Latin | Brazil Vinyl 376 Items

Straddling the line between new and old, Meridian Brothers’ mischievous blend of Latin rhythms and psychedelic grooves is the creation of Eblis Álvarez, one of the key figures of the experimental music scene in Bogota. As with all of the Meridian Brother’s releases, every instrument on ‘Deseperanza’ was played and recorded by Eblis himself.

A true avant-garde guitar player and composer, Eblis also plays in Mario Galeano’s band Frente Cumbiero and was one of the 42 musicians involved in the recording of Ondatrópica.

Meridian Brothers are at the core of a burgeoning music scene with cumbia, salsa and currulao all being explored by a new generation of Colombian musicians. Last year’s "Meridian Brothers VII" received key recognition from New York’s Names You Can Trust, who combined two of its tracks on a highly collectible special edition 7”.

‘Desesperanza’, Meridian Brothers first fully-fledged worldwide release, is dedicated exclusively to salsa and tropical music, twisting it through a dark and theatrical psychedelic soundscape but never abandoning the traditional aesthetics.

The summer 2023 offering from Discos Mas is a blast from the past updated in typical Los Disco Duro fashion with vocoder vocals, live cumbia percussion and synthesized everything else. Nobody will admit to actually liking the Macarena, yet, without fail, everybody does the dance and sings along to the chorus when it comes blaring out of nightclub speakers. This little 7” life preserver will certainly keep djs from drowning should they find themselves in troubled waters. The B-side is an original electro composition with reflexive yet lighthearted lyrics about dancing dancing dancing to the tiny music in the discoteca heat. Minimal electronic 909 beats and a bassline inspired by enemy Automazeon laser fire from Atari’s Berzerk perfectly balance with the vocoder vocals resulting in pure retro bliss.

La Sonora Mazuren is the latest addition to the already rich indie-tropical scene out of Bogotá, Colombia. Deeply rooted in the popular sounds and rhythms of South America, the group draws from cumbia, chicha, guaracha, champeta and other styles mostly from Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

Far from being revivalists or folklorists, the group combines synthesizers and electric guitars with accordion and percussion to create a style indebted to early pioneers such as Polibio Mayorga or Bogota’s own Eblis Alvarez, of Meridian Brothers fame, who also produced their new album. The result is a psychedelic feast reminiscent of the golden years of tropicalia.

Formed in 1980 by guitar prodigy Leonardo Vela Rodriguez, Sonido Verde de Moyobamba created some of the hardest, craziest Cumbia to emerge from the Peruvian jungle. With distorted, surf-addled guitar facing off against lysergic organ and hyperactive tropical rhythms, Sonido Verde conjured the organic sound of the dense forests surrounding their hometown while riding their dance-party grooves to dizzying psychedelic peaks.

Compiled by Analog Africa, Sonido Verde de Moyobamba presents eight ultra-rare tracks of guitar and organ madness drawn from the band’s five albums recorded for Discos Universal between 1981 and 1987. Pressed on Sun Yellow colored vinyl, housed in a screen-printed jacket and strictly limited to 2000 copies, Sonido Verde is a definitive trip into the heart of the jungle.

One of the all-time greats of Brazilian jazz fusion, Flora Purim, returns with her first studio album in over 15 years, 'If You Will', released on Strut. Conceived as a celebration of her music and collaborations, the album explores new compositions alongside fresh versions of Flora's favourite personal songs and positive lyrics from across her varied career. The album is the latest chapter in Flora's long, illustrious and varied career. As well as her celebrated partnership with Airto and her early days with Quarteto Novo, Flora has worked with Stan Getz, Gil Evans, Miriam Makeba, George Duke, Chick Corea (as an original member of Return To Forever), Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra, Uruguayan band Opa and many more. Her solo albums on Milestone remain true jazz fusion classics.

This wonderful self-titled album by pianist, singer and composer, Johnny Alf, was first released on vinyl in 1966 by Rozenblit. Here the bossa nova pioneer sings beautiful songs, featuring the legendary musicians Hermeto Paschoal (flute) and Airto Moreira (drums).

Infectious, hypnotic tropical grooves with a ragga kick from Australia’s premier

cumbia orchestra. If you like Ondatrópica, Frente Cumbiero, Ska Cubano and

Lucho Bermúdez, you’ll love Cumbiamuffin.

It was only a matter of time before cumbia hit Australia. After humbly coming to life on

Colombia’s Caribbean coast, this rhythm—and everything it represents: its multiethnicity,

its danceable pulse, its resilience—snaked its way up the mountains to reach

Colombia’s urban capitals, Bogotá and Medellín, who transmitted the signal to Mexico,

Peru, Argentina... Cumbia travelled, and wherever it landed it took hold; Charles Mingus

got his fill in the 70s, Mexicans brought it across the US border in the 80s, Joe

Strummer couldn’t get enough of it in the 90s; and wherever it landed, it has shown its

flexibility, its ability to adapt to new environments.

Cumbiamuffin are the perfect example of what happens when cumbia arrives in a

completely different continent. Since forming in 2010, they have become Australia’s

premier large format cumbia orchestra, offering a twist on the genre that no one saw

coming. They take their inspiration from cumbia’s brass band traditions, when the genre

was adopted by orchestras in the 1940s, the start of its golden age, but they do not stop

there. They also look further afield, to the big bands of Mexico and Peru, and even to

the Caribbean, which is how their name came about. Cumbiamuffin represents the

contraction of two musical styles that the group seamlessly bring together in one big,

vibrant, joyous experience: cumbia and raggamuffin reggae. This is a group that can

inject even more life into a bona fide Colombian classic like Lucho Bermudez’s

“Salsipuedes,” take a Greek club version of a Mexican banda track written by an

Argentine accordionist and come up with the cohesively international “Ritmo de

Sinaloa,” and then there’s that unmistakable ragga skank all over “La Promesa,” with

“La Cabezona” being an instrumental descarga that has no right to rumble so low,

designed with dance halls and sound systems in mind.

Armed with the collective energy of two authentic Colombian vocalists, a seriously

massive brass section, heavy bass, funky guitar, salsa piano and equally authentic

percussion, the 15-piece band combines elements of reggae, dancehall and roots from

the Colombian Caribbean in a deft mix that is both retro and futuristic, authentically

traditional and yet also experimental. Put together by a collective of Colombian and

Australian musicians, the project has the common vision of introducing the purest

sounds of the golden era of orchestrated cumbia to Australian audiences, but with a little

something more added to the formula to keep things fresh.

Having triumphantly conquered their home country’s competitive music scene with sold

out shows at numerous festivals and well-known venues all over Down Under,

Cumbiamuffin are poised to break out to a global audience with their debut self-titled LP.

If the first album from Venezuela’s Los Calvos, despite its greatness, could be considered to have a varied sound, then this second, and lamentably final, album found them creating a signature sound with the musicians given free rein and a stronger push to the dance floor, this is música bailable personified. The drum kit was instrumental to their image and sound; it was an instrumental unusual in salsa at the time. So much so that their own drummer Frank “Pavo” Hernandez had said disparagingly that “salsa with a drum kit is like pasta with avocado”. Kudos then to “Pavo”, along with fellow drummer Alfredo Padilla, who seamlessly integrated the instrument into the line-up, allowing its heavy hits to add energy and power to the group’s sound; just listen to the drum solo in “Suenan Los Cueros” and you will be in no doubt that it was a genius move. Vocal duties throughout are split evenly, five tracks a piece in fact, between Carlos “Carlín” Asicio Rodríguez and Carlos “Calaven” Yanes. It is Calaven who surprises the most, his mischievous delivery and ability to improvise and scat placing him in the higher echelons of vocalists, and not just within salsa. “José”, which is also a showcase for bandleader Ray Perez to free wheel on the piano, is a perfect example of Calaven’s ability to enliven any descarga (jam) with unexpected vocal turns; but then, even on the album’s original single “El Moño De Maria” he shows that with a few variations on the chorus, he can elevate any song. His partner in vocals, Carlín, is no slouch either, leading the driving “Tiene La Razón” with ease and showing that he can get down and dirty on the percussion-heavy “El Tumbeleco”, guiding the song through to its pulsating conclusion. Perez was one of Venezuela’s finest bandleaders, also helming the legendary Los Dementes, Los Kenya and others, and he brings a number of famous friends and allies to the party. Professional lucha fighter turned composer Gustavo “El Chiclayano” Seclén contributes the playful “El Marciano y Yo” (“The Martian and Me”), which allows Calaven plenty of opportunity to improvise, his imitations of intergalactic beings a wonderful thing, with what sounds like the rim of a wine glass being used to create Mars-esque special effects. You can also hear Perucho Torcatt, a regular collaborator of Ray Perez’s in Los Dementes, adding his voice throughout the album. ...Y Que Calvos! is not for the idle, it’s an album which does not allow you to sit down. Powerful, inventive and abundant of rhythm, it’s everything you could want from a salsa album, and a fitting way for Los Calvos to sign off their far-too short career. Perhaps now it will finally get its dues as a lost salsa classic.

“We are inspired by our own experiences, as well as those of others. The last year was the beginning of a new era for all of us and it has left us with much to analyze and the need to rethink our priorities. There’s been so many changes on this planet: the confinement, the constant looking back at the past, the struggle of many against endless injustices, love, all this leads to the fact that our new songs have very current themes but that also transcend time. They continue the characteristic sound of Acid Coco, with the undeniable influence of the Caribbean.” Acid Coco If we can define folklore as the passing on of traditions from a particular group of people, then there can be no denying that Acid Coco, whether consciously or not, are playing an important role in disseminating the folk culture of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Throughout their music there are links to tradition: the gaita flute typical of rural cumbia, the effervescent guitar licks that are such a big part of the coast’s Afro-diasporic sounds, the teeth-rattling bass indicative of communities brought up on picó sound systems since the 70s, the unmistakable sound of the marimba wooden xylophone (each note like a rain drop on the jungle canopy), and then there are the lyrics. Tradition should not stand still, and in Andrea’s words we find the oral traditions of the last 30 years: on “Hoy Como Siempre” she sings of the need for women to stick up for themselves, to not fall in love too easily; on “Cara Dura” the sentiment is even stronger, its lyrics picking out a male predator on the dance floor who will not be tolerated; and then there’s “Mundo de Mentira” where vulnerability peaks through, the story of a woman whose life has become a “world of lies” since their lover has left – who can she believe now the one she trusted the most has gone? They are stories that could have spilled out of Cali’s salsatecas, Cartagena’s picós or any club the world over, yet through Paulo’s canny production there is no doubt where we are. Dembow, cumbia, reggaeton, even on the spiky Caribbean folk of final track “Por Las Venas” or chiptune melody of “Aquí y Allá”, there is nowhere we can be other than on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. It’s music that comes from lived experiences, from growing up in Colombia’s clubs and through its violence and daily realities. Culture is being passed forward.

Enigmatic group known for their song Cumbia Del Desierto on a 7-inch vinyl they share with El Dragón Criollo at El Palmas Music. This song was played with fury by music lovers and collectors around the world.

Well, beautiful people La Jungla is back with the melody in this mini album titled De Borondo!!! A cut of four songs where criticism, humor, experiences and good vibes are present throughout all the songs.

San Francisco’s number one Cumbia-peddler Discos Mas proudly presents the debut 7-inch from Pancrudo! Pancrudo's catchy, vintage-oozing tunes form a rare and lyrical tribute to working class South and Latin Americans all over the world; their dreams, hopes and realities. Using old drum machines and twangy, fuzzed-out guitars, Pancrudo's music is inspired by early Santana recordings, Surf Rock, Chicha, Cumbia and various electronic fringe-genres. This is the music that blares out of the dusty radio at the local kiosco, that you'll hear at a party or at work, when drinking out back or smoking a cigarette on the corner, cursing the dud lottery scratcher that was supposed to change everything, or at least pay back what you owe.

The Caribbean has long been an incubator for the sounds that will animate and shape the culture of the rest of the world for decades to come: From the rhythms of Cuba helping to shape American jazz, blues and rock n’ roll, to Trinidadian calypso introducing a bouncy lightness and gaiety to American party music, to Jamaica’s reggae showing a new way to rebel against convention. But what about the music of Belize, the Caribbean nation that holds the odd position of being a former British colony on the coat of Spanish-speaking Central America? Most people don’t know about the country at all, let alone about the rich sounds it has to offer. Bredda David Obi set out to change that in 1984 with the release of his debut LP No Fear, and the introduction of a new Belizean groove he called kungo or cungo. A mélange of traditional Belizean brukdown music and sprinklings of the rock, funk, calypso and reggae he had played n various bands during his years as a journeyman in the United States. He would further develop this modern tropical sound on subsequent albums, integrating more and more elements from Belizean niche genres like sambai and paranda. Cultures of Soul is proud to take part in documenting Bredda David’s journey into the soul of Belize with an anthology of his early recordings including tracks from No Fear, Cungo Musik 1987 and We No Wa No Kimba Ya 1990 albums. Bredda David’s kungo is hard to describe exactly—its various ingredients make it feel somewhat familiar, but the recipe with which he blends them is slightly strange, fresh and intriguing. But one thing is for certain, it is sure to electrify the dance floor and make everybody jump up and bruk down! Housed in a gatefold jacket with extensive liner notes by Uchenna Ikonne.

Sometimes the best things take time to come into fruition, and here we are, ready to finally unleash Brazil45 number 88 - the missing 7"! Featuring two Mr Bongo favourites that we have been longing to share with the world.

First up is a lesser-known Brazilian Boys track titled 'Super Herois’. This slightly trippy and quirky funk-rock groove is taken off an obscure 7" on CID records and was originally released in 1975. 'Super Herois' is super catchy, addictive and a guaranteed complete earworm. It’s a muti genre, crossover nugget that will branch scenes and tick all sorts of boxes.

On the flip is the driving, jazz-rock-samba dancefloor joint 'Tudo Ai’, a cut taken from Rubinho E Mauro Assumpção's highly sought after 1972 album 'Perfeitamente, Justamente Quando Cheguei’. Originally released on Tapecar Records, this short in stature track packs a real punch!

Twenty rarities and deep cuts from the early years of Fruko y Sus Tesos on legendary label Discos Fuentes. A collection of powerful Colombian salsa dura for the serious collector, DJ and dancer, but also enjoyable for those just discovering Fruko for the first time.2LP including an insert with photos and liner notes by DJ Bongohead (of Peace & Rhythm).The two-volume collection FRUKO POWER is not an homage, career overview, greatest hits or 'best of' collection showcasing the evolution of Fruko (Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincón), the Renaissance Man of Colombian tropical music. Instead, this compilation series shines a light on a lesser-known side of the bassist and band leader's work during the early 1970s with Fruko y Sus Tesos, reissuing in physical form many of his rare or hard to find salsa 45s as well as a few deep album cuts from the first half decade of his career, assembled in chronological order.There are interesting cover versions as well as originals, some of which never appeared on an LP. All of Fruko's classic vocalists are represented, from early collaborators Humberto "Huango" Muriel and Edulfamid "Píper Pimienta" Díaz to golden-era stars Joe Arroyo and Wilson "Saoko" Manyoma.FRUKO POWER is less for the newcomer and more for the serious salsa collector, DJ and dancer who may have a few of the maestro's albums or hits but wants to dig deeper and have all these obscure rarities in one place. However, it also serves as an excellent compendium of powerful Latin dance tracks by Fruko y Sus Tesos that have stood the test of time, so even those who do not know much of his work will be sure to feel the power of Fruko.

The city of Belém, in the Northern state of Pará in Brazil, has long been a hotbed of culture and musical innovation. Enveloped by the mystical wonder of the Amazonian forest and overlooking the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, Belém consists of a diverse culture as vibrant and broad as the Amazon itself. Amerindians, Europeans, Africans - and the myriad combinations between these people - would mingle, and ingeniously pioneer musical genres such as Carimbó, Samba-De-Cacete, Siriá, Bois-Bumbás and bambiá. Although left in the margins of history, these exotic and mysteriously different sounds would thrive in a parallel universe of their own.

I didn’t even know of the existence of that universe until an Australian DJ and producer by the name of Carlo Xavier dragged me deep into this whole new musical world. Ant it all began in Belém do Pará. Perched on a peninsula between the Bay of Guajará and the Guamá river, sculpted by water into ports, small deltas and peripheral areas, Belém had connected city dwellers with those deeper within the forest providing fertile ground for the development of a popular culture mirroring the mighty waters surrounding it. Through the continuous flow of culture, language and tradition, various rhythms were gathered here and transformed into new musical forms that were simultaneously traditional and modern.

Historically marginalized African religions like Umbanda, Candomblé and the Tambor de Mina, which had reached this side of the Atlantic through slaves from West Africa – especially from the Kingdom of Dahomey, currently the Republic of Benin – left an indelible stamp on the identity of Pará´s music. They would give birth to Lundun, Banguê and Carimbó, styles later modernised by Verequete, Orlando Pereira, Mestre Cupijó and Pinduca to great effect. The success of these pioneers would create a solid foundation for a myriad of modern bands in urban areas.

Known as the “Caribbean Port,” Belem had been receiving signal from radio stations from Colombia, Surinam, Guyana and the Caribbean islands - notably Cuba and the Dominican republic - since the 1940s. By the early 1960s, Disc jockeys breathlessly exchanged Caribbean records to add these frenetic, island sounds to liven up revelers. The competition was fierce as to who would be the first to bring unheard hits from these countries. The craze eventually reached local bands’ repertoires, and Belém’s suburbs got overtaken by merengue, leading to the creation of modern sounds such as Lambada and Guitarrada.

To reach a larger audience, the music needed to be broadcast. Radios began targeting the taste of mainstream audiences and played music known as “music for masses.” As the demand for this music grew, it led to the establishment of recording companies. Belém’s infant recording industry began when Rauland Belém Som Ltd was founded in the 1970s. It boosted a radio station, a recording studio, a music label and had a deep roster of popular artists across the carimbó, siriá, bolero and Brega genres.

Another important aspect in understanding how the musical tradition spread in Belém, are the aparelhagem sonora: the sound system culture of Pará. Beginning as simple gramophones connected to loudspeakers tied to light posts or trees, these sound systems livened up neighbourhood parties and family gatherings. The equipment evolved from amateur models into sophisticated versions, perfected over time through the wisdom of handymen. Today’s aparelhagens draw immense crowds, packing clubs with thousands of revelers in Belém’s peripheral neighbourhoods or inland towns in Pará.

The history of "Jambú e Os Míticos Sons Da Amazônia" is the history of an entire city in its full glory. With bustling night clubs providing the best sound systems and erotic live shows, gossip about the whereabouts of legendary bands, singers turned into movie stars, supreme craftiness, and the creativity of a class of musicians that didn’t hesitate to take a gamble, Jambú is an exhilarating, cinematic ride into the beauty and heart of what makes Pará’s little corner of the Amazon tick. The hip swaying, frantic percussion and big band brass of the mixture of carimbó with siriá, the mystical melodies of Amazonian drums, the hypnotizing cadence of the choirs, and the deep, musical reverence to Afro-Brazilian religions, provided the soundtrack for sweltering nights in the city’s club district.

The music and tales found in Jambú are stories of resilience, triumph against all odds, and, most importantly, of a city in the borders of the Amazon who has always known how to throw a damn good party.

“Jambú is a plant widely used in Amazonian and Paraense cuisine. Known for having an appetitestimulating effect, it is added to various dishes and salads but is most famously one of the main ingredients in Tucupi and Tacacá, two delicacies that have been immortalized in countless Carimbó songs. Chewing the leaves of the Jambú plant will leave a strong sensation of tingling on the tongue and lips. Indigenous communities have relied upon its anaesthetic qualities for centuries as an effective remedy against toothaches and as a cure for mouth and throat infections. A decade ago, a distillery from Belém discovered the euphoric effects of the Jambú plant when combined with distilled sugarcane based spirit - known as cachaça - and created the now legendary “Cachaça de Jambú“.

The heaviest, rarest, best Fuzz-Funk-Psych 45s from Brazil. Contains full booklet with liner notes in English and Portuguese plus photos by Brazilian vinyl archaeologist Joel Jones.

With two critically acclaimed albums and a swathe of award-winning production turns under their belt, Ana Frango Elétrico present their most confident and accomplished work to date: Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua / Call Me They That I’m Yours. Gesturing to a tradition of Brazilian boogie music, but bouncing with modern pop ebullience, the album sees the Rio artist evolve from a captivating upstart into a surefooted scene leader in full stride.

At just 25, the prolific artist and producer has already garnered worldwide admirers. Ana’s sophomore Little Electric Chicken Heart was nominated at the 2020 Latin Grammys. Since then, standalone singles have received the WME ‘Best Music Producer’ Award, recognising Ana’s deep passion for music production – a passion which has led to collaborations with nascent Brazilian stars Dora Morelenbaum, Illy and Sophia Chablau. Most recently, Ana was hailed for their co-production of Bala Desejo’s 2022 Latin Grammy-winning album Sim Sim Sim.

The new album finds Ana at their most assured and full voiced. Album opener “Electric Fish”, with funky bass and shimmering backing vocals, sets a buoyant tone. “Boy of Stranger Things” is its bombastic counterpart. It’s the grooviest Ana has ever sounded. And the most brazen. Lyrically, where Ana was once oblique on personal matters, they are now forthright – lucidly exploring their gender identity, citing accessible cultural references, and often singing in English.

“I started this album in 2021 with the intention of showing, in means of sound, understandings and feelings about queer love, subjectively exposing myself,” the non-binary artist states – before qualifying that though “feeling was its driving force, the album is really about musical production.”

“There’s so many references to different decades,” Ana explains. “Seventies drums with eighties processing … Going back, getting beyond … Testing the limits of organic sounds”. Characteristically playful, on Me Chama, Ana takes vivid and rewarding detours through funk-inflected R&B (“Dela”) and art pop (“Dr. Sabe Tudo”). “Nuvem Vermelha” is a cinematic chanson with lush strings that recalls Arthur Verocai. Then, “Coisa Maluca” loafs with the indie insouciance of Canadian slacker Mac Demarco. Later, “Let's Go Before Again”, is a full-on drum machine workout evocative of Stereolab.

“Even if people don't find my own references here, they'll find theirs,” observes Ana. “Maybe that’s this record’s biggest goal.”

Abelardo Carbono aka "The Godfather of Champeta" meets Abelardo Carbono x Quantic!! A miraculous encounter between a Colombian music - alternative Latin legend and a neo-tropical music innovator who inherits his aspirations. A shocking collaboration between Abelardo Carbono, who was "rediscovered" during the tropical music revival and has become loved by DJs around the world as the "Godfather of Champeta," and Eblis Alvarez, aka the Meridian Brothers, who gained even greater recognition with "cumbia Siglo Xxi"! Produced/recorded by Will Holland aka Quantic and Lucas Silva, supervisor of "Palenque Palenque" (Soundway), "Machuca" (Analog Africa), etc.

Heralded by the “Soul Drum” 12” EP (scep507, 2022), Gerardo Frisina’s new double record “Joyful Sound” represents another step forward on his ongoing travel towards new musical paths. Joyful sounds narrate a journey made of wisely distilled notes, bright and sometimes mysterious atmospheres, harmonies that wander through shadows, silences, and lights. A chameleonic Gerardo enchants with every release, mixing jazz, Latin, Afro-Cuban sounds, oriental fragrances, electronic beats, tribal percussions, funky variations and, to summarize, elegant symphonic arrangements with refined mastery. “Joyful Sound” once again sees the participation of the late Enzo Frassi (double bass), Fabrizio Bernasconi (piano, Rhodes), Gendrickson Mena (trumpet, piano), Alfonso Deidda (sax, flute) and Ernesto Lopez (drums, percussion), with the addition of Piero Perelli on drums and Giovanni Guerretti on piano, Hammond and Rhodes. This new record, carefully orchestrated and produced by Gerardo, required over a year of intense work, however it is worth every second of its 75 minutes of music. As the great Charles Mingus once said, “Play it in the key of your soul”. Without a doubt, Gerardo always gives his soul in full!

Originally released in 2012, the second album by the São Paulo-born composer Rodrigo Campos marks a turning point in both lyrical and aesthetic inspiration. “Bahia Fantástica” is the result of the absorption of a then recent influence of soul music (especially Curtis Mayfield) and is in the middle of this path marked by an unlikely geography in the lyrical part (São Mateus, Bahia, Japan) and by an expansion of sound ( from samba to the indefinable, with a passage through black American music).

The album turns ten years old in 2022 and exudes vitality. The soul reference takes on a different aroma when it passes through the filter of the composer and his band – formed by Kiko Dinucci on guitar, Marcelo Cabral on bass, Maurício Fleury on keyboards, Maurício Takara on drums and Thiago França on sax: it has Brazilian sauce, hints of afrobeat and a very particular seasoning. The lyrics bear the artist's mark: they project scenes in the listener's imagination and design the characters and environments with their own style of subjective chronicle. Bahia is both imaginary and intimate in Rodrigo Campos’s music.

Edizioni Ishtar and Schema Records proudly celebrate the 15th anniversary of one of their most successful releases and artists (more than 30 million streams and 300 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify) with the first ever vinyl edition of Toco’s Outro Lugar. Produced by S-Tone Inc., this record includes fanfavourite tracks “Outro Lugar”, “Samba Noir" and most of all “Guarapiranga”, which was chosen for the soundtrack of “Silver Linings Playbook”, a film that awarded Jennifer Lawrence an Academy Award prize as best actress in a leading role in 2013. The strings at the beginning of the title-track have also been sampled by PinkPantheress for her song “Nineteen”, out of her latest album “To Hell With It”. Outro Lugar hasn’t aged a bit during all these years, for various reasons; first of all it benefits from the outstanding contribution of bossa nova pioneer and inspiration source Roberto Menescal, who played guitar in every track. Most of the album was recorded in Rio De Janeiro at Menescal’s studio, with the participation of some of the best ‘carioca’ musicians, especially double-bass player Adriano Giffoni and pianist Adriano Souza. All these elements gave the album exactly the taste requested by the artist and the producer: inspired from the past yet, through thorough attention, aimed at a sound at the same time fresh and modern, slightly electronic, filled with grooves perfectly blending into acoustic instruments. The second part of the recording was carried out in Milan, with some of the best musicians in the Milanese jazz scene. The album also sees the contribution of Rosalia De Souza, singing in several tracks and standing out in “Bom Motivo” especially. French chanteuse Coralie Clément appears in “Contradição”, her own piece here re-interpreted by Toco. Outro Lugar is an album for any kinds of Brazilian music lovers that showed the world what Toco was capable of: a refined and cultured musician, a gifted performer of a warm and smooth voice able to awaken the emotions of the most sensitive listeners.

First ever reissue of "Sabroso bacalao" by Adolfo Echeverría y su Orquesta, released on Colombia's Discos Fuentes in 1977.Recorded with the hit production team of Isaac Villanueva and Hernán Colorado, and with vocal duties shared between Adolfo, Freddy Cruz and Manuel Cassiani, this is a diverse genre-hopping album featuring the fiery piano of Hugo Molinares, who also composed the monster guaguancó track 'Sabroso bacalao'.In addition to hot, driving hardcore salsa tunes, the LP includes some cumbia and porro plus cuts in the Afro-Cuban oriza rhythm and the cumbelé style, which is a variant on the bomba, an Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric drum-based genre.The album yielded the hit 'Fantasía marina', but in recent years 'Noches de cumbia' and the title track have become tropical DJ dance floor standards across the globe, making this record a must-have for collectors, disk jockeys and aficionados of the classic Fuentes sound.Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180g vinyl.Part of Vampisoul's reissue series of classic Fuentes LPs.More details:Born on September 3, 1934 in the barrio of San Roque in Barranquilla, Adolfo Ernesto Echeverría Comas started singing on the radio first as a young man, forming his own conjunto and signing with various labels over the years, becoming one of Colombia's premier band leaders, composers, interpreters and producers of tropical costeño music in the process. Among many other accolades, he is a winner of five Congo de Oro and one El Cacique de Oro awards; his holiday songs 'Las cuatro fiestas' and 'La Inmaculada' are recognized as national treasures. During his long and successful career, he has toured Venezuela, Panamá and Ecuador, and while performing in the United States was befriended by Celia Cruz and Tito Puente. Recognizing his songwriting talents, the pair asked him for a tune and he gave them 'Salsa de tomate', inspired by Tito's hatred of the term, which they recorded for their "Alma con alma" release on Tico Records in 1971....

Body Beat: Soca-Dub and Electronic Calypso (1979-98) comprises 17 obscure Soca B-side versions, dubs, instrumentals and edits as well as vocal tracks influenced by disco, boogie, house-music, soul and the more conscious lyrics of roots reggae. This compilation traces the soca genre from its explosion in the late 1970s right up to the period just before contemporary soca became established around the end of the 1990s.

Soundway presents a double-sider of raw, West Indian Funk from 1977. Led by King Wellington's 'Shango', the stand-out cut harvested from his Sooner Or Later LP finally gets the 45 treatment it deserves. Inspired by the Shango ritual with its roots in Yoruba culture, traces of Calypso music are driven by hypnotic bass and Wellington's signature vocal, making up a musical blend only found in the Caribbean.

Hidden on the B-side, 'Mystery Music' fronted by Canadian musician Tony Springer, embarks on a dreamy, dynamic and even a touch psychedelic trip. Steel pans coupled with floating horns, electronic keyboard effects, crisp drums and subtle guitar licks cook up a soundscape baked by the Trinidad sun. While original copies climb their way to impossible-to-find status, enthusiasts will be excited to hear this sought after piece of music is available on the 45 format again.

From a young age, La Perla, Callao-born guitarist Oswaldo "Mita" Barreto was a fan of Cuban artists like Celina y Reutilio and Los Compadres, whose records were a staple in the port city homes. He soon learned to distinguish the sound of the Cuban tres on these records (the chordophone from rural areas of Cuba). At the age of 18, he had already mastered the instrument, although he had never seen a Cuban musician play one live until that point.At the beginning of 1969 (according to the record company's archives), his fame led him to record his first 45 RPM singles for the MAG label, which were compiled in an LP by the end of the year entitled "Arecibo", after a song dedicated to the Puerto Rican city of the same name. For these recordings he was accompanied by a group of musician friends, all linked to the tropical music scene in Callao, Peru.The album opens with two Cuban guarachas from the 1950s: 'Mango mangüé' by El Gran Fellove, whose compositions were popularized across the Americas thanks to the voice of Celia Cruz and the Sonora Matancera; and 'El yoyo' by Antonio Sánchez Reyes, another international hit performed by Cortijo y su Combo. Both songs were recorded by Mita in May 1969.The album also includes four songs from the repertoire of Puerto Rican musician Joe Cuba: 'Arecibo', 'No coman cuento', 'Oriza Oco' and 'Con mi mambo', where Mita replaced the sound of the vibraphone with the Cuban tres, an innovation that gave the group its distinctive sound.Three songs by Oswaldo Barreto "Mita" were also included on the album: the memorable 'Mita descarga', the incredibly fast 'Descarga en botella y güiro' ("del Perú a Puerto Rico cantamos") and the intimate 'No aguanto más', all with inspired plucking by the tres player from La Perla.The release of the LP at the end of 1969, established Mita's career, and he continued to record on MAG and other labels in the following years, although he never released another album. First time reissue.

Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2022.