SPERA, PIPPO A Buen Puerto (Lion Productions) cd 14.98
Sun soaked tropical dreamy '70s psych-pop from a Latin American musical legend. Pippo Spero grew up in Uruguay where he studied classical guitar at the National Conservatory of Uruguay. As the military dictatorship of Uruguay grew more excessive, that school was shut down and life for artists and musicians became impossible. Spero didn't let that take him away from his love and gift for making such beautiful sounds and he started concentrating on songwriting, and crafted A Buen Puerto, a gorgeous album of breezy, warm and lilting perfection.
Brimming with songs that make you melt and take you out of the rigid and cold structure of everyday life. It's so interesting to see how so many folks under the harshest political climate were able to make such beautiful music. Not turning to anger, but instead showing that no matter what, no one could take away their ability to create beauty and experience love. Yet there is still a bittersweet sadness and melancholy that floats through all of A Buen Puerto. There is also a kinship in spirit and sound with Caetano Veloso, which we hear all over this gorgeous album.
In fact, after completing this album in 1976, Spero fled from Uruguay and moved to Brazil where he formed close relationships with many like minded musicians and songwriters there like Geraldo Azevedo, Alceu Valenca, and Milton Nascimento. Fans of any of the aforementioned artists, and folks like Lo Borges, Congregacion, and Eduardo Mateo will find a new favorite record in A Buen Puerto.
MPEG Stream: "Parabola"
MPEG Stream: "A Buen Puerto"
MPEG Stream: "Al Final Es Un Momento"

SURVIVAL, THE La Onda De The Survival cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Survival were a Mexican psychedelic rock band circa 1970, who played morbid, melancholy acid-blues and warped beat music, with an oddly apocalyptic sense of freak-humor, reflected in song titles like "The World Is A Bomb", "Electric Chair", "Nothings Monument", "Canabis Lady", and "Useless Warfare". Not super-heavy or anything (although there's some nice fuzz on a few tracks), but...interesting. This cd reissue was obviously not done from the master tapes, but the resulting record crackle you'll hear seems appropriate to the lo-fi charm of the original recording.
RealAudio clip: "Old People"
RealAudio clip: "Electric Chair"
RealAudio clip: "Useless Warfare"

SURVIVAL, THE La Onda De The Survival (Disco Rex / El Disco Es Cultura) lp 17.98
Now reissued on vinyl! We reviewed a now out of print cd edition of this about ten years ago, neat to have it back and on wax, a Mexican import. Here's the lowdown:
The Survival were a Mexican psychedelic rock band circa 1970, who played morbid, melancholy acid-blues and warped beat music, with an oddly apocalyptic sense of freak-humor, reflected in song titles like "The World Is A Bomb", "Electric Chair", "Nothings Monument", "Canabis Lady", and "Useless Warfare". By today's standards, not super-heavy or anything (although there's for sure some nice fuzz on a few tracks), but plenty weird and charming.
MPEG Stream: "Old People"
MPEG Stream: "Electric Chair"
MPEG Stream: "Useless Warfare"

TALK TALK Missing Pieces (Pond Life) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Helloooo all you faithful Talk Talk completists! This cd compiles the singles from their extraordinary 1991 album Laughing Stock (which surely already holds an honorable place in your music library) along with four other tracks. Actually two if the "singles" are different versions of the originals - "After The Flood" is an alternate take/outtake and "New Grass" is an edit. "Ascension Day" is unaltered. The other tracks include "Myrrhman" (also from Laughing Stock) as well as the "Stump", the abstract soundscape "5:09" and a meditative 14 minute piece of solo piano minimalism performed by TT mainman Mark Hollis (originally a contribution to the Allinson/Brown experimental ambient album AV 1). Not an essential cd, but if it spurs you to revisit Laughing Stock, then we're fortunate for its release.
RealAudio clip: "After The Flood"
RealAudio clip: "5:09"
RealAudio clip: "Piano"

TARKUS s/t (Repsychled) cd 15.98
BACK IN STOCK!
What's this? Maybe the cover, all-black but for the name Tarkus, caught your eye? Holy grail time here, people. We've been wanting to get this album on cd FOREVER. There was a hard-to-find LP reissue some years ago, but we'd never yet found a cd version -- until now, at last, and it's a totally legit one from the master tapes! Released (barely, in an edition of just, like, 50 copies) in Tarkus' native Peru back in 1972, this is an album to go down in the annals of heavy rock, proudly belonging to the pantheon of proggy proto-metal!!! We'd definitely rank this with favorites of ours in that truly cult realm, other early '70s stuff like Necronomicon and Night Sun and Eduardo Bort and Steamhammer's Speech!
It may be that they're named after the ELP's 1971 album Tarkus (you know, the one with that freaky armadillo/tank on the cover), but they don't sound much like ELP in any event. While progressive rock is part of their sound, this Tarkus come across more like a bizarro hybrid of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and some of the more out-there and baroque Italian prog outfits of the era, rather than ELP. It's music that's dark and doomy and powerful and psychedelically dosed, sometimes with really weird operatic vocals -- and always with about a zillion cool, heavy guitar riffs. It's meant to be played LOUD. Shouldn't be hard to comply!
With some very pretty melodies and acoustic moments, Tarkus somehow seem like a '60s garage psych act (which they previously were, Tarkus being formed by members of Peruvian psych-pop group Telegraph Ave.) in possession of a crystal ball that enabled them to gaze into the future to be anachronistically inspired by Black Sabbath's Sabotage album, which was released three years later in 1975 (we'll have to assume that crystal ball had a place to plug in earphones).
This previously came packaged in a gatefold, miniature LP styled sleeve, but now it's in a jewel case, with cd booklet including liner notes in both Spanish and English, which make mention of the band dressing like monks when they made one of their rare live appearances.
And by the way, we'd somehow suspect that Portland's Danava have heard this record. If not, they should -- we think they'd like it! And we think you will too, if any of the above raving and referencing strikes a chord!
MPEG Stream: "El Pirata"
MPEG Stream: "Team Para Lilus"

TRAFFIC SOUND Lux (Lazarus) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TRAFFIC SOUND Tibet's Suzettes (Lazarus) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TRAFFIC SOUND Virgin (Repsychled) cd 15.98
Inarguably an all-time classic of sixties psych. Peru's Traffic Sound might not be the most famous band from the era, but those in the know, know. At long last we have a cd reissue of their second album, Virgin, a masterpiece recorded in 1969. It's brought to us by the Repsychled label from their homeland, responsible also for that Tarkus reish we raved over a not long ago. And it's about time. Maybe you saw our review last year of the Traffic Sound compilation Yellow Sea Years? It included only one track from this album (the hit single in Peru "Meshkalina") for reasons we can't fathom, except that you'd want the whole thing anyway, and here it is! Psychedelic pop/prog perfection, featuring both dreamy melodies and some freaked out, flutey jazz/krautrock sounding passages, including a dose of backwards weirdness and several tracks of acoustic beauty. They were contemporaneous with better-known American and British acts such as the Beatles, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, and Love, and influenced by the likes of them no doubt. But on Virgin, Traffic Sound make the case for their own spaced-out, groovy, early-prog creativity. And in fact this was the first album by a Peruvian rock band to feature all-original compositions. As albums of the era from Latin America go, this is one of the essentials, particularily if you've been digging, say, Mexico's La Revolucion De Emiliano Zapata, or any of those awesome psych titles from Brazil that we've seen lately...
Repsychled has some interesting packaging notions, this is in a sort of under-sized cardboard digi-folder thing. It seems like each title we get from them is in some different, non-standard sleeve. In any case, for this official reissue they've gone to the master tapes and done a careful remastering job, and the cd booklet is packed with vintage photos and suchlike.
MPEG Stream: "Virgin"
MPEG Stream: "Yellow Sea Days"

TRAFFIC SOUND Yellow Sea Years (Vampisoul) cd 21.00
Yeah! Yellow Sea Years is a great collection of tracks from this legendary '60s psych outfit from Peru. We've actually had this in stock since last year and always meant to list it but only got around to it now. Traffic Sound's early influences should be readily apparent from the cover versions that populated their first album, 1968's A Bailar GoGo: Jimi Hendrix, Eric Burdon, Iron Butterfly (nope, not "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" -- they did "You Can't Win"!), and Skip James's "I'm So Glad" (as featured on the Latin American installment of the Love, Peace & Poetry compilation series). Of those debut album tracks, only Eric Burdon's "Sky Pilot" is included here. By the time of their second album Virgin in '69, they'd definitely established their own, wonderfully spacey, groovy and melodic, sound. That brilliant LP is only represented on this disc by "Meshkalina" though this comp takes its name from the epic "Yellow Sea Days" (not included). Following on from Virgin, Traffic Sound continued to explore more mellow, Pink Floydy pop as well as getting into funkier Latin-tinged soul-psychedelia... the latter perhaps being the reason that Vampi Soul has opted to focus mainly on material from the band's third and fourth LPs, Traffic Sound (1970) and Lux ('71), cramming as much of those albums onto this 80 minute cd anthology as possible. And there's definitely some great stuff here! For example, the utter jazz-horns boosted psychedelic grooviness of "Tibette's Suzettes" (with a slightly Ozzy-ish vocal). Badass track that one. Yep, if you're into upbeat, '60s psych-pop rock that draws on prog, folk, and funk, you need to check out the Traffic Sound. Now if they'd only also reissue all of Virgin!
MPEG Stream: "Tibet's Suzettes (You Can't Appreciate A Gift From God)"
MPEG Stream: "Those Days Have Gone"

V/A Andy Votel's Brazilika (Far Out) cd 17.98
One of our favorite mix makers, DJ Andy Votel. One of the most sparkling genres of music ever, Tropicalia. Can't go wrong with this one! Andy Votel is responsible for such AQ fave discs as Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word, Vertigo Mixed, Welsh Rare Beat, and the recent Well Hung (that killer comp of Hungarian funky fuzz rock we highlighted last list), among many others. Tropicalia? Well that's the late '60 Brazilian musical movement (with political and artistic dimensions as well) that melded psychedelia with Latin rhythms like bossa nova... chances are most AQ customers have some passing familiarity with it, probably having an Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil or Caetano Veloso reissue or two or more in your collection.
Of those three biggies, only Mutantes appear hear on Votel's Brazilika mix, which should appeal to both Tropicalia fans and the simply curious as well. And of course Votel digs fairly deep to bring some definite obscurities into play, all from the vaults of the Brazilian Som Livre and RGE record labels. Some names: Os Brazoes, Tim Maia, Novos Baianos, Sidney Miller, Trio Soneca, Azimuth... Those familiar with his penchant for heavy, "hairy funk" on his previous mixes won't be surprised that this rocks fairly hard (and also jazzily), full of organ jamming and wah wah fuzz guitar, giving less of a look in to the breezier, more delicate and folky aspects of the Tropicalia sound. So it's not exactly a primer, but if you can untangle which part of each track is by what artist (Votel mashing several into each cut), it should whet your appetite and give you some clues for further reissue exploration. And be a surefire hit at your next party, of course.
MPEG Stream: NOVOS BAIANOS/TIM MAIA/TRIO SONECA "Baby Consuelo/Flores Beles/Funga Funga"
MPEG Stream: AZIMUTH "1974 / Periscopio"

V/A Bats' i Son: The Music of the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico (Latitude) cd 14.98
Another new collection on the Latitude label (Locust's new international sublabel) takes us this time to the Chiapas region of Mexico. The tracks here were recorded between 1971 and 1974 by Richard Alderson (legendary sound engineer involved in recording Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, et al in the late sixties). Alderson, who had emigrated to Mexico, devoted his time to documenting the music of the Indians in the region. Along with beautiful trios of harp, guitar and violin there are intense, dare I say, rocking numbers with drums are horns, exploding fireworks (that sound like canons being fired) and some truly bizarre acappella vocal counterpoint. The guitars and harps here are particularly cool sounding. Most of them produce strange overtones such that they almost sound like electric instruments and on some songs, when there's an orchestra of the things playing at once, it's like as impressive as any wall of sound. The tunes here will have you alternately weeping in their beauty and gritting your teeth with their intensity. Originally released by Smithsonian Folkways in the seventies, all the tracks here have here been restored and digitally remastered by Alderson. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Navidad-Mitontik"
MPEG Stream: "Rezo Por Ano Nuevo"
MPEG Stream: "Fiesta de San Sebastian"

V/A Brasil: A Century of Song (Blue Jackal) 4cd 45.00
From the folks who brought us the recent Cuban compilation packaged in cigar box, comes this stellar Brasilian collection which is separated into 4 cds cataloged by style: Folk & Traditional, Carnaval, Bossa Nova, and MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira). Nope, no contributions by Os Mutantes, but there IS a song by Joyce, who we'd like to find out more about. (Laetitia from Stereolab, in the most recent issue of The Wire's musical taste test, mistakes Joyce for the Mutantes and goes on about how great both artists are.)

V/A Brazil 70 (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
You put two of the things we love most in the world, Soul Jazz compilations and Brazilian psych/pop from the 70's together, and you've got one very happy bunch of AQ staffers! Brazil 70 is the follow up to the great Tropicalia compilation Soul Jazz put out a couple years back which served as a great document and serious opened some eyes to the amazing musical movement and revolution in sound that went down in Brazil in the late 60's and early '70s. This compilation picks right up where that one left off, giving us a great glimpse into the post-tropicalia world of the '70s Brazilian music scene. There are some Tropicalia pioneers included here like Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Tom Ze. But what's most thrilling about Brazil 70 is all the amazing tracks from folks who haven't been as well documented here in the states. We've been blown away by the songs from Raul Seixas, Nelson Angelo & Joyce, Erasmo Carlos, Secos E Molhados, all of whom were making amazing and colorful sounds during the first half of the '70s in Brazil. Using the blueprints of the eclectic and spirited nature of Tropicalia, these artists tapped into some magical musical force, discovering new and incredible ways to create amazingly colorful psych-pop perfection. We can't stop listening to this...highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: RAUL SEIXAS "As Adventuras De Raul Seixas Na Cidade De Thor"
MPEG Stream: NELSON ANGELO & JOYCE "Vivo ou Morto"
MPEG Stream: SECOS E MOLHADOS "Amor"

V/A Brazil 70 (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You put two of the things we love most in the world, Soul Jazz compilations and Brazilian psych/pop from the 70's together, and you've got one very happy bunch of AQ staffers! Brazil 70 is the follow up to the great Tropicalia compilation Soul Jazz put out a couple years back which served as a great document and serious opened some eyes to the amazing musical movement and revolution in sound that went down in Brazil in the late 60's and early '70s. This compilation picks right up where that one left off, giving us a great glimpse into the post-tropicalia world of the '70s Brazilian music scene. There are some Tropicalia pioneers included here like Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Tom Ze. But what's most thrilling about Brazil 70 is all the amazing tracks from folks who haven't been as well documented here in the states. We've been blown away by the songs from Raul Seixas, Nelson Angelo & Joyce, Erasmo Carlos, Secos E Molhados, all of whom were making amazing and colorful sounds during the first half of the '70s in Brazil. Using the blueprints of the eclectic and spirited nature of Tropicalia, these artists tapped into some magical musical force, discovering new and incredible ways to create amazingly colorful psych-pop perfection. We can't stop listening to this...highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: RAUL SEIXAS "As Adventuras De Raul Seixas Na Cidade De Thor"
MPEG Stream: NELSON ANGELO & JOYCE "Vivo ou Morto"
MPEG Stream: SECOS E MOLHADOS "Amor"

V/A Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967-1976 (Tropicalia In Furs) cd 16.98
Geez! Just when you thought you've heard all the Brazilian Psych and Tropicalia of the sixties and seventies worth listening to, comes this monster compilation of complete unknown jams from the era that very nearly blows away anything you considered to be the best. Distributed by the same folks who brought us the killer Psych Funk 101 compilation (a unanimous store favorite), if you dug that compilation you should definitely check this one out. Culled specifically from the rarest of 7" singles (the era's cheapest and most produced format), many of 'em promo only, there are none of the usual suspects, no Caetano, Os Mutantes or any of Rogerio Duprat's star artists. Instead this is the sound of the deeper radical underground, of groups most of which couldn't ever get record deals. The music is way heavier, the vibe more unhinged and funky with big fuzz and often wild, ecstatic arrangements. Here is the checklist of groups on here: Celio Balona, Loyce E Os Gnomes, The Youngsters, Serguel, Fabio, Tony E Som Colorido, 14 Bis, Banda De 7 Leguas, Ton & Sergio, Ely, Com OS Falcoes Reais, Marisa Rossi, The Pops, Piry, and Max Rybell. The cd comes with a HUGE full color booklet with info on all the singles and pictures and the enhanced cd itself features a documentary, called "What Are Fuzz Bananas?" (good question). Meanwhile, the vinyl version comes with a large full color booklet with info on all the singles and pictures. We got the last copies of the first vinyl pressing that include 3-D glasses, though we're not sure why they were included as none of the record sleeve was printed in 3-D as far as we can tell, though they do make the wildly colorful psychedelic drawing in the gatefold sure look neat! [Update: now the copies with glasses are gone, anyway...]
Way Recommended!
MPEG Stream: CELIO BALONA "Tema De Batman"
MPEG Stream: COM OS FALCOES REAIS "Ele Seculo XX"
MPEG Stream: LOYCE E OS GNOMES "Que E Isso?"
MPEG Stream: MAC RYBELL "The Lantern"

V/A Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967-1976 (Tropicalia In Furs) 2lp 21.00
Geez! Just when you thought you've heard all the Brazilian Psych and Tropicalia of the sixties and seventies worth listening to, comes this monster compilation of complete unknown jams from the era that very nearly blows away anything you considered to be the best. Distributed by the same folks who brought us the killer Psych Funk 101 compilation (a unanimous store favorite), if you dug that compilation you should definitely check this one out. Culled specifically from the rarest of 7" singles (the era's cheapest and most produced format), many of 'em promo only, there are none of the usual suspects, no Caetano, Os Mutantes or any of Rogerio Duprat's star artists. Instead this is the sound of the deeper radical underground, of groups most of which couldn't ever get record deals. The music is way heavier, the vibe more unhinged and funky with big fuzz and often wild, ecstatic arrangements. Here is the checklist of groups on here: Celio Balona, Loyce E Os Gnomes, The Youngsters, Serguel, Fabio, Tony E Som Colorido, 14 Bis, Banda De 7 Leguas, Ton & Sergio, Ely, Com OS Falcoes Reais, Marisa Rossi, The Pops, Piry, and Max Rybell. The cd comes with a HUGE full color booklet with info on all the singles and pictures and the enhanced cd itself features a documentary, called "What Are Fuzz Bananas?" (good question). Meanwhile, the vinyl version comes with a large full color booklet with info on all the singles and pictures. We got the last copies of the first vinyl pressing that include 3-D glasses, though we're not sure why they were included as none of the record sleeve was printed in 3-D as far as we can tell, though they do make the wildly colorful psychedelic drawing in the gatefold sure look neat! [Update: now the copies with glasses are gone, anyway...]
Way Recommended!
MPEG Stream: CELIO BALONA "Tema De Batman"
MPEG Stream: COM OS FALCOES REAIS "Ele Seculo XX"
MPEG Stream: LOYCE E OS GNOMES "Que E Isso?"
MPEG Stream: MAC RYBELL "The Lantern"

V/A Cartagena! Curro Fuentes & The Big Band Combia And Descarga Sound Of Columbia 1962-72 (Soundway) 2lp 26.00
Once again Soundway continues to unearth amazing tracks from yet another overlooked international scene. This collection digs into the cumbia and descarga sounds out of Columbia in the '60s to early '70s that were being released on the Discos Fuentes label. Jose Maria 'Curro' Fuentes ran the label which would become Columbia's largest. In many ways he was like the Berry Gordy of Columbia, using his immaculate taste to curate an amazing roster of musicians. Sadly most of these artists never had their music heard or even released in other parts of the globe, so this release marks the first time most of these nineteen tracks have been released anywhere outside of Columbia. The raw recordings really serve the music so well as these aren't the kind of tracks you would want overproduced or with a shiny slick veneer. Instead the infectious rhythms within the songs emerge organically with such rich and warm grooves. With sunshine time hitting us in a big way the past week, this is becoming the perfect soundtrack to outdoor get togethers and rooftop afternoons. No denying how damn hot this is!
MPEG Stream: CANTINA Y SU COMBO "Santa Marta Cumbia"
MPEG Stream: CLODOMIRO MONTES Y EL SUPER COMBO CURRO "Puerto Rico Zumbando"
MPEG Stream: ORQUESTA SONORA CURRO "Patuleco"
MPEG Stream: ALEX ACOSTA Y SU ORQUESTA "Cumbia Del Monte"

V/A Demoler: Rock Peruano 1965-1974 (Repsychled) cd 14.98

V/A Diggin' Down Argentina (Crazy Apple Boutique) lp 24.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Yay! Always cool to get a new comp of crazy, colorful, psychedelic pop rock treats from way back when (and way far off too, internationally speaking). The comic bookish cartoony cover art gets the swinging '60s (and early '70s) concept across, plus we were already fans of a couple previous comps on the same label, Neurotic Reactions and Some Songs Stuck In My Mind. So we were curious to hear this, and quite pleased with what we heard! 15 cuts full of fuzzy guitars, funky drum breaks, exuberant vocals, Hammond organ orgies, and other facets of freaky, garagey goodness, all from rare 45s by bands straight outta Argentina circa '69-'75, part of something called the "Rioplatense scene".
The lineup: Bosques, Dynamita, Los Fantasmas, Gipsys, Caballo Vapor, Kon-Tiki, Brujos, Wooky Toky, Los Barbaros, Victoria, Them (no, not that Them), Asfalto, Jarabe De Menta, and Little Green Men. Lots of great stuff. We love the backwards effects on Kon-Tiki's "Viaja Al Ayer (Turn Back Time)" which sounds like something by Peru's We All Together, old AQ faves. It's actually one of the prettiest, most restrained songs here, the others go for a variety of pop music that, y'know, really POPS. Like, ferinstance, the sheer organ-heavy FUNK of Caballo Vapor's cut. Or the unhinged mayhem of Gipsys' "Oh! Malala" (they get two tracks here, and the other one, "Kamasutra", is pretty wicked too). Wild, wacky, and fun are what you should expect, especially from the band that calls themselves Wooky Toky...
MPEG Stream: DYNAMITA "Toma Tu Tiempo"
MPEG Stream: GIPSYS "Kamasutra"
MPEG Stream: KON-TIKI "Viaja Al Ayer (Turn Back Time)"

V/A Diggin' Down Argentina: Nuggets From The Rioplatense Scene, 1969-1975 (Crazy Apple Boutique) cd 24.00
Yay! Always cool to get a new 70s) concept across, plus we were already fans of a couple previous comps on the same label, Neurotic Reactions and Some Songs Stuck In My Mind. So we were curious to hear this, and quite pleased with what we heard! 15 cuts full of fuzzy guitars, funky drum breaks, exuberant vocals, Hammond organ orgies, and other facets of freaky, garagey goodness, all from rare 45s by bands straight outta Argentina circa '69-'75, that the detailed liner notes in the illustrated booklet will explain were part of something called the "Rioplatense scene".
The lineup: Bosques, Dynamita, Los Fantasmas, Gipsys, Caballo Vapor, Kon-Tiki, Brujos, Wooky Toky, Los Barbaros, Victoria, Them (no, not that Them), Asfalto, Jarabe De Menta, and Little Green Men. Lots of great stuff. We love the backwards effects on Kon-Tiki's "Viaja Al Ayer (Turn Back Time)" which sounds like something by Peru's We All Together, old AQ faves. It's actually one of the prettiest, most restrained songs here, the others go for a variety of pop music that, y'know, really POPS. Like, ferinstance, the sheer organ-heavy FUNK of Caballo Vapor's cut. Or the unhinged mayhem of Gipsys' "Oh! Malala" (they get two tracks here, and the other one, "Kamasutra", is pretty wicked too). Wild, wacky, and fun are what you should expect, especially from the band that calls themselves Wooky Toky...
Spanish import, limited to 500 copies.
MPEG Stream: DYNAMITA "Toma Tu Tiempo"
MPEG Stream: GIPSYS "Kamasutra"
MPEG Stream: KON-TIKI "Viaja Al Ayer (Turn Back Time)"

V/A Explosivos: Deep Soul From The Latin Heat (Vampi Soul) cd 17.98
As we approach fall, we find ourselves desperately hanging on to summer sun and celebrating summer fun. Nothing better than the sounds of cha-cha-cha's done just right to keep that feeling alive. Party songs you can trust, bugaloo that makes you move. And this cd version of a now out of print 7" box set of Latin soul and groove from a special heyday of this movement spanning the years 1966-1969 totally hits the spot. Mostly centered around neighborhoods in Harlem and other areas of NYC, a new generation of Latino youth were soaking up the sounds of raw R'n'B, incorporating elements of black culture and adding a definitely distinctive Latin element to the mix. If you've been digging the great Eccentric Soul comps that we've fallen for, this is another great '60s soul comp to add to your collection, and this one's got something most of those collections don't...intoxicating Latin spice!
MPEG Stream: BOBBY VALENTINE "Use It Before You Lose It"
MPEG Stream: FLASH & THE DYNAMICS "Electric Latin Soul"
MPEG Stream: AL ESCOBAR "Apewalk"

V/A Far Out Spaced Oddyssey (Far Out Recordings ) 2cd 24.00
Tough to argue with a compilation called Far Out Spaced Oddyssey, especially with its super stylized witchy, skull-stick-carrying naked woman cover, her hair flung out over a starry backdrop of green and yellow, and the fact that this comp is subtitled: Psychedelic Folk, Electronica, Jazz & Rock From The Out-There Edges Of Brazil, well, that just seals the deal. And while we're often wary of comps like this, that mix vintage classic lost jams with more contemporary tracks, it actually works here, the result is an Andy Votel worthy double disc collection of Brazilian super varied sonic psychedelia. From prog to funk, to psych rock to folk, the amazing thing, is that in many cases, we had trouble telling if something was from the sixties or seventies or NOW. Which again speaks to the bad assness of Far Out Spaced Oddyssey.
The collection opens with Jose Mauro's "Apocalipse", a classic slice of vintage Brazilian psych-prog, soulful vocals, lush strings, groovy percussion, haunting witchy melodies, acoustic guitars, fluttery flutes, very reminiscent of seventies acid folk, but with a distinctly Brazilian vibe, and from there on out, it's a glorious mind expanding musical trip, from groovy flute flecked calypso, to hazy, organ driven soul (peppered with distinctly modern production filligree), from dense tribal electronic spaciness to fuzzy funky seventies jazz prog, from funky Blaxploitation sounding electronica to noisy chaotic psychedelic rock, from spacey new agey tinkle and shimmer to sweet summery Tropicalia, it almost doesn't matter which song is by whom, or what song is from what era, at least until you decide you need to track down more, which is always the sign of a killer mix, and if you're like us, you'll find yourself wanting more of much of this, not to mention playing both discs to death!
MPEG Stream: PIRI "Reza Brava"
MPEG Stream: ALEUDA "Galope (APE Remix)"
MPEG Stream: AZYMUTH "Caca A Raposa"
MPEG Stream: MAURICIO MAESTRO & NANA VASCONCELOS "Verdade Anterior (Instrumental Version)"
MPEG Stream: JOSE MAURO "Ponto De Chamada"
MPEG Stream: CUSTOM BLUE "You're On Your Own"

V/A Funk Mundial (Man Recordings) cd 17.98
Awesome collection of singles originally released as 12"s in Man Recordings Funk Mundial series. This is chock full of high energy Baile Funk done so totally right! Daniel Haaksman who started this series has a great ear for the best of the bangers, so it's kind of like getting someone to cut the weaker stuff out and hand you sixteen of the most sizzling, grooving thrillers that have come out of the Baile Funk scene over the last few years.
We were only familiar with a few of these artists like Crookers and Chancha Via Circuito but all the new artists to our ears for sure have been making us shake our stuff. Mixing elements of tech, hip-hop, booty bass, rave culture, all with a frenetic energy that's so damn infectious. We love how this scene seems to be mixed equally with fierce females and charismatic males. While still full on crazy fun, these tracks come off a bit more musical and memorable then the tracks on the Rio Baile Funk comps put out by Essay, we still love those comps but right now Funk Mundial is giving us the goods in a way we can't resist!
MPEG Stream: CROOKERS FEAT. MC LEKA "Para De Gracinha"
MPEG Stream: CHANCHA VIA CIRCUITO FEAT. MC PRETINHO "Bu�etao"
MPEG Stream: SEIJI FEAT. MC DOLORES "Todo Mundo"

V/A Latinamericarpet: Exploring the Vinyl Warp of Latin American Psychedelia Vol. 1 (Sublime Frequencies) cd 16.98
Two more installments in Sublime Frequencies' ever expanding catalogue of amazing music from around the world. And by now we shouldn't have to tell you that pretty much every single release is a mind blower. But we will if need be. Any obsessive music freak owes it to themselves to check out and most likely own every single one of these. Some are beautiful and mysterious, some are strange and haunting, others are festive and jubilant, and a handful are truly truly strange. Wild and wonderful, perplexing but fantastically fun. And this one definitely falls into that category. Even before we get to the music, it's easy to tell this is gonna be a weird one, the cover is a wild swinging sixties party, with hot girls and guitars, giant dice, bongos, vests, sunglasses, suspended cubes made out of record jackets, the back of the disc features another swinging mod party and inexplicably a huge black and white image of Batman superimposed over the top. Inside it's hula girls in front of the Easter Island statues, a crazy cartoon of a big mouthed lady juggling numbers and a little kid hanging onto her arm, big ol' electric guitars, and on the disc, canaries in a cage, plus, c'mon! It's called Latinamericarpet!?
The music inside perfectly reflects the chaos and craziness on the sleeve. A selection of various lost Latin American psych lps from the sixties, but 'psych' here is VERY loosely defined. This sounds like the best DJ set you'll never hear, spinning awesome garage, fuzzed out psychrock, weird novelty records and everything in between. This is definitely the strangest disc in the series since those Radio discs of randomly captured radio broadcasts. As much as fans of weird world music, and strange found sounds will want this, so will folks who have been digging on all the crazy psych comps of late. This just might trump them all.
Here's a quick rundown of some of the sounds and songs here: super groovy fuzzy sixties garage psych, with slippery reverbed guitars and a killer groove, weird synths and organs playing along with chirping and singing birds, strange spoken word tracks with dark orchestral backing, Joe Meek-ish garage jams, instrumental but with a killer Eastern flair, rapid fire melodies and lots of conga drums, Mozart transformed into a groovy fuzzy jam, lush orchestral pop with crooned vocals, sound effects, sped up voices and spoken word, a yoga instructional record, with a gorgeous extended drone for you to practice along to, some super goofy, jaunty children's music, all playful melodies, wah guitars, and Muppets like vocals, lilting easy listening, all Lawrence Welk strings and lo-fi organs, killer warbly reverbed surfrock, with wailing sax and fuzzy organs, classical piano accompanied by what sounds like a small choir, a full on Bollywood style ballad, total Wipeout worship instrumental garage rock jam, groovy exotica, all marimbas and playful percussion, wild mariachi with accordion upright bass, and amazing vocal harmonies, murky muddy surf rock jam complete with a super long extended bad ass drum solo and it goes on and on and on. Every song a surprise, everyone catchy and wonderful in its own way, all woven into a perfect sonic travelogue through the swinging sixties in Latin America, lots of the songs separated by little snippets from novelty records, voices, and sounds, language instructions, snippets of songs, giving the whole thing a similar vibe as past 'Radio' installments in the Sublime Frequencies series, or like we mentioned before, the greatest, wildest DJ set ever.
MPEG Stream: SERGIO DEL RIO Y SU CONUNTO "Mama Loo & Ata Una Cinta Alrededor Del Viejo Roble"
MPEG Stream: SINFONIA DE LAS AVES BRASILENAS "Jarabe Tapatio"
MPEG Stream: LOS DESTELLOS "Ronda Tropical"
MPEG Stream: LA TIA LEONOR Y SUS SOBRINOS "Marcha A La Turca"
MPEG Stream: METEORO "Preparando El Marck"

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: Brazilian Psychedelic Music (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98
Spanning 1969 to 1978, the newest volume of Love, Peace & Poetry brings to light totally rare gems from the Brazilian psychedelic rock movement. While we may all be relatively familiar with the giants of the Tropicalia scene -- Os Mutantes (Windy's favorite band ever), Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, etc -- this comp features far more obscure groups whose albums are sought-after treasures in the underground psych LP collecting community (you know who you are!). But less obsessive folk now too have the opportunity to enjoy these obscurities! Springing from the creatively fertile ground of an at the time politically oppressive society, this is a fantastic collection of songs ranging from sunny Beatles-esque, Byrds-y jangle pop to other harder stuff more explicitly influenced by the Doors, Hendrix, and other fuzzed out acidheads. Highlights include the latter type of thing from Modulo 1000, a track from Brazilian psych crown jewel Lula Cortes e Ze Ramalho, the Zep-worthy hard rock groove (with a touch of proto-new wave in one guitar break) of Terco, and a track by Spectrum (whose utterly brilliant film soundtrack album "Geracao Bendita" album has been reissued in its entirety, due for review soon in an upcoming New Arrivals list, although you can come buy it now if you want!). Some tracks pay allegiance to Tropicalia, others are straight-up freak rock, and all are pretty cool.
As with all the Love, Peace and Poetry comps, this is highly recommended not only because it's good listening, but also because it's damn hard to find full lengths from most of these groups, not 'til someone reissues 'em! The liner notes are again by our pal Stan Denski, cover art is again a cheesecake blond go go girl courtesy famed photog Bunny Yeager.
RealAudio clip: MARCOS VALLE "Trilha Antiga"
RealAudio clip: OS LOBOS "Miragem"
RealAudio clip: SPECTRUM "Revolucao Organica"

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: Brazilian Psychedelic Music (Shadoks Music ) lp 16.98
Now available on vinyl! Spanning 1969 to 1978, the newest volume of Love, Peace & Poetry brings to light totally rare gems from the Brazilian psychedelic rock movement. While we may all be relatively familiar with the giants of the Tropicalia scene -- Os Mutantes (Windy's favorite band ever), Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, etc -- this comp features far more obscure groups whose albums are sought-after treasures in the underground psych LP collecting community (you know who you are!). But less obsessive folk now too have the opportunity to enjoy these obscurities! Springing from the creatively fertile ground of an at the time politically oppressive society, this is a fantastic collection of songs ranging from sunny Beatles-esque, Byrds-y jangle pop to other harder stuff more explicitly influenced by the Doors, Hendrix, and other fuzzed out acidheads. Highlights include the latter type of thing from Modulo 1000, a track from Brazilian psych crown jewel Lula Cortes e Ze Ramalho, the Zep-worthy hard rock groove (with a touch of proto-new wave in one guitar break) of Terco, and a track by Spectrum (whose utterly brilliant film soundtrack album "Geracao Bendita" album has been reissued in its entirety, due for review soon in an upcoming New Arrivals list, although you can come buy it now if you want!). Some tracks pay allegiance to Tropicalia, others are straight-up freak rock, and all are pretty cool.
As with all the Love, Peace and Poetry comps, this is highly recommended not only because it's good listening, but also because it's damn hard to find full lengths from most of these groups, not 'til someone reissues 'em! The liner notes are again by our pal Stan Denski, cover art is again a cheesecake blond go go girl courtesy famed photog Bunny Yeager.

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: Chilean Psychedelic Music (Normal) cd 16.98
For their tenth installment in the Love Peace and Poetry series, Shadoks once again takes us to South America. At first we must admit we were disappointed. This is the fourth volume in the series to cover Latin American psych and so many other regions in the world remain potentially untapped by this series (Italy, Poland, Scandinavia, Indonesia, North Africa, to name but a few). But then we thought better, because we've always known Chile to be an amazing source of some of the best South American psych and sure enough many of the bands on this compilation are amongst our very favorite: Embrujo, Congregacion, Blops, Los Macs, El Congresso, Kissing Spell. Yet there's others here just as good we'd never heard before. In fact this is one of the better volumes in the series, not just because the music is so good, but that much of it was made under hostile political conditions and barely managed to survive, as most records made after 1973 were often contraband, and many master tapes were subsequently destroyed. (Pinochet's CIA-installed military dictatorship ruled until 1990!) It's surprising that given the constantly changing political climate, that bands took so much risk with their music, and album art. Like Aguaturbia, a sort of Latin Brainticket featuring a female vocalist (a rarity on these comps), depicted the singer naked and crucified (a la Salvador Dali) on their second album cover, and even one of the two songs representing them is called "Erotica" feauturing some hot and heavy sounds. Other bands like Congregacion and Sacros take a more mystical and spiritual approach. Some bands are deeply inspired by Hendrix and Deep Purple (Tumulto and Escombros), and others more influenced by the jangle pop of the Byrds and Beatles (Los Macs, Los Beat 4 and Los Vidrios Quebrados). But for all the bands heavily influenced by American and British psych and R&B, it's nice to hear more Andean roots come in to play from bands like Los Jaivas, who mix electric and traditional folk instruments. Another score in this amazing series with hopes for farther flung outings in the future.
MPEG Stream: LOS JAIVAS "Foto De Primera Comunion"
MPEG Stream: LOS MACS "La Muerte De Mi Hermano"
MPEG Stream: AGUATURBIA "I Wonder Who"
MPEG Stream: EL CONGRESO "Asi Seras"

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: Chilean Psychedelic Music (Normal) lp 17.98
For their tenth installment in the Love Peace and Poetry series, Shadoks once again takes us to South America. At first we must admit we were disappointed. This is the fourth volume in the series to cover Latin American psych and so many other regions in the world remain potentially untapped by this series (Italy, Poland, Scandinavia, Indonesia, North Africa, to name but a few). But then we thought better, because we've always known Chile to be an amazing source of some of the best South American psych and sure enough many of the bands on this compilation are amongst our very favorite: Embrujo, Congregacion, Blops, Los Macs, El Congresso, Kissing Spell. Yet there's others here just as good we'd never heard before. In fact this is one of the better volumes in the series, not just because the music is so good, but that much of it was made under hostile political conditions and barely managed to survive, as most records made after 1973 were often contraband, and many master tapes were subsequently destroyed. (Pinochet's CIA-installed military dictatorship ruled until 1990!) It's surprising that given the constantly changing political climate, that bands took so much risk with their music, and album art. Like Aguaturbia, a sort of Latin Brainticket featuring a female vocalist (a rarity on these comps), depicted the singer naked and crucified (a la Salvador Dali) on their second album cover, and even one of the two songs representing them is called "Erotica" feauturing some hot and heavy sounds. Other bands like Congregacion and Sacros take a more mystical and spiritual approach. Some bands are deeply inspired by Hendrix and Deep Purple (Tumulto and Escombros), and others more influenced by the jangle pop of the Byrds and Beatles (Los Macs, Los Beat 4 and Los Vidrios Quebrados). But for all the bands heavily influenced by American and British psych and R&B, it's nice to hear more Andean roots come in to play from bands like Los Jaivas, who mix electric and traditional folk instruments. Another score in this amazing series with hopes for farther flung outings in the future.
MPEG Stream: LOS JAIVAS "Foto De Primera Comunion"
MPEG Stream: LOS MACS "La Muerte De Mi Hermano"
MPEG Stream: AGUATURBIA "I Wonder Who"
MPEG Stream: EL CONGRESO "Asi Seras"

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin American Psychedelic Music (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98
Ignore the cheesy pinup girl cover art and instead give thanks that someone finally compiled someof the best tracks from Latin American psych pop groups of the '60s, most of whose original LPs now change hands for hundreds of dollars, and whose cd reissues even seem overpriced. We're talking bands like Traffic Sound, Laghonia, Kissing Spell, and Kaleidoscope, etc. A great intro to this scene, provided you have a very strong stomach for Beatles ripoffs; it sounds very much Of Its Time.

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: Mexican Psychedelic Music (Shadoks Music ) cd 15.98
Any disc that opens with Los Dug Dug's doing their super catchy and fuzzed-out "Lost In My World" is all right by us! The rest of the cd is pretty great too. This new installment in the always-cool Love, Peace & Poetry series of comps -- which bring us an international array of wonderous '60s and '70s psych songs you might never otherwise encounter -- proves that things were shaking south of the border way back when, in the realm of rock n' roll. The strength of the Mexican psych rock scene was hinted at by an earlier volume in this series, Latin American Psychedelic Music, which is where we found out about Dug Dug's in the first place.
While the USA had Woodstock (and Altamont), Mexico had 1971's Avandaro Music Festival, and several of the bands featured here performed at that event -- and were then banned from playing regular clubs because of government repression. Bummed out by politics and driven undergound, these bands let loose with tons of fuzz (and some melody). These 17 tracks mostly date from about 1970-72, with a few late '60s entries. You'll experience punky garage numbers, some hippy blues workouts, lots of acid rock dementia, and even some lighter, folk-rock efforts -- all sorts of psychedelic era indulgence indeed. The bands: Dug Dug's, The Kaleidoscope, El Tarro De Mostaza, La Vida, The Flying Karpets, The Spiders, Tocho Pilatos, Three Souls In My Mind, Grupo Ciruela, Los Ovnis, The Survival, Nahuatl, La Fachada De Piedra, La Libre Expreession, Ernan Roch, Renaissnace, and La Revolution De Emiliano Zapata. As with the rest of this series, unrelated-to-the-music beach bunny cover photos by Bunny Yeager, informative-about-the-music liner notes by Stan Denski.
MPEG Stream: DUG DUG'S "Lost In My World"
MPEG Stream: EL TARRO DE MOSTAZA "El Ruido Del Silencio "

V/A Melenudos! (Gorilla) cd 24.00
Smokin' collection of Spanish groovers and rockers from the '60s and '70s. The opener from Rudy Ventura could get any disco floor shaking, past or present, while the rest of the record goes more in a catchy pop/rock direction with healthy doses of soul, funk and garage, reminding us a lot of that great Sensacional Soul collection we went crazy for a few years back. Barely any of these artists were familiar to us before except for maybe Los Shakers and Los Rollers, which is fine with us, as it's always exciting to get turned on to all sorts of awesome Spanish sounds we weren't hip to. The price tag might be a bit hefty, but luckily the songs on this collection are well worth the price of admission!
MPEG Stream: RUDY VENTURA "Sigo Sonando"
MPEG Stream: LOS SHAKERS "Pafff...Bum"
MPEG Stream: LOS ARCHIDUQUES "Lamento De Gaitas"

V/A Panama! 3 : Calypso Panameno, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Tipica On The Isthmus 1960-75 (Sound Way) cd 16.98
Another round of great sounds out of Panama from the 60's & 70's from the always reliable Sound Way label. Great stuff!

V/A Panama!! 2 : Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk On The Isthmus 1967-77 (Soundway) 2lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl!
All June long we've been having a "graycation" here in foggy San Francisco, but yesterday the clouds lifted and it finally feels like summer!! Just in time for weekend barbecues comes this sizzling hottie of a compilation of Cumbia, Salsa and Calypso Funk from the Southern most country of North America, Panama! This is the second volume of sixties and seventies jams from this tiny nation that sees plenty of cross-pollination from many musical forms to the North, South and East. Northern Soul and Salsa influences, Afro-Caribbean calypso, Cubano percussion, Columbian Cumbia and Panama's own Musica Tipica, a black and mestizo rural country form notable for its wide array of rustic percussion as well as its use of multiple violins and accordian-led arrangements. The beauty of these compilations is their flow; traditonal cumbia is followed by sweaty salsa into Latin funk and back like it was tailor made for dance party listening. There's some amazing psychedelic soul funk numbers in here too from The Duncan Brother's "Dreams", The Soul Fantastic's awesome version of Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine", and Lord Cobra's "Love Letters". Summer starts right here!!!
MPEG Stream: PAPI BRANDAO Y SUS EJECUTIVOS "Decidete Mi Amor"
MPEG Stream: THE DUNCAN BROTHERS "Dreams"
MPEG Stream: THE SOUL FANTASTICS "Ain't No Sunshine"
MPEG Stream: ALFREDO Y SU SALSA MONTANERA "La Escoba"

V/A Pepperisms (QDK Media / Normal) cd 15.98
Quite simply, this is a collection of bands from around the globe circa 1969, who have done their best to emulate "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with very pleasing results. Quirky psychedelic pop from We All Together (Peru), Prudy (Czechoslovakia), Quentin E. Klopjaeger (South Africa), The Twilights (Australia), and more. From the same label who produced the "Peace, Love, and Poetry" compilations!

V/A Red Hot + Rio (Antilles/Verve) cd 15.98
This Red Hot compilation (dedicated to fighting AIDS) features a very well-chosen collection of Today's Hot Young Acts covering Brazilian bossa nova classics. All tracks exclusive and new (we think). With Stereolab & Herbie Mann, Money Mark, EBTG, Mad Professor, PM Dawn, etc. Purists may want to get the companion cd which features the same song lineup, but this time it's the ORIGINAL versions as performed by Brazilian musicians, and the money goes to the same place.

V/A Red Hot and Rio 2 (Red Hot Organization / eOne) 2cd 17.98

V/A Rio Baile Funk More Favela Booty Beats (Essay) cd 16.98
If you love your booty shakin then you probably got the first installment of this totally endearing and bumpin' collection of Baile Funk deep from the heart of Rio. That held us over for a bit but our booty's were in need of a recharge and we got it thanks to this 2nd volume in this collection. A raw, mutant mixture of booty bass, hip-hop, carnival, and mash-up culture at its most contagious. What makes this collection so infectious is that you can't help but hear how these songs were made free of irony, and giving us a little peak into what a colorful and risquŽ kind of party scene is happening in Rio. Throw this on in between some M.I.A and Lady Sovereign and you're sure to get everyone around you shaking their booty like it's meant to be shook. 100 percent F-U-N!
MPEG Stream: EDU K FEAT. DEIZE TIGRONA "Sex-O-Matic"
MPEG Stream: OS MAGRINHOS "Japonesa"
MPEG Stream: ISAAC DJ "Montagem Jiu Jitsu"

V/A Rock En Arequipa (Repsychled) cd 14.98
Fuzz and groove from the Andes, mostly circa 1969-1974, uh huh! If there's anything we've learned from all the cool comps and reissues that have come out over the years, is that almost ANYPLACE on Earth you can think of, no matter how out of the way, chances are they had their own happenin' psychedelic garage rock band scene back in the day, chock full of cool bands that we'd never have ever heard of but for the diligent efforts of collectors and compilers. Certainly we already know this to be the case in '60s/'70s Peru, as we're already in love with such great bands from that land as Traffic Sound, We All Together, and Tarkus. Now from the same Lima-based label, Repsychled, that just so happens to be responsible for reissues of albums by all of those, we get this killer compilation devoted to bands from Peru's second largest city, Arequipa, located in the south of the country, high up in the Andes. None of these groups recorded full albums, but they did release rare singles and make live 'party' cassettes and left behind enough cool music that this disc is packed, 21 tracks from five bands: Los Texao, Free Love System, Los Incognitos, Madera Fresca, and Opus.
Los Texao, named after the type of flower associated with Arequipa, have the lion's share of the tracks, ten of 'em, including some covers (Cream, The Guess Who, Steppenwolf). They are also responsible for several of the best originals on here, especially their druggy groovy freakout "Stone", which by itself may justify the purchase of this disc, and exemplifies their own musical style called niebla (= fog in English), we're told "because of the effect produced by the band's rotor amps and reverb and echo effects". But Free Love System don't let us, or Arequipa, down either (with a name like that, you gotta be good!) and their four cuts are also pretty cool and, uh, foggy, including one with driving fuzz guitars and a kind of "You Really Got Me" riff, entitled "Correteando Anoranzas". They (as well as Los Texao and the others) also do some dreamy pop stuff, with melancholic psych guitar solos, so it's not all heavy and rockin', but mellow and moody too.
Meanwhile Los Incognitos have more of a twang, sounding a bit like something out of a Spaghetti Western on their four cuts. And then there's a couple by Madera Fresca. In particular, their track "Anytime" is pretty crazed, though also extremely lo-fi (fortunately it's the exception in that regard amongst the tracks here), and heck even if it wasn't, that'd be ok with us, we'd happily crank a whole album of this sort of distorted worbbly-warbly instrumental jamming. And then Opus, a band formed by Free Love System's former guitarist in '76, wraps up the disc with track #21, the only one on the disc that's not actually from the '69-'74 time frame, though it sounds it, despite being recorded as late as 1982.
Whoo! Along with our recent initiation into the wonderfulness of the "chicha" sound (which combined Andean folk traditions with psych/beat influences), this comp certainly adds to our infatuation with Peruvian music of the psychedelic era. If you dig stuff like the Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin America comp you'll want to hear this. The cd booklet is illustrated with vintage photos and press clippings, and includes informative liner notes in Spanish and (somewhat abridged) English.
MPEG Stream: LOS TEXAO "Stone"
MPEG Stream: FREE LOVE SYSTEM "Correteando Anoranzas"
MPEG Stream: LOS INCOGNITOS "Ya Sera Tarde"
MPEG Stream: LOS TEXAO "Pobre Gato"

V/A Samba Soul 70! (Ziriguiboom / Crammed) cd 16.98
Soul influenced tracks from Brazil dating mostly from the mid to late seventies. Laced with funky electric bass, rhodes piano, horn sections, female choruses singing backup, and even the occasional string section, this is a perfect soundtrack for swank retro cocktail parties to get those guests dancing. A must for fans of the saucy soundtrack releases on the Crippled Dick Hot Wax label. Includes cuts by Gal Costa, Wilson Simonal, Banda Black Rio, Erlon Chaves, Elis Regina and more. Compiled by Beco Dranoff & Marc Hollander of Ziriguiboom and Dj Dalua of Bossacucanova.
RealAudio clip: CHAVES, ERLON "Cosa Nostra"
RealAudio clip: COSTA, GAL "Barato Total"

V/A Tropicalia (Lilith) cd 21.00
Lilith is really on top of the Tropicalia reissues and this time we see back in stock the compilation / collaboration that served as the Brazilian movement's defining manifesto while also highlighting the key musical players: Gil Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Os Mutantes, Gal Costa and producer Rogerio Duprat (with contributions from Nara Leao, Tom Ze, and Vicente Celestino among others). We were surprised to find we didn't review this ten years ago when we first discovered and raved about Os Mutantes and heard about the Tropicalia movement from the late sixties with all this amazing and creative art, poetry and music. Although it's easy to be blinded by Os Mutantes' genius, as they were definitely the most rocking and performative component of the movement, which was made up of mostly singer-songwriters that came from more traditional musical forms of Samba, Fado and Bossa Nova. So perhaps we were less floored musically with that aspect of this compilation at the time, or just didn't appreciate enough the then-radical concept of mashing all these disparate forms of psychedelic rock, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and Brazilian popular styles together in a country that nationalized its traditional music to such a degree that even electric instruments were considered anathema. We are definitely appreciating it much more now. Especially after becoming more familiar with the solo work of each of the contributors, we're more open this time around to the softer nuances of the song writing and performances. Panis et Circencis (Bread and Circuses) is both a celebration and a political critique, a collaboration of unity and vitality and most of all longevity.
MPEG Stream: OS MUTANTES "Panis et Circensis"
MPEG Stream: CAETANO VELOSO "Enquanto Seu Lobo Nao Vem"
MPEG Stream: GAL COSTA "Mamae Coragem"

V/A Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution In Sound (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
You can always count on Soul Jazz for a beautifully packaged and well thought out compilation. This time out it's a trip to late '60s early '70s Brazil for the suave sounds of the founders of tropicalia. Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, Gal Costa, Jorgen Ben, Gilberto Gil, and of course ultimate AQ faves Os Mutantes. With a sound that mixes elements of psychedelic rock, samba, funk, soul and avant-garde aesthetics like tape loops and delays. Crazy to think that during the dictatorial political atmosphere in Brazil at the time many of these artists were seen as dangerous because of the revolutionary sounds they were creating. Veloso and Gil were even arrested and deported. What they began was a sound and style that's been picked up by new generations across the globe. Just listen to records by Beck, Olivia Tremor Control (listen to the Veloso sound sample, an OTC dead ringer!), Sam Prekop, David Byrne and many others and you can hear how these sounds have shaped some of the smartest pop music of the last quarter-century.
MPEG Stream: "Lost In The Paradise"
MPEG Stream: "Domingo No Parque"
MPEG Stream: "Tuareg"
MPEG Stream: "A Minha Menina"

V/A Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution In Sound (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You can always count on Soul Jazz for a beautifully packaged and well thought out compilation. This time out it's a trip to late '60s early '70s Brazil for the suave sounds of the founders of tropicalia. Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, Gal Costa, Jorgen Ben, Gilberto Gil, and of course ultimate AQ faves Os Mutantes. With a sound that mixes elements of psychedelic rock, samba, funk, soul and avant-garde aesthetics like tape loops and delays. Crazy to think that during the dictatorial political atmosphere in Brazil at the time many of these artists were seen as dangerous because of the revolutionary sounds they were creating. Veloso and Gil were even arrested and deported. What they began was a sound and style that's been picked up by new generations across the globe. Just listen to records by Beck, Olivia Tremor Control (listen to the Veloso sound sample, an OTC dead ringer!), Sam Prekop, David Byrne and many others and you can hear how these sounds have shaped some of the smartest pop music of the last quarter-century.
MPEG Stream: "Lost In The Paradise"
MPEG Stream: "Domingo No Parque"
MPEG Stream: "Tuareg"
MPEG Stream: "A Minha Menina"

V/A Welcome To The Party (Jazzman) cd 17.98

V/A What Remains Of Eden: Anatolian & Levantine Music 1928-1952 (Mississippi / Canary / Change) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
It's practically raining Mississippi Records around here these days, no complaints, though sometimes it can be difficult for us to focus on which ones we want to review first! Not too difficult in this case though, as What Remains Of Eden, released in conjunction with Mississippi's Canary imprint and the Change label, focuses on Middle Eastern recordings made in the late 1920s all the way up to the early 1950s, which we are always curious to hear more of, as these sounds are still so incomprehensibly beautiful and exotic to our ears. This album is a great companion piece to Tompkins Square's massive To What Strange Place: The Music Of The Ottoman-American Diaspora 3cd set, though unlike those recordings which were made by immigrants living in New York, the records represented here were imported to America by labels who in the midst of the Great Depression found this method more profitable than having to actually pay musicians working in America. The notes bring up this unique aspect of the compilation, as these songs weren't culled from records found in the Middle East but instead from records sold mainly to Christian and Jewish minorities in the U.S., thereby representing specific market tastes.
The music within came from the regions making up present-day Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt, and the Ottoman roots are unmistakable. The deep spiritual nature of this region, home of the historical Garden of Eden, is reflected in each song, and anyone who has enjoyed previous Mississippi / Canary outings like the String Of Pearls compilation, Marika Papagika's The Further The Flame, The Worse It Burns and recent ROTW honoree Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, will find much to love. As always, highly recommended.

VALENCA, ALCEU Molhado De Suor (Som Livre) cd 19.98
Last year was a rich one for some amazing Tropicalia reissues and rediscoveries of long lost classics. Whether it was the first five Os Mutantes records or classics by Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso or more obscure gems from Luiz Eca, Som Imaginario, Rubinho E Mauro and maybe our favorite of the bunch the collaboration between Alceu Valenca and Geraldo Azevedo. Valenca's beautiful and mystifying vocal delivery and songwriting had us so hooked as that record became one of our most listened to treasures of last year. So of course we've been doing everything in our power to get our hands on more primo Valenca recordings and this one, recorded in 1974 is definitely another solid gold gem. A little more rocking and charged then the record with Azevedo, Mollhado De Suor shows a more extroverted side to Valenca, but still exploring a nice wide range of sounds, which is one of the things we love so much about Valenca. One song he is rocking and all you want to do is jump around in the grass and follow him wherever he decides to go, while the next song might be dreamier and more pastoral, painting him as an artist as comfortable with introspection as he is with bold and upfront fire. That might sound sort of like a modern day songwriter we love lots as well, Devendra Banhart. In fact last time Devendra was in the store he bought a copy of the Valenca & Azevedo cd and we have a feeling that he's been listening to lots of Alceu's recordings lately as a sneak peak listen to his forthcoming record made abundantly clear.
On Mollhado De Suor, Valenca is backed by some of the greats in the Brazilian scene of that time, Geraldo Azevedo actually appears on this record too, playing craviola and Brazilian acoustic guitar and AQ fave Lula Cortes is also in the mix playing dulcimer on most of the record. Another 70's gem from Brazil that demands your ears' attention!
MPEG Stream: "Punhal De Prata"
MPEG Stream: "Molhado De Suor"
MPEG Stream: "Borboleta"

VALENCA, ALCEU & GERALDO AZEVEDO s/t (Discos Mariposa) cd 17.98
One of the best reissues we've stumbled across recently, of a record we had never heard of. Alceu Valenca & Geraldo Azevedo were Brazilian musicians and composers from the Pernambuco region of Brazil who created a distinct style that mixed elements of psychedelic folk/rock with native northeast rhythms of freco, maracatu, xote, etc. There is something so totally sensual and sexy about this record. It's in their voices and playing and the glimmering recording. With mixing and arrangements in the talented hands of Rogerio Duprat (Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes) this has some trademark elements of some of the best and most creative elements of Tropicalia but for sure with their own unique and varied stylings. Totally not a one trick pony at all. What we love so much about this record is that it takes lots of twists and turns but everywhere it goes we more than willingly go right along with it. When it's sweet and sultry it succeeds by not being too polished and by subtly seducing you into its sounds. Almost like what Serge Gainsbourg would sound like at his prime if he was living in Brazil. We also can't stop thinking about how the folks in Blonde Redhead may borrowed a bit from this record as their sensual and compelling melodies seem to have their roots in this recording. Maybe. Just in time for summer, this has proven to be the perfect soundtrack for days filled with sun, romance and adventure. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Planetario"
MPEG Stream: "Ciranda De Mae Nina"

VALLE, MARCOS The Essential Marcos Valle (Mr. Bongo) cd 15.98
(from the liner notes:)
"Marcos Valle is a composer, arranger and singer from Rio, Brasil. This compilation covers his Samba 68 work, right up to his early 80s material. He was responsible for popularising bossa in the US, and struck gold with the Samba 68 LP... In the 60s Valle brought bossa to the masses, with protest songs talking about democracy ... and poverty in the language of the North."

VELOSO, CAETANO Araca Azul (Lilith) cd 21.00
This is certainly an unexpected surprise! Caetano Veloso's misunderstood experimental outing from 1972 (the same year he returned to Brazil following a three year exile in London, and recorded the mostly English album, Transa) prompted massive refund requests from his diehard fanbase when it was released, but has remarkably withstood the test of time. Saying that he wanted to record an album without thinking, Araca Azul is marked by exuberance as well as a kinetic sense of urgency. Wordless vocals, concrete sound effects, strange serpentine song forms that appear and dissipate, bits of orchestra, and percussive passages followed by psych-tinged rockers and sublime ballads. It's all over the map but always exciting and interesting. It may not be the best album to start with for those new to Veloso's discography, but it's becoming one of our favorites. We think perhaps Devendra Banhart listened to this a lot while recording his latest record. So Awesome!!
MPEG Stream: "Gilberto Misterioso"
MPEG Stream: "De Cara / Eu Quero Essa Mulher"
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Cane Fields Forever"

VELOSO, CAETANO CE (Universal ) cd 17.98
Last year was a pretty great year for Tropicalia. With a reunited Os Mutantes touring all over the world, a killer Soul Jazz compilation that helped more ears fall in love with the thrilling sounds coming from Brazil in the oh so turbulent late '60s / early '70s. So it makes so much cosmic sense that one of the founders of Tropicalia, Caetano Veloso, starts off this year releasing one of his best and most rocking records in years. While his last few outings have veered towards the easy listening schmaltz side of the sonic spectrum with far too many ballads, Ce finds him all stripped down and exuding a youthful energy that we haven't seen or heard for years. Such vibrancy and color! It's so hard to believe he's 64 years old, and we'd be hard pressed to think of many other people his age still making music as compelling as the sounds on Ce, as this blows away anything folks like Bowie, McCartney or Young have made in recent years. Worth it alone for the opening track "Outro", a scorching almost indie-rock sounding anthem, which has our vote for one of the best songs of the year. The album as a whole is so solid and listen after listen we keep falling in love again and again with Veloso's song writing prowess. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Outro"
MPEG Stream: "Rocks"

VELOSO, CAETANO s/t (A Little More Blue) (Lilith) cd 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A Little More Blue is an understatement. This is some heavy sadness. Beautiful but really sad. Recorded in London while in government imposed exile, this record, mostly sung in English except for the final track, finds Veloso trying to cope with being a stranger in a strange land. Of course abject times can be deep sources of inspiration as two of his most popular songs, "London, London" and "Maria Bethania", are found here. The latter song, a tribute to his sister, a popular singer in her own right (and who by the way, has been grossly under-appreciated in the whole Tropicalia / MPB revival), has the most moving lyrics: "Maria Bethania, send me a letter / I want to hear that things are getting better."
Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "London, London"
MPEG Stream: "Maria Bethania"
MPEG Stream: "Asa Branca"