Latin | Brazil Sale 76 Items

For her first solo project, the French-Chilean singer Alsy has teamed up with producers Rose, Peter Dallas and Jimmy Whoo. Co- produced with Jimmy Whoo, this EP reflects the meeting of the two artists' worlds, between the nocturnal atmosphere of Motel Music and the sunny ambiance of the singer's South American influences.

With her project Candela, Alsy has imagined her own musical universe, intimate and deep, rich in the variety of her influences. The lyrics are passionate, the rhythms smooth and warm, and the project is a subtle mix of modernity and nostalgia, between steamy reggaeton, smooth synth pop and hypnotic electro.

The singer's smooth and bewitching voice is the hallmark of this debut EP, which takes us on a dreamy journey from Paris to Santiago, against a backdrop of rhythmic and atmospheric music.

I am Álvaro Sosa, a bassist musician originally from Cd. Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico, where I grew up and which remains my home to this day. Since my childhood, I have felt a great passion for music, exploring various rhythms and genres. However, Latin rhythms have always been a fundamental part of my life, thanks to the influence of my family. Although I didn't admit it at first, I understood that these rhythms were part of my identity and were rooted in my roots. Approximately 10 years ago, the idea of a Jamaican music project arose in my mind, an inspiration that grew up since I discovered these rhythms that I fell in love with. This music fueled my desire to play an instrument, consolidating my dedication to this beautiful profession. However, due to my development as a musician and resource limitations at the time, I was unable to shape the project. My love for Jamaican music persisted, and accepting that I could not replicate its authentic sound, I decided to fuse the Latin rhythms I have known since my childhood, with Jamaican music. This is how the project was born, impregnated with that Latin essence, evident in each song and in the session format that gives me the freedom to collaborate with musicians I admire. The challenge for this year is to bring the project to live stages, an idea that was not initially in my plans, but given the demand of those who appreciate the project, I am willing to make it a reality. The new album follows the same concept as the first, a journey through Latin American Ska with some Reggae and Rocksteady as well, maintaining the essence of The Jamming Sessions. It includes new collaborations, more solid arrangements and an improvement in recording quality, because a work done with love and respect deserves the best. I’m sure that those who enjoyed Vol.1 will fall in love with Vol.2. Featuring 11 flavored songs, this album represents my musical passion evolution.

The name of the band and the cover of the disc explicitly reveal the influence: Secos&Molhados. Investing in androgenia, progressive rock and samba-soul, Assim Assado tried to be a response of the small CID label to the enormous success that the Secos&Molhados did to the young public.

Led by Miguel de Deus (formerly Os Brazões), who signed most of the compositions and assumed the guitar and vocals, the group never took off, leaving only this LP, now almost forgotten. Curiosity: in 1977 Miguel de Deus falls headlong into funk, casting the rather interesting (and rare) "Black Soul Brothers" Also repressed on Groovie Records.

Band formed by Miguel de Deus in 1974, inspired by the Secos&Molhados and making clear both in the name, which is copied from a song of Secos&Molhados, both on the cover of the band's only album. Also the visual was well androgen but the music, a mixture of psychedelic, Progressive and a strong touch of Brazilian Soul music. The only album that had the same name as the band, did not get repercussion despite presenting a lot of quality.

Now the repress of this rare pearl brings to the light the huge talent of Miguel De Deus.

This is a 180g pressing.

Further adventures in psychedelic disco cumbia from one-man-band C.A.M.P.O.S. on the much-awaited second studio album

C.A.M.P.O.S. is a one-man tropical electronic psych band consisting of multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer Joshua Douglas Camp. Though C.A.M.P.O.S. stands for Cumbias And More Psychedelic Original Sounds, there are no limits to Camp’s musical creativity, with the project taking cues from everything from Americana and pop rock to Cuban son and German electronica. This is no surprise as Camp has been involved with many diverse groups over the years, including Latin-flavored outfits Chicha Libre, Locobeach and Los Crema Paraíso, but also his country band Westwork, the Eastern-European klezmer quintet Litvakus and literary rockers One Ring Zero.

Since releasing his debut double LP as C.A.M.P.O.S., Miracles & Criminals, on Peace & Rhythm in 2016, Camp has developed his repertoire into a live show that has garnered a devoted following, and which has also seen the live band he assembled evolving into its own distinct entity, Locobeach.

When the pandemic forced Camp into exile he used the time to once more focus on C.A.M.P.O.S. and his one-man-band skills. This initially resulted in two albums, Shake Up The World: Live In The Studio Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, both performed live and recorded in one take at his home studio (and both digitally released by Peace & Rhythm, in 2020 and 2021 respectively).

In addition, he continued to work on the long-awaited follow-up studio album to Miracles & Criminals, which had begun years prior and progressed in the fleeting moments when his other projects allowed. With time to once more concentrate on C.A.M.P.O.S., the album soon began to take shape, eventually coalescing into The Eighth Door. Though catalyzed by isolation, it is far from a solo effort, with Camp enlisting collaborators including pianist and arranger Marlysse Simmons (Bio Ritmo, Miramar), who had initially told Peace & Rhythm about Camp’s unreleased backlog of tropical tracks from back in the Chicha Libre days (which became Miracles & Criminals), to other Chicha Libre band mates Neil Ochoa and Karina Colis, as well as Gabo Tomasini (Yotoco), who was a founding member of Bio Ritmo and played in C.A.M.P.O.S.’s first live appearance in 2016.

As with all C.A.M.P.O.S. releases, The Eighth Door takes you on a cosmic trip to a multi-dimensional landscape of the mind where the body also knows the pleasures of dance and sensuality, but this time there is more focus, with fewer songs and a fuller sound. Yes there is a dark side to planet C.A.M.P.O.S., to which the album sometimes ventures, but ultimately the record is a voyage of self-discovery, making connections between sounds and sentiments that, on paper, appear unlikely companions. Yet, once bound together by the intimate circuitry of Joshua Camp’s creativity and serious songwriting skills, all elements gel in a gravity-defying way. Exotic-sounding electronic keyboards, jangly, fuzzy guitars and percolating percussion loops seamlessly carry the listener through two sides of galaxy-spanning mini epics, sometimes with vocals, sometimes instrumental, and often infused with the shuffling beat of Colombia’s cumbia rhythm with a few disco, rock or salsa accents thrown in for good measure.

Camp juxtaposes the raw and the smooth, destructive and redemptive, sweet and ominous, digital and analog, organic and synthetic, intimate and expansive, all of which combine into an apt metaphor for where we find ourselves today. On The Eighth Door C.A.M.P.O.S. pulls the great unknown to a realm just within our grasp.

Album cover art by Selina Josephs and photo of Joshua Camp by Julian Parker Burns. Released in conjunction with Calle de Campos, Hyperopia Records (Canada) and Sounds and Colours (uk). Digital album has five bonus tracks, which also come with download card for vinyl purchase.

DJ Tudo e sua Gente de Todo Lugar’s 7th album, breed from Brazilian field recordings and made between 2007 and 2019 in trips around the world - Brazil and 11 other countries. It is a project that should have come out in 2013, but the “Pancada Motor - Manifesto da festa” came out ahead, having as a sequel the two volumes of Gaia Music series. By early 2019, the album was finalized. Pancada Motor is a term derived from the Alagoas traditions like the Samba de Matuto, Cambinda, Baianá and Caboclinha, about their cultural make or their rhythms. Here this name has been expanded to other cultures and rhythms of Brazil. Transformation and Cure are urgent needs for humanity and our relation with the planet, we need to transform our relationship with each other and Mother Earth for our healing as a whole. Artists from many countries and different cultures contributed to this work. It is hard to place an order of greatness and importance but certainly the traditional Brazilian groups were the initial inspiration: Matutinhas do Pontal de Coruripe, Cambinda Palmeirense de Porto de Pedras, Maracatu Nação e Rural de Recife, Caceteira do Seu Rindu de São Cristóvão, Terno de Congo 13 de Maio de Goiânia, Reisado São Miguel de Juazeiro de Norte, Carimbó Raízes de Coremar de Salinas and Queen Dona Neta from Maracatu Cruzeiro do Forte do Recife. Equally fundamental is the contribution of Sérgio Ricardo, legend of MPB (Brazilian Popular Music), and Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux that features the track “Terra para todos (Land for all)”. From Belgium, Rolland Van Campenhout, Steven de Bruyn, Bart Maris, Tuur Florizoone and David Bovée. Alan Bryden and Stuart Brown, BigTad and duo Twelfth day Esther and Catriona from Scotland. From Paris, guitarist Stefane Goldman who has participated in several DJ Tudo’s albums. From London, the percussionist Crispin Robinson, Lopa Kotari and Mariana Pinho. From Rio de Janeiro, the keyboardists Sacha Amback and Marcos Lobato. Lu Dlamini from South Africa. American drummer Marque Gilmore, who was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden. From Istanbul the Zas Player Murat Ertel. Rajasthan musicians met unexpectedly at a casual ride in a hotel elevator in Durban, South Africa. Brasília singer Ana Soares. From Ljubljana, Slovenia, accordionist Uros and Beth. From São Paulo, my brothers and sisters in arms: Gente de Todo Lugar - drummer Gustavo Souza, percussionist and singer Rafaella Nepomuceno, guitarist Rafael Martinez, saxophonists Marcelo Monteiro and Filipe Nader and trumpeter Amílcar Rodrigues. Planetary voices in the track “Nietzsche era triste ....” recorded in several countries. Thank you so much for the music and the affection that you put in this work, the result is nine songs and nine seasons linked to life. Knowing and respecting cultures is an eternal path of transformation, that this work reaches each one as a transforming element, especially in this almost inexplicable moment that we live on the planet.

Nada Escrito is Dorotheo’s third full-length album and a reflection of the band’s evolution through the years. The project’s progressive nature and their psychedelic rock foundation has blossomed to a different sonic direction, reminiscent of hauntology music, echoing the experimental spirit of bands like Broadcast, Stereo Lab or Silver Apples, yet landing ideas from latin-american and middle-eastern music among many other influences with their signature song-writing, channeled by the production hand of Hugo Quezada (Progreso Nacional, Exploded View) and the musical possibilities enabled by the new line-up.

This album is the follow-up to their celebrated Como Es (2021), which was conceived as a duo integrated by front-man, singer and guitarist Benjamín Zárate and Otto Malgesto on drums and vocals. However, the album release tour was performed as a quintet, introducing new songs with the return of co-founder bassist-singer Anton Cerda, the inclusion of Efraín Valadez on synthesizers and the extraordinary Cynthia Estévez adding a second lead vocal persona, spacey keyboards, hypnotic wind instruments and new lyrics. Together, they created Nada Escrito, expanding their music to a completely new form.

“A band with the hauntological cool of Broadcast and Stereolab." – NPR

“Dorotheo es integrado por elementos de antiguas agrupaciones que han decidido abrir un nuevo camino. Bases krautrock se pueden percibir de primera mano, planos llenos de psicodelia y tendencias al shoegaze terminan de forjar su arte, que sin duda corre haciendo transgresiones al tiempo, que nos invita a imaginar escenarios retóricos y ambiguos.” – Rolling Stone

Record Store Day Exclusive. For the first time on vinyl! One of the world's best bassists with an MPB legend feat. Azymuth drummer Ivan Conti, percussion master Marcos Suzano & Dudu Viana on piano.

Long time awaited and first time reissue on Vinyl / Limited initial press only - No repress / For fans of Clube da Esquina, Outro Tempo (Music From Memory), ECM label / Most important Brazilian album as post-Clube da Esquina which combined landscape of Brazilian folklore with extraordinary music such as Egberto Gismonti using acoustic instrumentals and synthesizers.

Everaldo Marcial aka Évé, born in 1951 and raised in Sao Paulo, fled the Brasilian dictatorship in 1974 to settle in France. Canto Aberto, originally released on the Free Lance label in 1979, is his one and only sought-after recording, made before he moved to the US in the early 80s and decided to quit music. Recorded with Parisian musicians, noteworthy fellow expatriate Manduka on one song and the African American saxophonist Bruce Tobe Grant as musical director, the music of Évé will please fans of Egberto Gismonti, Nana Vasconselos, Milton Nascimento, Edu Lobo... This first vinyl reissue is remastered from the original master tapes by Frank Merritt at The Carvery

“Exposição Popular” is the new album from Rio de Janeiro based producer and composer Guerrinha, sonically orbits 80´s new wave & fusion jazz, imagine a lost ECM gem, layered in low-fi subterranean exoticism, that somehow conjures the soundtracks of Angelo Badalamenti. Here we find Guerrinha loosened up, the rhythm spilling out, playfully impossible to grasp as it floats over space-age ambient synth and organ work that takes references from Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Rita Lee. “The last LP, "Cidade Grande" was all about acceptance of the big city as a monolith, but here I wanted to focus on the exposition of the intimate as the most logical, obvious choice. Hence the name "Exposição Popular" (in english "Popular Exhibition"), which is wordplay, as all exhibitions should be inherently popular since they're all out about exhibiting yourself to everyone, but because of the nature of the art, it becomes the opposite of the "popular", it becomes niche.” - Guerrinha

Sao Paulo's Garotas Suecas keep evolving their sound on their awaited third album
"Futuro do Pretérito". These 12 new tracks form a mesmerizing take on Brazilian
60s/70s soul, pop and funk which sounds fresh and of today while dealing with a
wide range of issues from politics and sentimental troubles to tropical fruits.
DESCRIPTION On their third album, "Futuro do pretérito", Garotas Suecas begin
a new phase as a four-piece where the four musicians also share the lead vocals:
Irina Bertolucci (vocals, keyboards), Tomaz Paoliello (vocals, guitar), Fernando
Perdido (vocals, bass) and Nico Paoliello (vocals, drums). The album deals with a
wide range of issues, from thorny political matters to sentimental troubles and
even tropical fruits. "The songs were developed during 2016 in our new horizontal
line-up: four singers, four musicians, four songwriters. We started recording in
early 2017, at Freak studio. It's the first time that both the production and the
mixing has been done by the band. The records comes completely from within
ourselves, it's less referential and more organic. We chose our own formula rather
than any established formulas," states Tomaz Paoliello. "Futuro de Pretérito"
features guest musicians such as long-time collaborator percussionist Matheus
Prado (Projeto Coisa Fina), saxophonist Filipe Nader (Música de Selvagem, Trupe
Chá de Boldo), guitar players Marcelo Vogelaar (Holger) and Marcelo Lemos
(Vruumm, Projeto Coisa Fina) and keyboardist Andre Bruni (Mel Azul, Cupin). The
artwork is by illustrator and designer Walter Rego.

The Joy Of Flying (German title ?Silvia im Reich der Wollust?) is a porn soundtrack from 1977 which doesn?t have a parachute. It going directly into heaven without return. Similar situation as with the prices on the Discogs of the 1978 Hongkong compilation soundtrack featuring some songs of this movie, the prices are astronomical? Finest Comic, Disco, Bossa, Ambient album by legendary Gerhard Heinz from 1977. Reminding over long passages of classics like Richard Schneider ? Dreamlike Land or Wolfgang Maus ? Children Of The Universe, both produced also in 1977. Official first time ever full LP album soundtrack release.First pressing with 2 foldout bonus posters

For the second instalment in our Cuban Classics series, we proudly present this sought-after slice of sublime Afro-Cuban jazz from 1976. It comes courtesy of one of Cuba’s most influential acts, Grupo Irakere. Founded in 1973 by Chucho Valdés (son of the Cuban pianist and bandleader Bebo Valdés) the group was home to many of Cuba’s finest musicians over the years. With an electrifying style and sound, they mixed traditional Cuban music with jazz, funk, and rock.

This self-titled album includes the much-loved, dancefloor heavy-hitter 'Chequeré-Son’, a Latin-jazz funk masterpiece with Cubanized bebop-flavoured horn lines, lush keys, and ‘70s hip swagger. Though 'Chequeré-Son’ is the keystone of the record, the album is laced with brilliance at every turn, from the Carlos Santana-esque channelling ‘Iya’ with its percussive Latin power, to the sultry, slick and passionate '38 1/2’. Elsewhere, the absorbing, ever-building energy of 'Juana 1600’ and steamy vocal dancer ‘Xiomara’ are also highlights of this incredible album.

Pressed on Cuba’s state led Areito Records, the album was well received internationally, garnering distribution in Finland on Love Records, in Italy on Phase 6 Super Stereo, and also in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela.

A cherished Afro-Cuban triumph, this album has been crying out for a reissue and we’re delighted to make that happen.

Future Rootz has collaborated with Canal Sounds and Egrem to release this gem from bass player and producer Jorge Soler León.

Originally released in 1977 under Egrem, it has become one of the rarest and most wanted albums to come out of the Cuban music archives. While Jorge Soler recorded and produced many tracks for many artists from that period, Grupo Yoyi is his only known solo project. This album presents a fusion of traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz, funk and disco, and it is full of amazing horn solos and incredible synth work. This is a must have, bringing both chillness for lounging and energy to heat up the dance floor.

The release comes on 180g vinyl. For the second 12” of the series we’ve enlisted two of the most on-fire producers in Germany: Max Graef and Glenn Astro, along with one of the UK’s brightest ascendant producers. Back fighting, kicking and beating as strong as or perhaps even stronger than ever before, Ivan ‘Mamao’ Conti is releasing a brand new solo album next year. Now fitted with a new iron hip- thanks to the immense generosity of his fan base who crowdfunded the operation – the Azymuth drummer still remains one of the greatest and outright funkiest drummers alive anywhere in the universe as he enters this new bionic era. As people of earth are not yet quite ready to hear the explosively ethereal cosmic samba of his new album just yet, we’re easing into it with a series of appropriately propulsive percussive jazz-headed remixes. For the second 12” of the series we’ve enlisted two of the most on-fire producers in Germany: Max Graef and Glenn Astro, along with one of the UK’s brightest ascendant producers.

23 Tracks - Limited 180-gram Virgin Vinyl Edition. Born in Bahia, Brazil, singer/song writer Joao Gilberto (1931-2019) was a true legend of bossa nova. While Antonio Carlos Jobim set the standard for the creation of bossa nova in the mid-'50s, with songs like "The Girl From Ipanema" and "Desafinado", it was Gilberto who brilliantly reimagined and, arguably, defined the genre. This edition includes the complete contents of the album Brazil's Brilliant Joao Gilberto, which received a five-star rating from AllMusic, plus several of his greatest hits from his early years. "This vitally important record introduced Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and thus, bossa nova to the United States in 1961, a year before Stan Getz scored a hit with 'Desafinado'."- AllMusic (Richard S. Ginell), 5 Stars

A masterpiece of South American percussion, recorded in 1977 by worldwide legend and Gipsy Kings percussionist Jorge Trasante—and impossible to find for decades—finally reissued!

'In the mid-'70s I was struck by a young Uruguayan percussionist named Jorge Trasante. I met him accompanying Rada and Pippo Spera, in recordings in the Sondor Studio. He turned out to be an experienced percussionist and remarkable musical researcher, despite his young age, only 23 years old. At that time he invited me to a rehearsal with Eduardo Mateo, at his house in El Cordón. We decided to record the album 'Mateo y Trasante', which today is an iconic album of Uruguayan music. And at the same time, I suggested to Jorge, to record an LP of instrumental percussion, based on Afro Uruguay rhythms. It became his letter of introduction when a few months later he traveled to Europe, where he joined very good groups, including the Gipsy Kings, with whom he recorded 18 albums between 1987 and 2001, and also accompanied other great artists. Jorge Trasante settled in Paris, France, where he lived for more than 30 years. The album “Folklore Afro Uruguayo” was not a success of the moment, but is a sound document which maintains its validity through time.” —Enrique Abal Oliú


'I left (Uruguay) in early 1977. We were finishing a cycle with Mateo, Buscaglia, Yánez and Mariana Vigil. I studied technical drawing at the Universidad del Trabajo del Uruguay… and worked in a cigar and cigar factory—that was my mother's trade—which allowed me to buy the instruments that Emilio Acevedo made in Ansina 1036; he was the great teacher. The first drums I paid for in a thousand installments. He would lend me pailas, Ameijenda or Galletti would lend me a cymbal, I never had anything.

I left because here I was very “wounded' and the political thing got very hard with the dictatorship and the music weighed more than everything. I decided to jump to Europe, where there were great friends. And I went with 70 kilos of drums to Paris to Mario Aguerre, former bassist of Los Delfines. Knowing that I had arrived, Emilio Arteaga called me and he proposed to set up a group with Jorge Pinchevsky, a great Argentine violinist who had played in La Pesada del Rock & Roll. We set up an experimental group with Latin rhythms to play on the street, in clubs, where he would paint. I used to play a set of congas, timbales, and we made Andean music, very fashionable then… and that summer of 1977 in the south of France we did very well. There I crossed paths for the first time with the Gipsy Kings, who also played on the street doing 'the manga' with their gypsy rumba.” —Jorge Trasante

Record Store day exclusive. For the first time on vinyl! The fabled extended recording.... from the unreleased 1977 Natureza album produced, arranged, and conducted by Claus Ogerman.

Next up in the Mr Bongo Cuban Classics series is an outing by the mighty Juan Pablo Torres from 1978. Released on Cuba’s state-owned Areito imprint, Algo Nuevo showcases trombonist, bandleader, arranger and producer Juan Pablo Torres' unique scope of sound. A melting pot of an album that weaves together jazz-funk and traditional Afro-Cuban genres with tripped-out synth touches and dancefloor grooves.

The opener 'Pan Caliente' is a fiery celebration, combining a driving groove with Latin percussion, feverish horns and infectious “la-la-la” vocals. The wild, squelching cosmic synthlines give an otherworldly touch to proceedings that sit nicely on a modern dancefloor. 'Guajira 2001' is perhaps Juan's future-focussed take on the vibrant style of Cuban dance-led music called guajira. Blistering bongos, congas and claves moving together with trumpets, trombones and twanging acoustic guitars that you can’t help but bounce to.

Other highlights include, 'Cacao', a Cuban cosmic funk strutter that places the claves upfront, with a scatting vocal line and percussive climax reminiscent of George Kranz electronic disco anthem 'Din Daa Daa' from 1983. Elsewhere, 'Elvira' further showcases the psychedelic essence of many of the album’s tracks. A deep Latin workout where tasty percussive breaks and scorching keys blend with trippy vocals and rumbling synths.

A varied album encompassing a variety of Afro-Cuban genres and rhythms entwined with flashes of mind-bending cosmic influence. Algo Nuevo is a further jewel in Cuba’s musical crown of riches, with plenty of dancefloor treats and downtempo numbers held within.

The next release in the Mr Bongo Cuban Classics series, is one of Juan Pablo Torres' most-known and loved albums, the iconic Super Son from 1977. A wonderful record of tripped-out rumbas, psych-Afro-Latin funk and quirky orchestrated tracks with a big band horn section courtesy of Torres’ band, Algo Nuevo.

As well as being the director of Algo Nuevo and Cuban all-star ensemble Estrellas De Areito, the trombonist, bandleader, arranger and producer also released a wealth of albums under his own name predominately on the state-owned imprint Areito/EGREM.

Post-revolution, there was a contrast in Cuba’s musical world. State censorship was at play, but professional musicians were on the government payroll which gave them an artistic freedom. Experimentation emanated in the ‘70s and ‘80s and Super Son is a prime example of that. ‘Y Que Bien' kicks off the album taking you down a tripped-out, cosmic rabbithole, psych guitars and skat vocals opening up into a joyful funk groove laced with jazzy Afro-Cuban horns stabs. Tracks such as 'Pastel En Descarga' seem to come out of nowhere and are completely unique. Fuzzed-up guitar lines and percussion lay the groundwork, with those jubilant horns adding to the energy of this forever building track.

Elsewhere, there’s the ‘70s TV theme-tune feeling of 'Con Aji Guaguao', a playful funk number that boils and bubbles with blistering trombone playing by Torres. Or ‘Son A Propulsión' and ‘Son Riendo’, two more brilliant examples of psychedelic funk, wrapped up in a blanket of Afro-Cuban rhythms. The former sweeping you up in rushes of wind as trumpets, trombones and distorted guitars trade off, the latter, an intergalactic fiesta of tradition and exploration.

Super Son is up there as one of the funkiest Cuban records around, a playful fusion of ideas from a producer, player and group on fine form and, for us, one of our favourite gems to come out of Cuba in this period. A sheer masterpiece.

In a world governed by stereotypes, Lachinos break down the boundaries between people and gender. It is impossible to clearly distinguish the origin, roots and cultures that are specific to each of its members. An association that turns out to be as unexpected as it is effective on their first EP America Lachina, out on Goutte d’Or, a sub-label of french team Cracki Records. America Lachina is also and above all an ode to Latin American music. One travels to the rhythms of merengue, cha cha cha, cumbia or even Brazilian surf, always with a musical commitment to rock accents.

Future Rootz has collaborated with Canal Sounds and Egrem to release two funky Afro-Cuban tracks recorded in 1973 by Los Caneyes. This is the first musical project of Juan Pablo Torres, one of Cuba’s most influential musical innovators, and this is the first time that these tracks have been released on vinyl. The discs are in a 7" format.

LOS Cirros are one of the most obscure Spanish rock bands from the late 60s. Coming out of a tiny village in one of the smallest provinces of the country sure helped them being fully ignored, but how cool those guys proved to be when discovered in compilations such as “Viñedos” or “Pentecostés Vibrations”!!! They released two seven inches (1969 and 1970), both very very rare and featuring pretty cool songs in a blend of garage, light psychedelia and pop. Now, these two 45s are reissued (marketed together, not to be sold separately!), including an unreleased bonus track and with the usual attention to detail of the Madmua label, with the addition of an insert and two postcards. Limited to 500 copies.

Cosmic jazz from the Canary Islands. After a few years in London, where he worked with Archie Shepp and recorded a sought-after album for the famed library music label De Wolfe, Argentinian pianist Luis Vecchio settled in the island of Gran Canaria following advice from a superior entity from outer space. Vecchio subsequently opened the first jazz school in the Canary Islands, effectively planting the seeds of jazz in the archipelago. In Contactos, recorded in 1978 in the Mayra studio owned by Ramiro González, Vecchio gives a free jazz account (with a dash of funky jazz rock) of his contacts with Adionesis, who delivers his ominous message upon the human race on side B of the album. Fellow Argentinean Fernando Bermúdez on percussion and Japanese bass player Yoichi Yahiro complete the line-up of Contactos.

Cover with ring wear

Limited to 1000 copies for the European market.

Music by Madlib, arranged by Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet. Gil Evans to Miles Davis…. Holger Czukay to the ensemble known as Can….Jean Claude Vannier to Serge Gainsbourg on Histoire de Melody Nelson. That’s the only way to explain the specificity of Four Tet and Madlib’s collaboration, in this special album that showcases a two-decade long friendship that has resulted in an album that follows Madlib’s classics like Quasimoto’s The Unseen, Madvillainy and his Pinata and Bandana albums with Freddie Gibbs. “A few months ago I completed work on an album with my friend Madlib that we’d been making for the last few years. He is always making loads of music in all sorts of styles and I was listening to some of his new beats and studio sessions when I had the idea that it would be great to hear some of these ideas made into a Madlib solo album. Not made into beats for vocalists to use but instead arranged into tracks that could all flow together in an album designed to be listened to start to finish. I put this concept to him when we were hanging out eating some nice food one day and we decided to work on this together with him sending me tracks, loops, ideas and experiments that I would arrange, edit, manipulate and combine. I was sent hundreds of pieces of music over a couple of years stretch and during that time I put together this album with all the parts that fitted with my vision.” - Kieren Hebden AKA Four Tet

Majoie Hajary is an atypical musician. Born in Paramaribo (Suriname) to Indian parents and raised in Amsterdam. In 1970, in France, accompanied by the best Jazz musicians and with arrangements by Roger Guerin, she recorded “La Passion Selon Judas”.

The result was an incredible fusion of Psych, Funk, Indian and Jazz elements – deep religious Jazz in the vein of Jef Gilson.

Mandala made only one eponymous album, recorded in 1971 but released only in 1976. A very rare and influential album, featuring future members of Grupo Um (Nazário and Zeca Assumpção who also played with Hermeto and Egberto Gismonti) and Pau Brasil (Nelson Ayres) - two seminal bands from the Brazilian instrumental scene of the 80s. The sound is a mix of Jazz Fusion with a Brazilian footprint - with a dash of psychedelic atmosphere and the spiced influence of oriental music.

Die cut cover has tears and price tag. With insert. Hand numbered limited edition. White label copy with writings.

Originally released in 1958, Primitiva is a rhythmically rich and inimitably exotic Martin Denny experience. Reissued by Jackpot Records on limited edition ocean blue color vinyl, Primitiva highlights the burgeoning sound of ’50s exotica music, with Denny’s diverse soundscape ranging from vibraphones and marimbas, to Burmese gongs and Buddhist prayer bowls. This third outing from the father of exotica shines in style with stand-out tracks like “Burma Train”, “M'Gambo Mambo”, and “Jamaica Farewell” spanning from the Caribbean coast, to the South Pacific islands, and beyond. Pairing perfectly with beachside Mai Tais and ornamental umbrellas, Primitiva is a hallmark of the mid-century’s lounge music fascination, and is replete with animal cries, pulsing percussion, and enough groovy goodness to keep it a mainstay of your rotation.

Brazilian group Mental Abstrato is back with, "Uzoma" A true mix of the best of Brazilian classic, Afro-Jazz and Hip Hop, featuring legendary MPB singer Claudya, Bocato (Trombonist of Elis regina) Guizado, Erica Dee and Ozay Moore.

The long-awaited second floor-oriented 7" from the masterpiece album "cumbia Siglo Xxi", chosen as the best of the year 2020 by numerous music media and record stores! Strange, poppy and groovy, these are the two coupled tracks that are the Meridian Brothers! The unique mastering, which differs from Lp/cd, was done by Frankie Merritt of The Carvery UK, a leading mastering and cutting company in tropical music and responsible for SOUNDWAY's series of works.

Originally released in 1963, "The Outcast" is a masterpiece that includes "Tour of Jamaica", the strongest jazzy calypso song that continues to captivate many DJs and music lovers!! No other song makes the listener dance with such happiness! The quality of the album as a whole is excellent, and this is truly one of Mighty Sparrow's masterpieces! Please enjoy these two historical masterpieces by the god of calypso, Mighty Sparrow, together with "Tattoo Woman", which will be released at the same time on analog LP!!

El Palmas Music to reissue incredibly hard-to-find album by Venezuelan salsa bandleader and polymath.

Few artists worked as hard at their craft as Ramón Urbina. At the age of 15, and in thrall to the Latin jazz and tropical music he was hearing on the radio, he learnt to play tres guitar. Then he learnt bass. Then percussion, tumbadora, timpani drums, trumpet, trombone, piano, whatever instrument he could get his hands on. A true enthusiast and student of all the tropical music that was percolating through Venezuela and the rest of Latin America at the time, he wanted to understand the art of composition and arranging, and around 1972 he decided to put it to the test, forming his first group, Ramón y su Banda Latina. Taking inspiration from salsa ensembles like Sexteto Juventud, as well as Pastor López, a Venezuelan singer and bandleader who was having huge successes in Colombia for his mix of cumbias, guarachas and boleros, Ramón’s group toured throughout Venezuela during the 1970s. Then one day, he went to see La Dimensión Latina in his home town of Charallave, and he saw the future. The age of salsa with its multi-trombone sound was here, and he wanted to take part, recruiting new members to form Moncho y su Banda. After road testing their material, the new group was ready to record an album in 1981, but finding a record label was not easy. Ramón loved music but he was a homebody too and spent most of his time in Charallave, at a distance from the thriving music scene in Caracas. This, combined with the fact that he’d yet to record an album and create any kind of international reputation meant that he initially struggled to find a label. “God help me, even if I have to pay myself, I’m going to record my album”, he said at the time. Despite no guarantee of any album being released, Moncho y su Banda stepped into a recording studio and didn’t rest until they’d got what they wanted. Those who were there remember a feeling of being at a party, hanging out with family and friends, and dancing all night. After realising they’d forgotten to eat at a session, one of the group’s singers, Eduardo Fernandez, ordered a bottle of sambuca, and just like that they kept on recording, without pause, albeit with extra spirit. Once record label executives finally heard the album, titled Qué Bellas Son (How Beautiful They Are), they couldn’t resist its energy and a release date was set. It’s an album that captures the sound of a working band at ease, playing the kind of set that they would be knocking out at clubs around Venezuela at the time, full of life and passion. Whereas a formulaic salsa sound was forming in the early 80s, Moncho y su Banda bucked the trend, playing a mix of raw, unbridled salsa dura, as well as cumbias, merengues, boleros and chucu-chucus, all with a heady dose of Caribbean spirit that sets the group apart from the more urbane salsa ensembles of the day. Qué Bellas Son is the only album that Ramón Urbina ever recorded, though he has kept performing to this day, where you can still find him in Charallave. A true lover of music, we should be thankful that we have at least this one album of his to remind us of a band at the height of their powers.

Announcing the debut album from one of London’s most electrifying acts, New Regency Orchestra. An 18-piece Afro-Cuban big band, inspired by the musical melting pot of NYC in the 1950s, but with the punch and power of a whole host of London’s best Latin and jazz musicians. Blowing new life into these compositions, the album is a reimagining of some of the finest music from that golden era. From early 1950s René Hernandez and Tito Puente, through to the 1970s salsa of Rafael Labasta and Orlando Marin, produced and performed with fresh fire.

NRO is the brainchild of its artistic director, and the man behind Total Refreshment Centre and Church of Sound, Lex Blondin. Through a long-held passion for jazz, Lex discovered the explosive Afro-Cuban rhythms of mid-1940s NYC via the godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz, Mario Bauzá. A time when two musical worlds collided in a fusion of creativity and energy, jazz luminaries like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker joining forces with Cuban greats like Machito and Chano Pozo. This vibrant sound was music to dance to and found a home at The New York Palladium, a formative space of freedom and expression that was key to the scene’s development.

Although dance-focussed in their makeup, those early recordings are not often heard in modern club environments and Lex dreamt of retelling their story with a contemporary dynamism. A slice of serendipity followed, as a slot at a new festival opened up and Lex jumped at the chance to make this idea a reality, an 18-piece big band breathing new life into these beloved songs.

Enlisting the expertise of some of the capital’s finest talent, Lex and co-captain Andy Wood, of Como No fame, put together a world-class line-up of talent. Bringing in Eliane Correa as musical director and bandleader, a fluid and interchanging 18-piece band was formed.

The album itself is a hand-picked selection of timeless Afro-Cuban jazz classics, reimagined with NRO’s unbridled energy. It contains ten incredible instrumental tracks including 'Pregon' with its anthemic horn stabs and the addictive head nod bounce of 'Mambo Rama', alongside two scorching vocal numbers in 'Papa Boco' and 'Labasta Llego'. Coupling a heavyweight rhythm section with a wall of horns, they provide a fresh spin on songs from Tito Puente and Chico O'Farrill, René Hernandez through to Rafael Labasta.

“Some of the tunes like Tito Puente’s ‘Mambo Rama’ and ‘Scarlet Mambo’ might sound like they went to a gym as extra drums and bass synth were added to them whilst the tune ‘Sahib & Tito’ is a mix of Tito’s ‘Mambo Buda’ and Sahib Shihab’s ‘Nus’. Our intention is to be both respectful to the innovators and inventors of this incredible music and to pay our dues, but also to add something special from London where the city’s new jazz scene connects with its Latin American musicians and the musical influences around us.”

This pure collective joy, shared experience and music you can’t help but move to.

Latin Afrobeat band whose debut LP "Bailalo Duro" was released at the end of 2020 has been the talk of the town. The Nkumba System, led by former Romperayo guitarist Guillo Cros, is now available on Okra!! Both sides are from completely different sessions and were not included on the album "Bailalo Duro". Guillo Cros was a guitarist in the band of Cameroonian music veteran Mama Ohanja before joining the Romperayo. The sound that this wandering French guitarist has created in Bogota with Colombian musicians such as John Socha, who was also a bassist in the Romperayo, is a hybrid groove of Afro-Latin and Latin music from the vintage tropical music revival onward that is distinctly different from the Afro-Latin music of the past. While based on traditional Cameroonian and Colombian rhythms, it also incorporates Afrobeat, champeta, and a touch of psychedelicism to create a strong dance sound that was not possible before.

After NEF's album in 2019, Ici Bientôt is happy to present today the reissue of Comme Au Moulin by Nyssa Musique. Paris 1985... ‘Extra-European’ Traditions meet Jazz and Minimal Music. An unusual array of instruments turn music into a dialogue. For a unique record ... vivid, full of texture, somewhere between Midori Takada, Don Cherry and Jon Hassell. Beginning of the eighties, 5 musicians rehearse in a contemporary dance class hall, upstairs from the ‘’New Morning", renowned Music venue in Paris. Nyssa Musique is born. Passionate for a long time about traditional music, like those of the Middle East, India and East Asia, but also about African traditions, they throw a bridge between Jazz and ‘Extra-European’ traditions, resulting in what would be called "Spiritual Jazz" today, a little bit in the style of Don Cherry's Organic Music or Pharoah Sanders. With the notable difference, however, that their creations are strongly infused by contemporary classical and repetitive music, notably Steve Reich's work with whom they share a great interest for the traditional cultures of Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and its gamelans. In the original group we have Armand Amar, Ballet Music composer and John Boswell. Both specialists of traditional hand percussion which they had been studying for a long time in India and the Middle East, they are also very fond of synthesizers. Three other talented musicians quickly join them: Jean-François Roger, percussionist, marimba and vibraphone specialist, Henri Tournier, multi-flutist and Renaud Garcia-Fons, double bass player, who has a passion for the Middle East and has developed a virtuosic play of the bow, reminding that of Cecil Mc Bee. Each of them enriches the ensemble with their personality, originality and musical generosity. The rehearsal hall is rapidly invaded by the phenomenal instrumentarium put together by Armand Amar. A great opportunity for the musicians, for the dancers, to have access to an endless choice of instruments, offering infinite possibilities for mixing different colors and timbres. Their sense for being a group and their great capacity for improvising culminates, in 1985, in the composition of their first and only album Comme au Moulin (« As by the windmill"), testimony of years of creating without hidden agenda. Authentic, free and vibrant, still today, this album has no real equivalent. Even though it recalls the Fourth World current by its combination of traditional instruments with a subtle use of synthesizers, Comme au moulin gives more space to improvisation. It may also recall those of Midori Takada, less the New Age esthetics. An album that should delight as well lovers of "Love Supreme" by John Coltrane, of "Vernal Equinox" by Jon Hassell, as those of Moondog, an artist who, like them, invented a music based on the use of untypical percussions, at the confluence of 'Extra-European' traditions, Jazz and Classical, all together complex and hypnotic.

Reissue of the 1988 zouk album Pa Flipé by Odissey.

Odissey is a group formed by the Adams brothers (Pascal and Richie), born in Paris to a mother from Guadeloupe and a father from Martinique. At the time, Pascal was a DJ and radio presenter and Richard was a guitarist, both being trained singers. They had been making demo's for some time when one day they met Jolème Narayadou who was a well-known producer in the country, specialized in charming music who wanted to produce something other than slow and bolero (very popular music at the time). The three ventured in the studio and this resulted in the album Pa flipé (which is a Creole expression which means don't be afraid).

The tune Marie Hélène was a hit and is one of the great successes of Zouk in Martinique. The song is about a man in love with an Indian girl and takes place in Martinique, a small island in the French West Indies which saw the birth of Aimé Césaire but also Jean-Philippe Marthély, Jocelyne Béroard, Jean-Claude Naimro from the Kassav group, the legendary band which was born in Guadeloupe and which has toured the world multiple times.

Check the stand out songs : "Viré Love" & "Songe"

One album into their career in 1969, Mutantes showed few signs of musical burnout after turning in one of the oddest LPs released in the '60s. Similar to its predecessor, Mutantes relies on an atmosphere of experimentation and continual musical collisions, walking a fine line between innovation and pointless genre exercises. The lead track ("Dom Quixote") has the same focus on stylistic cut-and-paste as their debut LP's first track ("Panis et Circenses"). Among the band's musical contemporaries, Mutantes sounds similar only to songs like the Who's miniature suite "A Quick One While He's Away" -- though done in three minutes instead of nine, and much more confusing given the language barrier. The album highlights ("Nao Va Se Perder por Ai") and ("Dois Mil e Um") come with what sounds like a typically twisted take on roots music (both Brazilian and American), complete with banjo, accordion, and twangy vocals. Though there are several other enjoyable tracks, including "Magica" and a slap-happy stomp called "Rita Lee," there's a palpable sense that the experimentation here isn't serving much more than its own ends. If the first album's relentless eclecticism did in fact occasionally result in dry passages, it's especially true here

Vinyl with many scuffs and hairlines. Cover with creases.

First ever reissue!! Psychedelic Latin-funk holy grail from Nicaragua, 1974!! Poder del Alma (“Soul Power”) was a supergroup formed by some of the best musicians from the Nica scene. This all-star band of nine members was assembled to play at the famous free concert of Santana in Managua in benefit for the 1972 earthquake. After that successful gig supporting the Latin-Rock superstar, what was to be a one-night stand became the seed of the most loved Nicaraguan act from the 70s. All the members had already played an important role in the history of the Nica music / hippie scene in the 1960s. Among them, we can find Román Cerpas (previously on Bwana), René “Chapo Domínguez (Los Rockets), Edgar “El Gato” Aguilar… A few months after the Managua concert with Santana, Poder del Alma traveled to Guatemala to record their first long play for Dideca (Discos De Centroamérica, S.A.) in just one week of recording sessions. Despite the low budget and precarious recording equipment, the band managed to obtain a powerful psychedelic / afro / funk-rock sound full of electric guitar, heavy drums, hot, percussion, horns, Spanish male/female vocals…featuring titles like “El Valle del Ayatimbo”, “Ia-Taa Yo”, “Zúmbale”…

Considered by many worldwide collectors as one of the best hard-rock albums ever, Rockcelona's "La Bruja" saw the light in 1978 and sank without trace. The band came from Barcelona and could be seen as one of the early Spanish proto-punk bands along with La Banda Trapera Del Rio. Killer sound with primitive English/Spanish vocals and heavy, and I mean Heavy fuzz-wah wah assaults from start to finish!! A must!!!

This new 7-inch by S-tone Inc., that includes two brand new tracks, confirms Stefano Tirone’s 20-year old collaboration with Brazilian songwriter Toco. “Try My Love” is a fluid, relaxed and dreamy funk song that blends soul jazz with a ‘70s downtempo drumming groove. “Odoya”, featuring Toco on vocals, is a bit more faster composition, that would perfectly fit as a soundtrack of a typical Italian police movie from the same decade! Simply fantastic!

Stefano Tirone is an eclectic artist, open to a wide range of different music genres. This new 7-inch, that includes two brand new tracks, confirms his 20-year old collaboration with Brazilian songwriter Toco. Working on these songs for Stefano was like going back to the years when he used to listen to Acid Jazz music, especially to the records produced by the Mizell brothers. Their influence here is obvious from the first notes: the funk in “Try My Love” is not as high-fueled as in James Brown’s songs but, as the legendary brothers taught us, by blending a hint of soul jazz with the ‘70s downtempo drumming groove, we get a fluid brew, relaxed and dreamy. This is exactly what “Try My Love” is about. “Odoya”, featuring Toco on vocals, is a bit more faster composition, that would perfectly fit as a soundtrack of a typical Italian police movie from the same decade! Simply fantastic! - - - Stefano Tirone è un artista eclettico e aperto a una vasta gamma di generi musicali. Questo suo nuovo 45 giri, che contiene due nuove tracce, conferma la sua ventennale collaborazione con il cantautore brasiliano Toco. Lavorare a queste canzoni è stato per Stefano come volgere lo sguardo agli anni in cui era solito ascoltare dischi della scena Acid Jazz, specialmente quelli prodotti dai fratelli Mizell. La loro influenza è evidente sin dalle prime note: il funk di “Try My Love” non è carico di energia come quello di James Brown ma, come i leggendari fratelli ci hanno insegnato, dall’unione di un pizzico di soul jazz con il groove di batteria ‘downtempo’ tipico degli anni ‘70 otteniamo una miscela fluida, rilassata e sognante. Esattamente ciò che si respira in “Try My Love”. “Odoya”, brano che vede la partecipazione di Toco alla voce, è una composizione dal ritmo leggermente più sostenuto, perfetta come colonna sonora di un tipico ‘poliziottesco’ italiano! Eccezionale!

(Classicos EM Vinyl, LP 180gr, Simple cover) Recorded live at "Maracanãzinho" (Rio de Janeiro) on the 23rd of February, 1974. Liner notes by Gerson Conrad.

Composed and arranged collectively, this new opus mixes up Latin, Funk, Pop and Jazz, with the same percussive and strong vocal section, sung in Spanish, English, Creole and Yoruba, (cf. their arrangement of the traditionnal Rezo a Obatala). They also salute the great Camilo Azuquita with a rework of "Guajiro Bacan" (Ramon "Saoco" Perez), which they bring as a pledge of allegiance to the Latin Soul genre.

Vinyl with scuffs and hairlines. Cover with seam splits.

Creole dance music by Shinsuke Fujieda, a flute and saxophone player active in Mumbia y Susu Candelosos and i-dip, leads a group of virtuoso musicians. The sound that responds to the French Caribbean~Zouk revival that has been making waves in the European club scene finally emerges from Tokyo! Shinsuke Fujieda's call has brought together such renowned musicians as Shinichi Tsukamoto (TRIAl Production) and Masaki Nagata (Zainichi Funk) to form the Shinsuke Fujieda Group, which has garnered attention for its groovy, sometimes ceotic, deep and emotional sound that is based on jazz but is distinct from so-called "club jazz. After the release of their magnum opus "informel" in 2021, they have further strengthened their groove intensity and have chosen dance music from the French Caribbean as the theme for their new journey.

Som Imaginário are the stuff of MPB mythos. Integral to Brazil’s Clube Da Esquina movement in the early 1970s, a heady blend of progressive rock, folk, psychedelia, jazz and traditional Brazilian rhythm flows through the three studio albums the band recorded between ‘70 and ‘73. Flying the countercultural freak-flag amid the context of military dictatorship, the Brazilian prog lords shared much of the sense of experimentation and bountiful fuzz bequeathed by their tropicalismo forbearers. But armed with genius composers, arrangers and stupendously high-level musicianship, Som Imaginário introduced a potent harmonic complexity to Brazilian popular music, which would inspire generations of artists to come.



On 4th October 1976, having finished a spell of recording and touring with Milton Nascimento, Som Imaginário performed a concert in celebration of Nature Day in Brasília. The recordings of the show would become “Banda Da Capital”, which, for the past half century, has laid dormant, waiting for its mystical power to be untapped.



In the band that day were original members Wagner Tiso and Fredera, joined by Nivaldo Ornelas, Paulinho Braga and Jamil Joanes. Operating within such a hugely creative and free-spirited scene meant line-up fluctuations were inevitable and former Som Imaginário members also include Laudir de Oliveira (who left to join Chicago), Nana Vasconcelos (who also moved to work in the US), Zé Rodrix, Robertinho Silva, Novelli and Toninho Horta.



Titled after the Belo Horizonte radio station where they would practice during their youth, the show opens with “Rádio Guarany”, an improvisation led by Paulinho Braga and Nivaldo Ornelas. The track morphs into Nivaldo Ornelas’ composition “Xa Mate”, which also opens Milton Nascimento’s Milagre dos Peixes ao Vivo album, featuring Som Imaginário and a 32 piece orchestra.



Having grown up together in Minas Gerais, composer, arranger and keyboard player Wagner Tiso had been another close musical partner of Milton Nascimento’s. Some of their work together includes many of Bituca’s most beloved albums, including Clube Da Esquina, Milton Nascimento (1970) and Maria Maria / Ultimo Trem, as well as Native Dancer: Nascimento’s album with Wayne Shorter.



Explaining the inspiration behind two of the tracks on Banda Da Capital “Igreja Majestosa” (written with Nivaldo Ornelas) and “Os Cafezais sem fim”, Tiso remincies:



“On Sundays I used to watch the coffee plantation workers entering the church. I´d see them working all week, in their humble, dirty clothes. But I was always enchanted by their immaculate dress on Sundays. Taken from a line in a poem by my father, which became the hymn of the city of Três Pontas, the song “the majestic church and the endless coffee plantations ” became sacred for me, because it came from something joyful, from the workers.”

One of the album's most tender moments is a beautiful rendition of the post-tropicalista folk-rock classic “Sabado”, written by Fredera for Som Imaginiaro’s debut album. The lyrics are typical of the “desbunde”: those on the Brazilian left whose response to authoritarianism was a politics of pacifist, often psychedelic, non-conformity (similar to that of “dropping out” in the US)...



“Eu quero o céu e vou com guizos nos sapatos / Minha roupa em farrapos coloridos vou rasgar / E vou dançar entre os cristais azuis do tempo e esquecer”

“I want the sky and will go with bells on my shoes / I will tear my clothes into colourful rags / And I will dance among the blue crystals of time to forget”.

Jamil Joanes, best known as a member of Banda Black Rio, is another Minas Gerais native. His composition for the album is “Imaginados”, a stunning unplugged guitar and vocal performance, highlighting Som Imaginário’s south-eastern home state’s influence on their sound.

Japan goes to Africa ! It's more than a bit ironic that Tak Shindo's most "exotic" album, the superb Mganga!, boasts no connection to his own Japanese heritage, instead focusing on the primal rhythms and tribal chants of Africa. Rooted largely in the arranger's experience on the Latin jazz circuit, its Afro-Cuban rhythms, sampled animal sounds, and chants capture an African musical culture based far more in fantasy than reality, much as rival exotica maestros like Martin Denny and Les Baxter conjured interpretations of the Far East driven by suppositions and daydreams. Shindo documents an Africa informed by libraries and dancehalls, not first-hand experience. That said, Mganga! is vibrant and intoxicating, with a rhythmic intensity quite uncommon for its era. For an artificial experience, it packs a genuine wallop.

Betino's Records proudly presents its third release: an EP by the very sharp collective The Big Hustle. The band founded in 2014 by bass player and composer Sébastien Levanneur, brings together 70's old school funk with the hippest actual sound with influences spanning from Steely Dan to Snarky Puppy, from Mandrill to Lettuce and from Herbie Hancock (Manchild era) to Soulive. With mighty horn players, a rock and funky rhythm section, and percussions added to it, The Big Hustle’s music has a very large variety of sound landscapes. Still, the music never loses the groove and always stays close to the funk.
The A side opens with "Afrorever", a tribute to African culture and music. The guest of honor on this song is legendary Malian musician Cheick Tidiane Seck, longtime partner of Salif Keita, and collaborator of Joe Zawinul, Carlos Santana and Damon Albarn to name a few. After Cheick’s introduction, the songs jumps into a typical afrobeat vibe featuring a tight and powerful horn section, suddenly breaks into an electro funk groove and ends in a furious percussive party.
Second track on the A side is "Faure is the Magic Number". It is dedicated to Thomas Faure (co-composer of the track) and François Faure (both featured on this song on tenor sax and keyboards respectively). This piece displays the band’s ability to blend jazz-funk groove with a heavy hip-hop beat. Kind of DJ Premier meets Steely Dan.
The B side starts with "Afrorever (Sun's Up Mix)". Through this mix, one can acknowledge instantly Olivier Portal's touch. From the very first chords, he conveys us into his realm blending warm and melancholy keyboards with an old school deep-house rhythm pattern.
The fourth track is called “1, 2, 1, 2”. It is a purely improvised moment in the studio while the band was sound checking before recording with special guest rapper Raashan Ahmad. Nicolas Gueguen had the good idea to press the R button and what you hear is basically what happened afterwards.
Enjoy!

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs

EXCITING LATIN SOUNDS COMPILED BY GLADYS PALMERA

We introduce to you “Loca Ilusion: Exciting Latin Sounds Compiled By Gladys Palmera”, a unique compilation for its quality, selection, sound and taste.

You will hardly find another compilation album like this one, where the best of Gladys Palmera’s Colection is found and with the personal touch of Gladys herself, Alejandra Fierro Eleta.

Here you will find different versions of well-known songs, surprising displays of vocal mastery, crazy jam sessions to immediately dance to, instrumentals full of virtuosity, gatherings of great music stars unnoticed until now and rare songs by artists who can only be found in Gladys Palmera´s archive.

Gladys Palmera herself has spent hours and hours searching, listening to, choosing, selecting and refining each piece of music for all of us to enjoy. These are recordings from the 60s and 70s made in different cities in Latin America and with styles ranging from the most traditional Antillean folklore to mixes and combinations with jazz, swing, twist, exotic and bossa nova.

“Loca Ilusion: Exciting Latin Sounds Compiled by Glady Palmera” is a production of Discos Gladys Palmera and a small sample of what is considered the best and biggest Afrolatin collection in the world.

Emotional Rescue is delighted to debut a first. Rather than a straight reissue of an (obscure) classic or a collection of music by an artist or label, here presented is a compilation of various artists centered around a sound and movement reggae-tinged music and how it influenced and spread from the Caribbean and diaspora.

Drawn from the off kilter digging of archivist, DJ and collector Bruno (perfectliv.es), Nowhere Like Here is not a follow up, but a sideways accompaniment, to his recent and already cult like 'Perfect Motion' collection of left field pop and new wave, recently self-released with Flo Dill (nts).

This is a special release to celebrate the label's 10th year and beyond, offering a treasure trove of lo-fi and often pop inspired reggae cuts, mixing heartfelt Lovers Rocks style paeans and quirky private press oddities, all guaranteed to 'make-a-move and tap', these are, in the main ridiculously rare or impossible to find alternative bombs, that are just as sound system rocking and massive bass line quaking showcases of the enduring legacy of this Jamaican music phenomenon. As with much of the early 80s period, the music community was in the throes of a Do-It-Yourself cultural renaissance as small labels, where crazy limited, one off White Labels Onlys came and went. Songs like Avalanche 's 'Your Love is Such a Good Thing 'or Warp Speed's 'Take It To The Night' were part of the claiming the means of production in to their own hands, pressing up the records and self-distributing. This raw, naive exuberance can be heard in the songs themselves. This is not reggae or Lovers as known, but something more expressive. Musical, simply produced, but with intelligible and uplifting optimism that is just superlatively catchy.

While Paul Thompson's 'Can I Take You Home' and Ras Ibuna's 'Black Beauty' are more straight-ahead Lover's style cuts, there is the parallel dance pop private pressing vibrations of the two Keith Robinson songs and Majority's 'Caroline' included all part of a thread; a joining the dots that Nowhere Like Here is at its most basic, a warmth the whole album exudes.

This is not a Lovers Rock Hits of some, but a left-of-center versioning, spread across Double Pack and cut loud for DJ play, fitting the ethos of Emotional Rescue by presenting something most will not have heard before and all the better for it.

The latest release in the much loved Mr Bongo Record Club Series, Available on CD, 2LP Standard Vinyl & Special Edition 2LP Pink Translucent Vinyl. Curating the tracks for a Mr Bongo Record Club compilation is always such a pleasure. At a time when the expression "Music is My Sanctuary" has an even greater cathartic impact for many people, we set out to make this volume an extra special one - like an old favourite mixtape or playlist. For Volume 4 in this series we continue in the same mould as with previous editions, selecting current favorites and rare lost gems from the Brazilian, African, soul, funk, and disco genres. We present tracks from artists such as Azwon, Cindy & The Playmates, and Zé Roberto to name just a few. However, one main departure and progression to this edition is the first time inclusion of recordings by contemporary artists. These come from Matthew Tavares (of Badbadnotgood fame), Wax Machine, and DJ Format & The Simonsound, which were originally featured on either limited private press vinyl releases or were previously only available digitally. We felt their inclusion was important and wanted to share these wonderful discoveries with a wider audience. They also complement, enrich, and fit perfectly with the flow and journey of the compilation. Here at Mr Bongo we hope you will enjoy this selection of seventeen eclectic songs (in tempo and style) as much as we do, whether they make you move your feet, take you on a trip somewhere, or trigger a happy memory.

From the rare and obscure to the unknown, producer Tee Cardaci mines eleven genre-spanning gems from the waning days of Brazil's military dictatorship, recorded by a new emerging class of artists operating outside of the major label system. Sonhos Secretos, or Secret Dreams in English, alludes to the quiet aspirations of those that made these independent and privately released seven-inches as well as to the fact that many of these records have long remained essentially a secret. It's also, to some extent, a reference to a certain dream-like quality that permeates this collection. These songs contain elements of jazz, soul, folk, prog, baroque rock and shimmering pop (housed under the blanket term Música Popular Brasileira, or Brazilian Popular Music). This unique compilation, presented by reissue specialists Org Music and online audio journal Aquarium Drunkard, includes a fold-out insert with artist interviews and additional liner notes by Brazilian music scholar Allen Thayer.

Tango Argentino is not only a sensual and intoxicating dance and musical style, but also a cultural symbol that reflects the history, passion and identity of Argentina. Originating in the suburbs of Buenos Aires in the late 19th century, tango combines African rhythms, European social dances, and the influences of immigrants to Argentina to create a unique dance form. Initially considered scandalous, tango gained acceptance and popularity over time. Traditional tango music, characterized by soulful melodies and melancholy lyrics, is dominated by the bandoneón, an accordion-like instrument, and accompanied by violin, piano and guitar. Beyond the borders of Argentina, tango has become a worldwide phenomenon, with international tango festivals and dance clubs in cities worldwide. Unesco declared tango culture an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the World in 2009. Tango Argentino has produced timeless masterpieces and great musical artists that are considered important cultural symbols of Argentina and are compiled in this collection. Tango Argentino remains the universal language of passion, longing and joy that enchants dancers and listeners alike.