 'We produce a lot of edits and remastered versions of old tracks - anything from Congolese soukous and Haitian Kompa to deep descarga from Venezuela - and cut them on dubplate so that they sound heavy on the sound system,' says Mendez. 'Imagine Ron Hardy and King Tubby fighting over an old African record collection, and that's the sound of our party.'

At the core of the tropical bass scene is the Notting Hill Arts Club in west London. It has long been a hub for global beats and is always first to support emergent trends in urban dance music. Parties like Batmacumba, Muevete, Talking at Me, YoYo! and Favela London resident Gringo Da Parada's Disorder and Progress session all represent neighbouring elements of the tropical bass spectrum too.

Meanwhile, the number of nights further afield is rapidly expanding. Look out for the likes of Super Mom, run by pan-African collective The Very Best, the Secousse crew's party Palm City Social, which is so new that it doesn't even got a venue yet, and the Focus Organization (www.tinyurl.com/TOfocus), which have just started throwing parties in east London. Then there's more rave-focused clubs like Z-Shed (www.thezshed.blogspot.com), Get Low and Club Popozuda (www.facebook.com/clubpopozuda) and venues like Camino and Rich Mix, where the odd tropical mash-up can be heard between the more traditional Latin American and African gig nights.

Tropical bass champions are infiltrating other parties this weekend too. Colombian-born DJ/producer Isa GT, who is part of east London's Girlcore collective, used to explore multi-global genres with her club night Musicalia. These days she's concentrating on creating digi-cumbia electro-ballads, which she released via her 'Leyenda EP' on her own Etoro Records last month, but she's supporting tech-house linchpin Jesse Rose on the London leg of his tour at The Nest on Saturday.

Perhaps the best aspect of London's tropical bass network, however, is that the parties are for all-comers no matter what your style tribe, and where the focus is purely on - and it's a cliché, we know - fun. 'It's great because it's not an exclusive sound, it's music that everybody can relate to,' says Mendez. 'This music was made expressly for dancing and has a lot of positive energy.'

Nor are they for record anoraks. 'Our parties are a major excuse to celebrate the influence that London's multiculturalism has on our music scene - essentially by jumping around, dressing up, being silly and getting sexy,' enthuses Cunningham. 'We prefer people to leave their beards at home and just have loads of fun on the dancefloor.'

Elsewhere, the tropical bass movement has already gathered pace. GT cites parties in Berlin that have been running for years, and Mendez talks of big scenes in Paris, Stockholm and Oslo. But back in London, it's certainly heating up. 'We've been doing nights for a couple of years and the hard graft finally seems to be paying off,' Cunningham says. 'With its background in bass music and a love of carnival vibes, London has all the ingredients this scene needs in order to explode… 2012 looks big!'

London's tropical bass clubs

Ftang! Ftang!
Originally at 93 Feet East in Shoreditch, DJ Huskii's Afro, Latin and wider global mash-up party is spreading its wings to west and north London this month. (http://fftangfftang.com).

Sofrito Warehouse Special
Hugo Mendez's occasional secret east London shindig combines a tropical soundclash and rum punch with lashings and lashings of sweat. (www.sofrito.co.uk).

Pollinate
A bass-heavy injection of global bass and future tropical sounds with some great up-fer-it residents and monthly guest sets from stars of the international scene. (www.pollinaterecords.com).

Muevete
London's Latin linchpins Cal Jader and DJ Arias from Movimientos celebrate Latin America and the Caribbean's more underground, urban and dancefloor-friendly bass sounds every month. (www.movimientos.org.uk).

Arriba La Cumbia
Russ Jones, aka The Hackney Globetrotter, spearheads this long-running monthly tropical night, which celebrates ghetto club smashers from favela funk and cumbia big ones to techno-brega and baile bangers. (www.hackneyglobetrotter.com).

Hipsters Don't Dance
A favourite of the new wave of dancehall and bashment clubbers for the last two years, HDD mixes it all up with a huge dollop of tropical flavours and guest DJs from the Pollinate camp. (www.hipstersdontdance.com).

Get Low
Hosted by the Get Low Cartel DJs, garage, dubstep, funky, moombahton and D&B are blended up in a totally tropical mix. (www.facebook.com/GetLowUK).

Bruk Out
Their party at the Big Chill House last weekend boasted sets from Marcus Nasty, Greenmoney and Elijah & Skilliam, while residents Nasty McQuaid and Mango are ones for extra-hot bashment vibes. No future dates have been announced yet, so keep your peepers on our listings. (www.bigchill.net/house).

Papilion
No forthcoming party is confirmed yet but keep your eye on this tropical freakout jam-favouring girl DJ duo, who launched their music blog and mixes with a party at the Moustache Bar last month. Book them for your luau or Bar Mitzvah now. (www.pap-il-lon.tumblr.com).

Gilles Peterson presents Havana Cultura
Though his is not strictly a bass mix for this compilation series, no spotlight on tropical should go without a mention of Mr Peterson, who resurrects his Cuban mash-up night this month.
(www.gillespetersonworldwide.com)

Producer-watch
Tantalise your ear drums with these fine purveyors of global bass…
Munchi, Schlachthofbronx, Jumping Back Slash, Murlo, Ku Bo, DJ Cleo, Erick Rincon, Toy Selectah, The Very Best, Isa GT, João Brasil, Warrior One, Buraka Som Systema, DJ Naughty, Chrissy Murderbot, Moroka, Mosca, Uproot Andy, DJ Sabo, Daniel Haaksman and Man Recordings, Soundway Records.