If that peculiarly nebulous genre known as "world music" is turning into a venerable old institution, Spanish group Radio Tarifa look set to become one of its sturdiest pillars. The band are once again up for a Radio 3 award, while public enthusiasm for their live shows continues to increase. Watching them strut their stuff on stage in Manchester, it's hard to deny they have something special.
For a start they have singer Benjamin Escoriza, a genial frontman who can charm a large English audience with no more than three words of their language. Resplendent in leather trousers and black shades, he sings with the warbling lustiness of a Spanish Bryan Ferry.
The other two "official" band members provide scintillating support: Vincent Molino with a variety of woodwind instruments, Faín S Dueñas with a ceaseless barrage of hand percussion. Throw in an electric bass, a couple of guitars and the ability to summon the spirits of ancient Andalucia and you have Radio Tarifa's recipe for success.
The evening begins with a typically bustling, Arabic-sounding tune. Escoriza's vocal alternates with bursts of woodwind to evoke a haunting desert sound. Radio Tarifa's fusion of sultry flamenco with the other-worldly sounds of north Africa makes for an extremely potent mix; soulful and suave, their music possesses a Sufi singer's spiritual transcendence while simultaneously celebrating the pleasures of the flesh.
The shorter, lyric-based songs are accomplished enough, but it is during the instrumental workouts that the band really hit their stride. Molino's flute in particular seems to possess special powers; his solos flash like flames in the night while the percussion grows ever more hypnotic. Many of these passages sound like gypsy dances of possession, and once or twice you really do feel as if you're being offered tantalising glimpses into older worlds of magic and mystery.
The more contemporary touchstones of the band's sound vary in effectiveness - the electric guitar in particular works much better when it's in Link Wray surf-mode and not doing an impression of a fret-burning heavy metal teenager. But this is a minor quibble, and one the majority of the rapturous audience seemed happy to ignore.
· At the Barbican, London EC2 (020 7638 8891), tomorrow. Then touring.
