Latin | Brazil Vinyl 481 Items

"La Danza del Agua" (The Dance of Water) is an eclectic musical journey through Latin American experimentalism - a sort of unofficial companion to the Anthologies of Atypical Portuguese Music volumes but focussing on South American music themes instead. Originally released as two volumes on digital and tape versions on Papaki Records (2017, Argentina), this new concise edition presents 12 of the original 38 artists. Not to be seen as exhaustive document representing the wide styles of the even wider continent, it hopes to showcase some of its more marginal music with artists from a variety of countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia & Venezuela.

Out of the social unrest and revolutionary times of the early 1970s a new musical art form emerged on the streets of Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. A group of young guys started to combine poetry with drumming and created the musical art form that is known today as Rapso.
Poets known as much for their fiery verses as they were for leading protests were at the vanguard of the 1970s Black Power revolution. There was a new consciousness building in the Trinidad and Tobago arts scene. The two most influential characters were Cheryl Byron and Lancelot Layne.
Lutalo ‘Brother Resistance’ Masimba and others would play basketball during the day and come back out at night, ‘liming’ and playing drums. Other people from the block would join with instruments and Brother Resistance would perform his poetry on the rhythms. The prestigious boys school that Resistance attended refused to acknowledge his attempts at creating verses that reflected the rhythm of the Trinidad and Tobago creole. ''They said it wasn't poetry. They didn't want to put it in the school magazine.''
Resistance and his friends toyed with other words to describe their style. They came up with 'rapsody' but one night during a show in Santa Cruz somebody in the audience shouted out ''How you could rap so!'' And the rest is history.
They recorded their first album ‘Bustin Out’ in 1980. More albums followed and they started to work as producers. In 1986 the band performed at ‘Caribbean Focus’ festival in London and toured the U.K. which helped to lift their reputation internationally. The same year Brother Resistance decided to produce his first solo album and went to England to record ‘Rapso Take Over’. This album contains the highly acclaimed tracks Ring De Bell, Dancing Shoes Rapso and Star Wars Rapso. An unreleased take of Wars In Rapso is featured on this Cree Records 12''.
The band wasn’t too impressed with the ‘English’ production and they decided to record a new version of the song. Junior Wharwood recorded the guitar tracks. Resistance came up with the idea of Tonight Is De Night. The more or less improvised song became a big carnival hit in Trinidad and he went to perform it live with bands like Sound Revolution, Shandileer and Charlie’s Roots.
At the time, these tracks received little airplay in Trinidad and Tobago, but they're undeniable hits that continue to be in demand dancefloor bangers. For this 12'' we have selected four of Brother Resistance's most in demand tracks. Long live Kaiso – Rapso take over!

“Home studio experimentations in Electronic Jazz from the 80’s/90’s! All instrumentation played by one of Spain’s most cherished singer/songwriters & Dolores member”
Spanish Maestro Pedro Ruy-Blas is a cherished composer and singer in Spain, well known for his part in the seventies fusion band Dolores. Since the age of electronic music making and home studio, Pedro bought the latest equipment and started making his own music. This compilation features a varied selection from his own tapes dating 80’s and 90’s – It’s DIY Electronic Jazz music emphasizing organic textures and utilizing the latest of Midi and sequencing tools, echoing those days of Dolores. Comes with digital download limited to 500 copies.

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“.

Recorded in 2003, 2009, 2012 and 2013 by Alfredo Bello in little communities, beaches, friends' houses and studios.
Edited between 2009 and 2013 by Alfredo Bello in trains, boats, planes, hotels rooms, waiting rooms and other spaces.
Mixed by Maira Martucci at Studio Itamundo and Banzai Studio - São Paulo, Brasil.
Produced by DJ Tudo vs. Mad Professor vs. Dr. Das.

1979. The suburbs of Paris. Five friends, whose origins stem from the West Indies and North Africa, came together to form Trenchtown Meditation, a “creole-speaking” French reggae band.
Heavily inspired by the seminal sound of Bob Marley, Trenchtown Meditation was one of the pioneering bands of the burgeoning French reggae scene. It was also at this time that France saw the explosion of pirate radio stations; like many other bands of the era, Trenchtown Meditation would play live sets on-air in these small radio shacks in between gigs on the various scenes of Paris and its vicinity.
The band also got their 15 seconds of fame in 1983 when they appeared on the French TV show “Aujourd’hui La Vie- ‘Spécial Exotisme’”.
It was during this busy period that the band recorded an 8 track reggae album (which to this day remains unreleased).
But in spite of their record and strong desire to make a living from music, the daily grind caught up with the band; in 1984 the guitar player quit the band.
Subsequently, the four members decided to rename the band ‘Cap’tain Créole’ with the aim – while remaining true to its reggae roots – of exploring new musical horizons, driven by the will to go beyond all that they’d done up to that moment.
The group had access to a professional recording studio and quickly decided to cut a new project. With the help of 3 new members – among them a sax player and a trumpet player, both coming from the jazz scene, who helped define the new sound of Cap’tain Créole – they recorded their unique outing called Ni Bel Jounin. It’s a single composed of 2 titles Fré Moin / Ni Bel Jounin, both sung in créole, which was clearly unusual for the time.
Both tracks are at the crossroads of many universes: Afro, Rock, Funk, Reggae and the result is quite unique! The band also used with great impact some subtle electronic elements.
Fré Moin catches you instantly while Ni Bel Jounin strikes the listener with its beauty. The spiritual vibe that oozes from the record is an obvious marker of their reggae roots.
Privately pressed and self-distributed in small quantities at the time, BeauMonde is proud to make the one and only record of Cap’tain Créole available again.

291out ensemble return on Fly By Night with another well orchestrated project by Riccio.
The latest release on FBNM, 291out - Habbanera is thematically inspired by the 1982 Italian film score, "No Grazie il Caffè Mi Rende Nervoso" "No Thanks, Coffee Makes Me Nervous".
It was originally composed by James Senese and directed by Lodovico Gasparini, "Habbanera" has only previously been released on Senese's self titled LP in 1983.
This four tracker includes two new versions of the main title theme "Habbanera" and two remixes by the two Italian pioneers of house music and the balearic sound; Leo Mas and Fabrice.
291out "Original Version" is a cover of the main score theme, which also features on Senese's 1983 LP; the "Alternate Version" is also taken from the movie, but from a different scene, which has the same melody of the opening theme but with a different rhythm, never having been released before and completely reassembled by 291out.
Leo Mas & Fabrice provide two different cuts, one pitched-down boogie slow jam and one 4/4 dance-floor banger.

Fémina channels blissed out, harmony-soaked soul music with a purpose. Lyrically poignant with hip hop and Latin influences, 'Perlas & Conchas' is the group's third album proper and unlike previous long players, is primarily an electronic statement, recorded and produced by British producer and musician Quantic - the first ever creation at his Selva Studios in New York – and features Iggy Pop.
Made up of Clara Miglioli and the two Trucco sisters, Sofia and Clara, the group’s roots are in San Martín de los Andes in the Patagonian mountains, where they grew up together sharing a love of ‘90s hip-hop imported from the US – as well as the occasional Spanish-speaking rapper from Mexico or Spain. They took a musical side-step when Clara Trucco joined, and began drawing more from vocal harmonies and playing live instruments - a process that led them toward their unique style: a combination of soul, hip-hop and traditional Latin American music.
The title “Perlas & Conchas” translates to 'Pearls and Shells', a reference to the process through which a pearl is created: a speck of dirt, encased in a shell, turned into an object of wonder. They want to do the same thing with their music: to take dark, difficult situations and turn them into positivity.

Two sun shine soaked, Latin infused Eddie Palmieri joints from the 1978 album Lucumi, Macumba, Voodoo get the official, remastered reissue treatment – with original copies of the 7” trading hands for upwards of £60.
Born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, multi Grammy award winner Palmieri is a stratospheric salsa master. And for the Lucumi, Macumba, Voodoo LP he assembled a powerhouse, 30 strong jazz orchestra, featuring the likes of Dom um Romao, Steve Khan, Lew Soloff, Jon Faddis, Hiram Bullock and Palmieri’s brother Charlie.
In an era dominated by disco, ‘Spirit Of Love’ took to the dancefloor, drawing on the glamour and magnetism of the late ‘70s. Palmieri’s distinctive style still weaves its way through though, melding Afro-Caribbean rhythms with modern jazz. ‘Spirit Of Love’ is full to the brim with striking vocals, cow bells and big horn sections, blended with psychedelic guitars that riff off against clavinet touches and expressive Montunos melodies. Spirit of the salsa, for the disco dancer!
On the flip ‘Lucumi, Macumba, Voodoo’ is a masterpiece of Latin fusion, with Palmieri’s unique arrangements squeezing that Puerto Rican flavour out of every added instrument. Trumpet blasts and sax solos marry with woops and whistles and Latin chants. Couple that with sensuous piano melodies and irresistible percussive elements and it’s a recipe of Caribbean spice that’ll liven up any record collection.

Mar & Sol presents the new album of the legendary band África Negra,"Alia cu Omali". New songs and some popular classics recorded between Lisbon and S.Tomé.
This album Its a reflection of the old rumba and soukous music that this epic band of São Tomé e Príncipe got us used to. They are an icon and one of the main bands of this island, representing in their music the authenticity and culture of the former Portuguese colony on the equatorial meridian.
It is our mission to expand this culture and here it is the testimony in our series of Luso Afro music which could best represent São Tomé.

Since the release of his 2 first albums on Favorite Recordings, Lucas Arruda has quickly established himself as one of the most talented young artist and composer from Brazil. His music is filled with fusion style, mixing influences and elements from his Latin musical background, with his genuine admiration for Jazz, Soul, Pop and Funk music.
In spring 2015, it was also not surprising to find Lucas Arruda back with a new LP called Solar, receiving great supports and feedbacks from international media and tastemakers. One of the highlight of the album was the song “Melt the Night”, on which Lucas teamed up with legendary producer Leon Ware, reminding his collaborations in the 80s with Marcos Valle, when they perfectly merged together the sophisticated Boogie and AOR touch from California, with the blazing sense of rhythm from Brazil.
Today Favorite Recordings proudly present Onda Nova, new and third album by Lucas Arruda. Mostly written, composed and arranged by himself, Lucas however teams up on a few tracks with his old mate Fabio di Monaco (Modo Solar), his brother and musical partner Thiago Arruda, who recently joined Ed Motta’s live band, or Gaël Benyamin, also known as Geyster, who brings his longtime “savoir-faire” and skills for writing and composing AOR and WestCoast music genre, and who share this deep passion with Lucas.
Onda Nova is therefore pursuing the music direction set with Solar, mixing touch of Blue-Eyed-Soul, Pop, Soul and Brazilian styles together, and influenced by the path of legendary Brazilian producer Lincoln Olivetti, who recorded some of the biggest stars of Brazilian music (Marcos Valle, Jorge Ben, Tim Maia…).
In Lucas words: “In this record I really wanted to honor Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti. They are the main influence on this record. We recorded the basic tracks for the album in the same studio that Lincoln Olivetti did his last works. So, this was very important to capture the true essence of Brazilian Funk/AOR tradition. Hope you guys enjoy it!”

We thought turning five this year would be a good reason to ask some friendly DJs and producers to go through our catalogue and select their favorite track to do an edit or remix on.
The first selection by DJ Nomad from Berlin is Barbara Hernandez' 'All Nite Tonight', written and produced by Leston Paul from Trinidad. Nomad's edit drives the song's dance floor ambition even further beyond the top. As a DJ Nomad does not necessarily put a label on his style, but always expresses love for Polyrythms, Soulful harmonies and the African drums and Percussion. He's notorious for finding fresh world music dance tracks all around the globe, before they become hits, and a massive collector of Tropical Soul, Funk and Disco.
His energetic and surprising , always fresh DJ set's earned him a residency in Paris's infamous ‚Tropical Discoteq’ Parties among the best Dj's of the genre. He is the founder of ‚Vulkandance’ Parties, Blog and Label in Berlin .. He's together with Edna Martinez cofounder of ’El Volcan’ - The first continental European Colombian Pico Soundsystem. As a Producer he's breaking ground and travelling the world together with Dirk Leyers and the transcultural Project Africaine 808, besides working as a master Editor for other artists around the globe. Keshav Singh who is part of Trinidadian/British production duo Jus Now put his hands on Trinidad's Mansa Musa's ’Beat The Drum’.
Being a percussionist in his own right he transformed the song into a housy Soca track and pure dance floor fiah! With his partner Sam Interface, he has produced soca music with EDM influence for Bunji Garlin, Machel Montano and 3Canal. Keshav commutes between Trinidad and the U.K.
The next two tracks are taken from our upcoming compilation ’Gotta Nice Buzz - The Funky Sound of Semp Studios Trinidad, W.I.’. French DJ & record collector Waxist gives Zodiac's ’I Believe’ a proper treatment. ’I Believe’, written by Francis Escayg, is an uptempo Caribbean Disco tune with a strong Giorgio Moroder influence with Denise Plummer on vocals.
Waxist, based in Lyon, France, started his love story with records as a teenager when he bought his first reggae 7 inches. If his love for Jamaican music has survived through the years, the DJ has progressively extended his interests to different, more dancefloororiented music genres like Disco, Modern Soul, Boogie or even a touch of House when needed... Being careful with the technique, as well as with the coherency of his selection, his sets are an invite to a dancing musical journey taking the audience from Disco to Modern Soul, through more Caribbean or Brazilian sounds.

Founded in early 70s by historical Rai TV trumpeter and composer Cicci Santucci (Looking Around, On The Underground Road etc.), New Tape grown up during the golden period of Italian music production and was dedicated to experimentation of new forms of sound, always hailing from the solid Jazz basis of the musicians and theme music inspiration. Andrea Galtieri aka Cavalier Piscopo sequenced the very best shots from the whole label production including exclusive liner notes, with an explosive mix of Jazz-Rock, Bossa, spellbinding groove and raw Experimental stuff.
"A leading figure in the Italian Jazz scene, Francesco 'Cicci' Santucci worked as trumpeter in the legendary Rai TV orchestra for over 20 years. He was renowned for collaborations with such international jazz legends as Lionel Hampton, Gato Barbieri, and Kenny Clarke – that is until his foray into the avant-garde progressive experience of The Living Music, a project founded by his brother Umberto. During these same years, he took part in important Italian jazz sessions like "Looking Around", "Mondo Operaio", and "On The Underground Road", with his close colleague Enzo Scoppa.
It was just around this period of great music production and experimentation that Cicci founded his own label, the NEW TAPE, in the very early '70s. His goal was to dedicate himself to composing library music with a new expression of music, less linked to hard bop or American standards, but rather more focused on the new sounds of the time that brought the listener closer to modern vibes, like jazz-rock and avant-garde music.
"Mixed Grill" opens this series, composed by the maestro's alias, 'Girosan', along with Lesiman (a.k.a. Paolo Renosto) who added a more esoteric and captivating atmosphere, closer to English progressive rock. "Rengran Mix" and "Tropical" follow, with music by Paolo Renosto and the old avant-garde connoisseur, Romolo Grano. This work gave way to electronic instrumentation and weird experimentation, and was built on a rich rhythmical carpet – tropical percussions, rock and blues inspired vibes, sleazy psych, and jazz improvisations. Music from “Rengran Mix” was also used as the soundtrack for the TV programme "Futili Motivi", and also featured the great backing sound of I Marc 4 with the accompaniment of Nora Orlandi's warm vocals.
The trademark of the label, and the most important production, is the fourth album, "Mirage" by Cicci Santucci and Enzo Scoppa themselves. This record is an explosive mix of elegant jazz, funk, and psychedelia, where every instrument finds its expressive space. We can clearly hear the connection on both the 'On the Underground Road' and 'Looking Around' albums, recorded that same year, bringing that unmistakable underground jazz dopeness typical of the magical duo of Santucci and Scoppa.
The last album of the series is "Appunti Di Guerra" by the mysterious 'Ruscigan' – a very obscure alias which probably belongs to Renosto and Guido Baggiani. This work features complex and dramatic sounds properly composed for war scenes and gloomy atmospheres, with a large assortment of percussion, distorted effects, and tape manipulation – an album that foreshadowed what would become industrial music.
With a ridiculously small pressing of only 100 copies per title, NEW TAPE is among the most interesting discoveries to date in terms of original production library music, and as a result, a very respectable journey begins inside the creative underground jazz of 1970s."
Andrea Galtieri