Latin | Brazil 327 Items

In 2010, I had asked Eamon Ore-Giron - aka DJ Lengua - if he would be interested in compiling a Latin project for Analog Africa, and if so, if he had a theme in mind. He replied, “Have you ever heard of rebajada?“ The question mark above my head, together with the wall of China, must have been the only other object visible from out of space because Eamon, probably noticing I got paralysed, continued, “Rebajada in Spanish means “to reduce, to lower”. It’s basically Mexican sonideros (sound-system operators) slowing down the beat of a Cumbia to create a much more tangible music to dance to. I’ll send you a mix I made last year and let me know what you think.“ And so he did.

That mix was called Rebajada Mota Mix and I began listening to it on a loop. Although I was not immediately hooked it was intriguing from the get-go, and so I kept listening until magic began unfolding. Slowed down music allows you enough time to hear right through it, revealing itself in ways I had rarely experienced before. Everything became more transparent and I was noticing sounds normally only perceptible by bats. A near psychedelic experience. That mysterious mix included a few Ecuadorian songs by Junior y su Equipo - aka Polibio Mayorga (a cult figure in the sonidero scene), a couple of Mexican tunes, one Colombian, and various Peruvian songs, undoubtedly the driving force behind this project.

The sonidero who brought Peruvian and Ecuadorian music to Mexico was the legendary Pablo Perea from Sonido Arco-Iris, and although his fingerprints are all over the compilation Saturno 2000, this selection of songs in rebajada is exclusive to DJ Lengua. With the exception of a few classics from Polibio Mayorga and La Sampuesana – the queen of all rebajadas – most of these songs were probably never performed as such before, let alone released.

So how did rebajada come to be? In a nutshell; Rebajada started with two families of brothers – the Pereas and the Ortegas – who travelled all over Latin America and returned to Mexico with heavy loads of records which they would sell to the various sonideros always on the lookout for new tunes. Colombian beats especially seemed to fit almost perfectly with the Mexican dance steps – but they were just a bit too fast. As a result some sonideros began experimenting with equipment, and Marco Antonio Cedillo of Sonido Imperial created a revolutionary pitching system that could slow records down to an extent other players could only dream about. And so rebajada was born . . . or so we thought.

At the same time in north of the country, in Monterrey, sonidero Gabriel Dueñez almost got electrocuted by a short circuit that nearly set his record player on fire. As a result the platter started spinning in slow motion for the rest of the party, turning Cumbia into a different affair altogether. The youngsters went crazy for it and started harassing the sonidero with requests to record cassettes for them. Reluctant at first, Dueñez finally began recording a series of pirated cassettes called “Rebajada” which included mainly Colombian cumbia and porro in slow-mo exclusively. Those tapes took the city by storm and turned rebajada into a celebrated and defiant movement of the youth.

Of course it would not be a Mexican urban legend if it didn’t include dramaturgical elements, and so for nearly 30 years, until this day and probably for ever, both cities have been arguing and claiming ownership the creation of rebajada for themselves. But sonidera Joyce Musicolor, who never has time for such trivial arguments, got straight to the point: “Rebajada, and the equipment to perform it, is from here [Mexico City] but it was Monterrey that popularised it.“

“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.

Wganda Kenya was a group formed by Discos Fuentes under the idea of developing an African and Caribbean sound in order to appeal to the Costeño Colombian market and also inject a little international exoticism into the label. - This 1976 album has become a collector's favorite waiting to be reissued, and it's not hard to understand why since it's full of so many Afro-Funk, Congolese rumba and Caribbean-flavored dance floor burners. - Special edition reissue containing two non-album bonus tracks from the same period that appeared on 45s and various artist compilations, as well as an insert with liner notes. Pressed on 180g vinyl. - First time reissue.More Info!According to Fruko, Wganda Kenya was formed at the request of José María Fuentes in 1974. Fuentes came to Fruko with the proposal to assemble a group with an African and Caribbean sound in order to appeal to the Costeño Colombian market and also inject a little international exoticism into the label.Fuentes wanted to create their own domestic version of the rare (and often unidentified) African and Antillean records played on the Colombian coast in the outdoor picó sound systems in cities like Barranquilla and Cartagena, as well as opening up their markets to international tastes.Fruko was happy to comply, becoming the bandleader and bassist while his pianist from Los Tesos, Luis "Tomate" Mesa, was recruited to play various electronic keyboards. Venezuelan singer Joe Rodríguez was tapped to play drums, Mariano Sepúlveda of Afrosound played guitar, José "Cholo" Gallardo of Los Diplomáticos played saxophone and several Tesos manned the percussion section. Various Fuentes regulars became the vocalists including Jaime Galé, Luis Carlos, and Joe Arroyo.In keeping with the exoticism and façade of foreignness, the vocalists often sang in made-up languages that approximated Indigenous Colombian, Haitian Creole, Papiamento from the Dutch Caribbean or Nigerian Yoruba; at other times they invented Spanish lyrics that mimicked th...

We are true to the principles of the first "¡Naino!". Flamenco rumba fusion which in the hands of intrepid producers becomes Catalan Rumba under the influence of sounds coming from Cuba and Puerto Rico in the early 1960s, Rumba Pop under the umbrella of the British Invasion and American pop of the late 1960s, and Disco Rumba with the arrival funk and disco from the USA in the mid-1970s. Everything happens thanks to a flourishing record industry located mainly in Barcelona with labels such as Belter, Discophon or Vergara. After the death of the fascist, sanguinary dictator Paquito Franco in November 1975, the international record industry establishes in Madrid through major labels CBS, RCA, and a new fusion led by producer Jose Luis de Carlos and labeled as Gipsy Rock, Caño Roto or, in the Flamenco field, especially in couplets, Flamenco Pop. As Oriol Farràs pointed in the previous volume, rumba moved from tablaos to discotheques, understanding the concept of discotheque at that time with a slightly different meaning and less conditioned style-wise. The selection on offer here complements volume one. Starting with an A side packed with floor fillers, with Peret's "Chavi" as the top example of gypsy funk fusion under production of Josep María Bardagí and Josep "Rabbit Rumba" Cunill, and four examples of the answer to that sound as produced by Jose Luis de Carlos, showing the four cardinal points of this fusion success: Las Grecas, Los Chorbos, El Luis and Chango. De Carlos transforms the sound of Madrid's flamenco artists spicing it with soul, rock, glam, dub, funk, disco and gospel. These five opening tunes alone could feed a whole scholar course on the possibilities of rumba fusion and its incredible dance potential. Back to the record. There are not only examples of Afro-American flavored fusions. Progressive rock and Anglo-American psychedelia of the seventies are also influences represented here. They started a path that would later be known as "rock progresivo andalúz" (Andalusian progressive rock) with a crowded band scene and a hardcore hash impregnated following. But before reaching that point, here are some early efforts on side B. Synth-fueled rumba with Canterbury sound inspired electric guitars. A sound that, as it happened with rumba funk and flamenco pop, also had its moment of glory with the arrival of bands and solo artists such as Triana, Gualberto, Smash, Storm or Medina Azahara, or even the more blues-rock oriented Pata Negra.

When you think you already know everything that has been done in Cape Verdian music during the last 5 decades you’ll get surprised with this one. Saudade, a self released LP from 1984, recorded in a studio in Portugal, with Paulino Vieira in the line up along with other well known CV heroes from the 80’s such as Chibanga on the drums, this is maybe the ultimate discovery of the Cape Verdian funana music. Not much is known about this fantastic record or about the obscure Marcos. The 6 tracks recorded on the LP are pure killer funana, no synthetiser, only keyboards, guitars, drums and bass. Till date only a couple of cópies known exist. First time rissued now on Comets Coming.

Previously unreleased 1981 live recording.

Over forty years since this historic happening, Far Out Recordings is overjoyed to release this magical recording of Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo Live at Planetário Da Gávea, on double vinyl LP, CD and digitally for a February 4th 2022 release.

Nico Gomez, a Belgian orchestra leader of Dutch roots, has long been a favourite with Latin fans, record diggers, DJs, and collectors alike. His blend of bossanova, latin jazz, and easy listening always turns up a few choice nuggets and surprises; what is perhaps most remarkable is that it was recorded in Europe.

Back in 2013, Mr Bongo re-issued Nico Gomez's sought-after 'Ritual' album from 1971, and now we follow it up with another jewel from his catalogue his 1972 album 'Soul Of Samba'. For this re-issue, we have opted to present it with the cover art originally used on the Trio Records version released in Japan. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the album was released with different cover art under the title 'Bossa Nova’, on Omega International and International Bestseller Company records, respectively. We loved the beautiful psychedelic design of the Japanese version and wanted to use it for this re-issue.

'Soul Of Samba' features several euro-bossa-jazz favourites such as the catchy 'Rio'; which was a firm DJ choice cut at jazz dance nights, including Brighton's 'Jazz Rooms' in the 90s. It also featured in Rainer Trüby's classic ‘Glücklich' compilation series which explored European-Brazilian-inspired music. The beguiling ‘Aquarela', with its engaging latin shuffle, entices feet to the dancefloor and is not one to miss. 'Agua’ has a lazy-quirky latin-funk feel with breathy-stoned vocals floating in the background. The album additionally features numerous breezy latin, Brazilian, and easy listening joints, some of which are ripe for sampling.

From Costa Rica, Los Cuchillos, a garage punk band that have their path already well defined in the garage punk scene. This is their first ep on Groovie Records, not the last for shure. This tracks are super killers and really shows what the band came for... Limited to 300 copies. 100 of them coloured.

Very rare Chilean album that blends folk and rock in a similar way to one of the most successful bands on IRT: Los Jaivas.A roster of very experienced and talented musicians, including some members of Aguaturbia, was recruited for this project and this self-titled album was finally released in 1973.Fierce percussions, stunning guitar riffs and filtered voices create a unique sound across this only album by Panal.First official reissue with remastered sound from the original master tapes.Panal was born following the IRT director's will to put together a group that would blend folk and rock in a similar way to one of the most successful bands in the Chilean label: Los Jaivas. A roster of very experienced and talented musicians was recruited for this project and this self-titled album was finally released in 1973.Fierce percussions, stunning guitar riffs and filtered voices create a unique sound across this only album by Panal. The guitar of Carlos Corales (also founder of Aguaturbia) shows resemblances of Santana's style and Franz Benko's work on the production adds a fresh twist and renewed touch to the featured repertoire.Shortly after the coup, the group disbanded, leaving behind this masterpiece.First official reissue with remastered sound from the original master tapes.

Electric Cowbell is pleased to release FACHADA's debut Mundos Secretos. An album of groove-heavy experimentalism from the diasporic streets of Washington DC. The music is a wildly hybridized meld of instrumental afro-noir, jazz-funk, and neo-psychedelia. Fachada is the musical persona of autodidact visionary artist and DC native, ROB Smith. Mundos Secretos is all original music infused with '70s-era MPB (Música popular brasileira), jazz and the organic sounds and rhythms of Brazil. Tastefully placed sprinkles of synthesizers, keyboards, and electric guitar weave themselves through a mosaic of grooves focused by funk and the sounds of Brazil, swung with influences from across the African diaspora, pushing them all through a mighty cool psych-styled filter.

Deluxe Gatefold Vinyl 2LP, 12 page booklet with liner notes, lyrics in Spanish / English, and rare photographs from that era). This compilation brings together 24 iconic songs from that era, with a focus on the theme of love songs (A + B side) as well as social political songs (C + D side), highlighting the emotions that this music brought to the popular working classes of Lima, nationwide and the diaspora. More than 30 years later, these songs continue to resonate like the mirror of a country that was reborn but this time is looking at itself and its own identity.

From the mid-1960s onwards, there was a unique moment of fusions in Peruvian culture brought about by Andean migration from the countryside to the city which gave rise to adaptations and intercultural mixing. The culture and music they brought created the powerful genre of Andean tropical cumbia, via electric instruments and arrangements along with modern, popular pop sounds, creating a legacy that is alive to this day. Musical revolutions are often born from the people. Peruvian “chicha” cumbia is the music born in the "barrios bajos” (slums), alleys, hills and the peripheries of Lima on the coast and cities on the edge of the Andes mountains in the late 70’s and 80’s. The true new Peruvian sound was not played with folk instruments but with guitars and timbales. In the 60’s and 70’s Peruvian tropical music was characterized by psychedelic hybridity and instrumentals for mass delight, by the mid-70s the appearance of a "class consciousness" and therefore a subaltern narrative. “Chicha” is perhaps the genre that has most emphasized its pride in being proletariat, itinerant, provincial and hardworking.

Founded in Lima by Juan Campos Muñoz, a businessman, dreamer, and also a lover of music, Discos Horóscopo was a label company on the margins of the official Peruvian music industry. Learning the ins and outs of capitalism in the 80’s was hard because it was the decade where the wildest neoliberal policies and the most extreme Maoist sendero luminosa revolt began simultaneously. On Juan Campos’s end, it was the moment to initiate this new venture of Chicha music, which would allow Chicha to emerge symbolically (and then economically) to a new social class composed mostly of migrants, landless peasants, and proletarians without a factory.

Between 1977 and 1987, the Discos Horóscopo label produced the largest wave of Andean tropical cumbia in the world; Chicha, a reference to the fermented alcoholic drink from the Andes. The label was filled with contemporary icons such as Chacalón y La Nueva Crema, Los Shapis, Pintura Roja, Los Ovnis, Grupo Alegría and other groups which today still have a cult status in Peru and beyond. Together they created a unique style with the capacity to talk about both love and uprooting, unemployment, struggle of classes, internal violence and impossible loves.

When in 1960 Elza da Conceição Soares released her debut LP she had already gathered a great experience as a stage artist, having toured Argentina with Mercedes Batista. The big success of her Se acaso você chegasse single was a firm statement of the undeniable quality and unique style of Elza Soares, who brought the scat style of Louis Armstrong to samba. The jazz influence anticipated the phenomenon of bossa-nova, which in the style of Soares was marketed as "a bossa-negra" and is present through the sources of this, her debut LP.

Elza Soares would of course become a widely known international star touring Europe and the U.S. and spreading her career over the last 60 years, scoring numerous chart hits and collecting prestigious awards and having been chosen as "Best Singer Of The Millenium" by the BBC back in 2000.

The latest release from Silva, a singer/songwriter who has made the leap to become one of Brazil's leading artists, is going to be available on CD and LP!! With its tropical rhythms, elegant arrangements, and pop melodies that you can't get out of your head once you hear them, this is definitely one of the best Brazilian music albums in recent years! He started his career in 2012 as an indie synth-pop home recording artist, but has steadily moved up the ladder, and in recent years has performed with big stars Anitta and Marisa Monti. The singer-songwriter has grown to become one of Brazil's leading figures, and his latest album "cinco", released at the end of 2020, is now available in long-awaited physical format!

We invite you to take a journey through the music of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Colombia, where traditional rhythms blend with contemporary sounds. Mangle Rojo is a compilation album of 8 songs, released on vinyl of 12 inches, with some of the most popular rhythms of Colombian folklore, like Cumbia, Currulao, Bullerengue and, Puya, played by renowned artists like Nelda Piña, Inés Granja, Sixto Silgado Paíto, Emilsen Pacheco and Francisco Torres. Side A consists of four songs from the Pacific Coast, and side B has four songs from the Caribbean region. In this record take part bands and also collaborations between independent musicians. Six of the songs were composed for the album. Independent record label Bánfora Records produced Mangle Rojo, with support from the Ministry of Culture of Colombia

Krishnanda is an album in the truest sense of the word – a spiritual, psychedelic Brazilian masterpiece from start to finish – celebrated by everyone from Seu Jorge and Kassin to Floating Points, Madlib and DJ Nuts. These days, originals change hands for thousands of dollars.

Pedro dos Santos, born in Rio in 1919, was a percussionist virtuoso, composer and inventor of instruments that apparently included oddities such as the ‘Tamba’ (electrified bamboo drum) and the mouth berimbau whistle. Nicknamed Perdo ‘Sorongo’ after the rhythm he invented, that features throughout ‘Krishnanda’. A highly spiritual man who was regarded as a philosopher by many.

He worked with greats including Baden Powell, Elis Regina, Maria Bethany, Elza Soares, Sebastião Tapajós, Roberto Ribeiro, Milton Nascimento, Clara Nunes, Paul Simon and Arthur Verocai, playing on his legendary self-titled LP. In the same vein as Verocai and his self-titled LP, ‘Krishnanda’ was Pedro’s chance to shine with his own, and only, solo recording.

Krishnanda was produced by Hélcio Milito, the drummer of Tamba Trio, and arranged by conductor Joppa Lins, and originally released in 1968 on CBS (Brasil). Musically, the album touches folk, samba, afro-brazilian and psychedelia plus added effects, with a lyrical depth and diversity to match; themes including morality, perception, existence and ego.

Despite the genius of the record and the influence that it had on musicians at the time of release, it disappeared into obscurity. We first discovered the record around 2003, through a friend Julio Dui. Around that time Brazilian funk and bossa was the flavour of the day, so didn’t catch our ear immediately, however it continued improve with age and now we consider it to be one of the best albums ever made, regardless of genre or origin.

The Mr Bongo reissue is produced as a replica original LP / audio master by Ricardo Garcier at Magic Master (Rio de Janeiro) / artwork restored by Andrew Edwards, from the original copy borrowed from Julio Dui – thank you, sir!

Limited to 500 copies.

Limited to 300 copies. West African and Venezuelan inspired dance floor 45 from Cyril Diaz the 1950's Trinidadian bandleader playing the roots music of his Afro-Venezuelan parentage. His father Gordon Diaz migrated to Trinidad sometime in the early 1900's. Throughout the 1950's Cyril Diaz and his big band calypso orchestra toured the Caribbean and South America recording culturally inspired hybrid calypsos with an African and Latin tinge. Showcased here is his fascination with West African shango on "Mme Killio" Mme Killio is a famous beauty contest in Africa, Diaz’s version being recorded by Emory Cook in November 1957.

This release comes on heavy-weight 180g vinyl. With all the cosmic energy and masterful musicianship you'd expect from the three-man orchestra, Azymuth rise from the ashes.

The first instalment in our new ‘Mr Bongo Record Club’ compilation series – a
selection of favourites, recent discoveries and sought after obscurities, which
form the basis of our DJ sets and our radio show of the same name. Including
cuts by Claudia, Cortex, Dave Pike Set, Fruko, Neno Exporta Som, Connie
Laverne, Barbosa and more.
The original concept for ‘Mr Bongo Record Club’ was a radio show that allowed
us to air our treasured record collections, recorded and broadcast once a
month. We wanted to create an outlet free from any genre or BPM restrictions,
not constrained by the need to beat-mix every record, a space where we could
play latest finds alongside favourites. The only self-imposed rule being that
it had to be played from vinyl.
We have always DJ’d across-the-board, but playing in an eclectic way hasn’t
always been easy. Recently DJ’s such as MCDE, Floating Points, Nick The Record,
Leon Vynehall, Four Tet, Jeremy Underground, Antal (Rush Hour), Sassy J and
Young Marco – to name a few – have opened things up with very diverse sets to
younger audiences; Brazilian samba-rock, next to modern soul, highlife, disco,
boogie, jazz, house, techno and beyond.
We’re seeing a rare groove like sensibility. A shift towards the attitude of
legendary club nights hosted by the likes of Mr Scruff and Gilles Peterson,
where you could hear house, hip hop, Turkish funk, boogie, jazz, dub and Latin
back to back. At the same time it isn't a nostalgic or retro movement, people
have a progressive attitude and a thirst for new-old music. It is a vibrant and
exciting time – we are proud to be a part of it.

‘Os Orixas’ is rich in layered percussion, horns and guitars. Singer Eloah’s lead vocals are reminiscent of the likes of Ellen McIlwaine, Elza Soares and Joyce. Samba, funk, folk, jazz and MPB over ijexa and African grooves, that combine beautifully across the moods. Os Orixas refers to one of the manifestations of the ’supreme God’ in the Yoruba faith.

The songs were written by Luis Berimbau, assisted by Ildásio Tavares. Berimbau was a very influential multi instrumentalist, poet, writer and composer from Bahia, Brazil. He produced the wonderful folk/psychedelic rock group Perfume Azul Do Sol’s ‘Nascimento’ LP amongst many others.

‘2 Minutos De Um Novo Dia’ – pacey samba-funk-MPB that originally appeared on a 7” from 1969 released on Odeon Brazil. Soaring vocals, strings and horns over alternating full and half-time funk drum breaks. Very big indeed.

‘Candomble’ has been a resident in our DJ sets for a long, long time. A retrained, deeper opening section drops into drum heavy, rich uptempo jazzy-MPB. Super catchy vocal hooks and piano lines sit over the top from start to finish. Taken from their self titled album from 1975 on RCA.

Deep', also known as 'Oh Poor Me' is a mid-tempo latin soul/boogaloo from singer Quetchy Alma aka La Lloroncita. Taken from the very rare LP ‘El Sol Brilla Para Todos’ on Tico.

'Identify Yourself' is a stone cold Nu Yorican funk/soul hit. Drum heavy, huge horns and punchy Rhodes lines. Taken from their self-titled LP on Vaya, released in 1974.

Edson Frederico double featuring tracks from his sought after and VERY pricey ‘Edson Frederico E A Transa’ LP.

‘Tava Mas Nao Tava’ is a psychedelic boogie-samba fusion with 4/4 drums and traditional rhythms alternating throughout.

‘Bobeira’ is a jazzy samba-MPB workout, with bubbling rhodes, layered backing vocals, horns, percussion and whistles.

Previously unreleased on 7”.