Baaba Maal is a uniquely talented singer from Senegal. He's equally at home with an acoustic guitar playing traditional folk music or playing the hottest international dance music. He's finally emerging into the international spotlight as one of the world's hottest performers. Whirl-Y-Gig favourites include the Nush Bala Club mix and Cafe del Mako mix of Sidiki, Gorel and Swing Yela. The original mixes of these tracks all feature on the excellent album Firin'in Fouta.

Asian Bollywood star Bally Sagoo collides two worlds - Eastern vibes cut with a chunk of west coast hip hop attitude. Bally's single "Chura Liya" was the first ever Indian language record to be playlisted at Radio 1 and his last album "Bollywood Flashback" has gained the notorious acclaim of being one of the most bootlegged albums around the world - not to mention the Indian support tour with Michael Jackson. Singles include Dil Cheez and Tum Bin Jiya (both from the album "Rising From The East").

The Band of Gypsies were originally called 3 Man Island, and since then have also been known as Rhythm Street, Geiger, Picos de Europa, Hoodoo Child and Tantrik. They are Nigel Swanston and Tim Cox; original member Mike Whitford left and became Trauma Club. They wrote and produced the early Rozalla hits "Everybodys Free", "Are You Ready To Fly" and "Faith". Travels in Hyper Reality was an oldie ambient dance Whirly favourite back in the early 90's.

Bantu is the sole work of Lawrence Vincent, inspired and influenced by a combination of Whirl-Y-Gig, Escape From Samsara and Megatripolis. His music ranges from ambient/ambient dance (albums: "Ambient Wurks volume 1 & 2"), from which he has played two parachute sets at Whirl-Y-Gig, to trance (album : "Phaze III - Tribute to a Technological Era") through to trance-techno (album : "Phaze IV - S.D.S. [Synthetic Digital Synthesis]"). The latest album, "Special Edition", features tracks from all the above areas that never featured on the previous albums.

Bentley Rhythm Ace features former Pop Will Eat Itself member Richard March, along with his zany partner, Michael Barrie. Their self-titled debut, originally released by the UK label Skint (and now on Astralwerks), is a hip-pop-funk-rock explosion full of sample-laden kitsch. From the debut album expect to hear Woosh at Whirl-Y-Gig.

Bi-Polar, created and nurtured by DJ's and brothers Ben Balafonic & Dom Kai, have built a reputation as remix specialists (including The Rolling Stones and James Asher) from their East London based Balafonic Studios, with roots in the legendary Kai sound-system. The sound of Bi-Polar is funky and lively, fuelled by a fusion of bigbeat/breakbeat with a brass quartet. The have played live on the Whirl-Y-Gig stage at the Reading WOMAD 2000 Festival and at the New Years Eve Whirl-Y-Gig in London. Whirly classics include 'Jus Warmin' (now on the Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.2 Global Grooves compilation), 'Shaolin' (This is the Sound of my DJ, DJ, DJ...) and 'Hotshots'.

Direct from the Ebonic Beat Bunker, Black Star Liner emerge as a powerful member of the Asian Underground. Their music beautifully crafts together indian percussion, dub bass and effect-laden guitar. Albums include the fantastic 1996 'Yemen Cutta Connection' and the more recent 'Bengali Bantam Youth Experience'. Whirly faves include Duggie Dhol and Harmon Dub.

Harmonica Man was a one off single that used to be played a lot at Whirl-Y-Gig. Sounding a little like Cotton Eye Joe (i.e. a little on the cheesy side), this track bounces along in its country 'n western way, full of harmonica's (strangely enough). Apparently Harmonica Man is getting a 2000 revamp.

A classic trancer that gets played towards the end of Whirly is the Choo Choo vs Pianoheadz remix of 'Disco Babes from Outer Space' by Babe Instinct, on Posativa Records.

The Bahamian music and dance tradition of Junkanoo, which traces back to the slavery days when slaves were allowed to gather together one day a week for festivities, is fused with the modern influences of dance rhythms, pop music and Latin percussion by Isaiah Taylor and his band, The Baha Men. Back at Shoreditch the 'Coconut Club Mix' of 'Back to the Island' (from the album 'Kalik' and also a 12") was one of those cheeky silly tracks that Monkey Pilot played.

Martin Cradick, guitarist from Outback, moves on to concentrate more on producing a fusion of Baka traditional music with Breton and Scottish traditional music to make some outstanding albums. Spirit of the Forest is a collaboration with the Baka people. The Meeting Pool is a combination of field recordings with studio music in a similar vein to Deep Forest. Journey Between moves on from this to be more studio oriented. Whirl-Y-Gig favourites include Nahwia (Nah Nah mix) and Boomelena.

Banco-De-Gaia, otherwise known as Toby Marks, has become a big name in the world of ambient/trance dance music. Mixing ethnic chants, beats and rhythms with trancey ambient dance, B-d-G has created his own unique sound, and is consistently producing original and inspirational music. He's played live at Whirl-Y-Gig numerous times, where his music is aired regularly. Whirly favourites include Data Inadequate, Last Train to Lhasa, Amber, Drippy and I Love Baby Cheesy. Apparently 'Desert Wind' was the first B-d-G track to be played at Whirly.

The Barcode Brothers are the Danish duo Christian Møller Nielsen & Anders Øland. A big peak time anthem for 2001 is the Darude vs JS16 remix of 'Dooh Dooh' by the Barcode Brothers (and not the telli tubbies).

A German trancer from 1999 (although not played at Whirl-Y-Gig until 2001) was the Dumonde remix of Launch in Progress by Beam vs Cyrus & The Joker.

Norman Cook (Fat Boy Slim) used to be in a band called Beats International. There was a track on their album called 'Take a Trip Around the World" that was a regular on the playlist back in the early 90's. Thanks to Jonathan Edwards for this information

The Jimi Hendrix obsessed group of the 90's. Two Whirly classics that used to get played a lot were the Ben Mitchell remix of If 60's were 90's and a very rare Astralasia remix of Rilly Groovy. Both tracks are jammed packed with Hendrix guitar riffs and vocal samples.

Co-written by Ramon Zenker (aka Hardfloor, Fragma & Paffendorf), this is a one of those daft Latino tracks that's very carnival orientated.

The debut album from The Boyz from Brazil (of the same title) is a rich blend of Bahia carnival beats, Latin house, hip hop breaks and bossa beats. 'Chica Chica Boom Chic' is a current tune on the Whirl-Y-Gig play list.

Flamenco and uplifting Latino vibes combine in B-Tribe. Oldie Whirly faves include Love Tears Heartaches And Devotion (from the album Sueno Del Cielo) and Fiesta Fatal (from the album of the same name).