Latin | Brazil 463 Items

Limited aqua marine vinyl edition including a lyrics' fanzine. 150 copies only, only at HHV Records.

After 20 eventful years as a drummer, singer, producer and composer in her hometown São Paulo, the Brazilian Mariá Portugal moved to Duisburg some time ago.
On November 12, 2021, she is now releasing her latest album, Erosão. Her debut for Fun In The Church will be released as a collaboration between selo Risco (Brazil) and Fun in The Church on vinyl and digital.

Follow-up album to cult-classic debut, Mantra Moderne.

‘Melodi’ is the second album from captivating duo Kit Sebastian (aka Kit Martin and Merve Erdem). Those familiar with the band's cult classic 2019 debut record 'Mantra Moderne' will instantly recognise their unique sound that blurs boundaries of world music, jazz and psychedelia. Not to be content replicating the same album, sonically the feel of ‘Melodi’ is a maturation. It is more diverse and provides glimpses into many different worlds from the Italian Riviera to the mountains of the Caucasus, the beaches of Bahia to the city streets of Istanbul and Paris. This joyous merging of soundscapes evokes a borderless planet with music as an international language, belonging everywhere and nowhere.

‘Melodi’ is imbued with Kit Sebastian's love of vintage records and world cinema, but it is not a retro homage. It celebrates its influences but is very much a modern record, being simultaneously brand new and retro. This is a credit to the duo's craft as musicians and songwriters, presenting their influences as a circular interaction between the present and the past rather than a linear one.

The music was written during the first UK lockdown and recorded that summer, a time of opening up that only briefly existed. In a world with a slower pace than before the Covid crisis, the band were able to spend more time experimenting in the studio. The album’s range of instrumentation has expanded from the previous record to include zithers, harpsichords, congas, bongos, bulbul tarang, and a mock-up choir on top of the synthesizers, balalaikas, organs, and saxophones. Session musicians and friends were also booked to introduce trumpet and string sections giving the album an added depth and orchestral texture. Despite the added complexity, the album was recorded using the same techniques employed for the previous album with various tape machines, bouncing back between cassette and ¼” tape for practicality and sonic abstraction. To pierce through this abstraction, the vocals are intentionally more expressive. Merve took cues from the Turkish singers of her youth, adding a slightly more melancholic, darker and more reflective style than 'Mantra Moderne’. Rooted in observations from everyday life, they speak often about the worlds and thoughts that arise from the end of the night.

Like with many of the best albums, the record seems over all too soon and has you instantly wanting to play it again. On each listen you decide on a track that you think is your favourite from the album only for it to be replaced with a different one on the next listen. The songs and production have hidden depths that seem to evolve and morph the more you devour them. Moments of pure pop, moments to fall in love, moments to contemplate. This journey is rich in musical vitamins and nourishment, but like all the best things still leaves you wanting more.

For number 89 in the Brazil45 series, we present a no-nonsense Brazilian funk / samba rock double-sider courtesy of the mighty Golden Boys and Silvio César.

The Golden Boys were a quartet formed in 1958 by the Correa brothers; Renato, Roberto, Ronaldo, and their cousin Valdir Anunciação. They enjoyed a stellar recording career, from the 50s through to the 90s, with members of the group still involved in music to this day. For this selection we headed to their self-titled 1975 album released on Odeon and cherry-picked one of the group’s funkiest moments, 'Segura Na Cintura Dela (O Gavião)'. By now performing as a trio, they enlisted Paulo Debétio of Lemos E Debétio fame as executive producer and, on the controls, producer Milton Miranda. Miranda was a silent figure behind so many of the much-loved classic Odeon / EMI releases of the 60s and 70s.

'Beco Sem Saída’ is another Odeon release, and another classic produced by Milton Miranda. Taken from Silvio César's self-titled 1971 album, here the prolific singer and composer delivers a swinging samba rock / groove. With fantastic arrangements by Geraldo Vespar, this addictive swing was reconstructed in the 2000s when Drumagick sampled it for their track 'Sambarock'. So here we have two slices of Brazilian dancefloor pressure just waiting to take centre stage again.

LOS Disco Duro are back with a futuristic/retro reworking of the Celia Cruz y Sonora Santanera guaracha classic "Pa' la Paloma" in their signature vocoder style. Robot vocals meet the laid back electro beat surrounded by FM synthesis for extra weirdness while the white hot timbale solo brings it all back down to earth. This soon to be collectible one sider is pressed on a limited edition clear flexi for extra space saving advantages. ¡No te lo pierdas!

Renata Lu is a bit of a mystery figure... She only made a few albums in the 1970s and sang backup on many more such Tim Maia and Nonato Buzar but for whatever reasons never seemed to make it into the MPB upper echelons. Debuted solo in 1971 on her self-titled album for Copacabana Records with a heavyweight fusion of US style soul and funk with added Latin percussion. This features Renata Lu singing over a hybrid samba/boogaloo backing track rich in jaunty bass, rasping horns and jazzy electric piano riffs. Rare LP finally reissued on a deluxe edition. One of the landmarks of Funk Carioca.

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

Afrosound's Mission Was To Emulate The Guitar-Heavy Tropical Sounds Emanating From Perú And Ecuador At The Time. To Add To The Hippie Vibe, There Were Plenty Of Whacky Improvised Vocal Asides (Called 'Inspiraciones'), Plus Custom Fuzz, Wah-Wah, Flange And Echo Effects Boxes For The Guitar And Keyboards. A Barrage Of Odd Sounding Synths, Drum Machines And Other Electronic Flourishes Were Also Sprinkled In To Spice Up The Proceedings. The Dozen Tracks On Afrosound's Debut Long Play Make For A Surprisingly Diverse Palette From Which These Colombian Musicians Painted Their Daring Portrait Of Peruvian Cumbia, Returning The Favor In Bold Colors That Still Resonate Almost 50 Years Later. "La Danza De Los Mirlos" Kicks Off With Most Famous Afrosound Hit Of All, 'Caliventura', A Genius Blend Of Funk And Cumbia. Aside From The Cumbia Amazónica Title Tune, There Are Several Other Covers Including Three Popular Songs By Nelson Y Sus Estrellas, Plus Radically Reimagined Versions Of Various Colombian Costeño Classics Published By Fuentes. Mario "Pachanga" Provides A Sad But Still Groove-Oriented Christmas Son Montuno / Cumbia Hybrid While Fruko Brings Us The Bomba-Funk Ditty 'El Chorrillo' And The Rocking Cumbia Andina Gem 'Cabeza De Chorlito' Where Sepúlveda Channels Enrique Delgado. Fruko Collaborator Hernán "Hercovalle" Colorado Vallejo Rounds Things Out With The Melancholic Psychedelic Cumbia 'Esperando Por Ti', Proving That Every Tropical Party Has To Have Its Down Side As Well. The Record Was Also Released In The Us, Ecuador, Perú, Panamá, Mexico And Venezuela, And Probably Had An Influence Of Its Own, At Least In South America. The Cover Of This Lovingly Restored Reissue Features The Artwork For The Peruvian Edition, Which Was Licensed And Issued By Lima's El Virrey Label In 1974. The Original Fuentes Artwork, With A Far More Outrageous "Cheesecake" Image, Can Be Seen On The Back Cover.

Any DJ set tells you, unconsciously or not, about its author.

Through the record choices and the way they are organized, one can feel the DJ’s state of mind and find out a bit more about the musical deposit discovered that is being shared and dug through by him or her at the moment.

The appetite for diggin’, the quest for a novelty or a forgotten rarity is what makes a DJ set a true organic living matter constantly fueled although not always, unfortunately, respected.

Time stretching. Too many DJ’s made a pact with this diabolical creature. A true digital steamroller that runs over the rhythm to fix the tempo while leaving behind an agonizing drummer whose sole crime was to have been carried away by his energy and having moved forward the BPM. At the end, everything that gave charm and life to the track, its imperfections and the peculiar fact that it makes you dance faster towards its end… all these along with all the lively movements contained within the track are reduced to nothing.

My conception of music and DJ sets is the exact opposite. Since the first volume of Straight From The Decks, my DJ sets have been redesigned, refreshed and improved. However, there was no preexisting plan, they evolved naturally following my new desires. The famous core of my indispensable musical choices started to morph little by little into something different without losing sight of its center of gravity which remains undoubtedly afro-tropical.

No matter which track, its style and its origin, the quality of the music that is brought to my ears is always my sole and primary concern.

In this selection, you’ll find 7” vinyl records available to everyone sitting proudly next to some rarities found online and acquired through nerve-raking auctions battles. There are indeed exclusive remixes along with titles that until now were only available in their digital formats. Now for the first time they are available here in vinyl format. Obviously, if you have chosen the CD format, that precision doesn’t really matter… Sixteen titles which have become the heart of my sets throughout this past year. A heart which in a year will beat to a certainly different drum…

Pura Vida

Guts

Mi Conga es de Akokan is built on the Conga de los Hoyos rhythms from Santiago de Cuba. Saxophones and trombones alternate with vocals imploring the listener to dance over intensely syncopated percussion, leading to a melodic flight by the masterful trumpeter Reinaldo "Molote" Melian. The horns re-enter, and the Orquesta takes off to soaring heights of rhythmic intensity and sophistication. La Guajira is a slow country rhythm told by the tres guitar and percussion onto which horns and strings add slinking, narcotized harmonies. Pepito tells a sensual tale of romance with a girl from the country (la guajira), which slowly builds in intensity over soneos, coros and mambos until all parts interlock in a lugubrious climax.

Future Afro-Latin jazz house from Italian master percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer Gabriele Poso. The entirely self-produced album features guest vocalists Nailah Porter, Nina Rodriguez, Quetzal Guerrero & Sofia Rollo.

Following a long-term collaborative partnership with Osunlade / Yoruba Records, as well as albums on BBE and Agogo Records, on 'Batik' Poso further develops and matures his sound - exploring his extensive roots in Afro-Cuban percussion, while delving into the realms of jazz and soulful house.

With mixing by renowned Spanish DJ and producer Kiko Navarro, the lead single “Africa Linda” is an up tempo live take on Latin house, featuring American-born soul singer Quetzal Guerrero on vocals.

Much of the album features Poso on not only vocals but many of the instruments - including percussion, guitar and kalimba. A true multi-instrumentalist, Poso found a particular affinity for percussion at a young age, studying in Puerto Rico and Cuba.

In 2008, Poso released his first solo album entitled “From The Genuine World”, produced for Osunlade’s label, Yoruba Records. He went on to release another 3 albums, with labels including BBE Music - garnering acclaim from reviewers and selectors including Gilles Peterson, as well as awards including “Roots Of Soul” winning Best Jazz Independent Production in 2012 (Germany).