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Soyuz (союз) stole our hearts back in 2022 when we released their album Force Of The Wind to critical acclaim. Here we proudly present the predecessor to that LP, the band’s sophomore long player from 2019 that was previously only available digitally. It captures a pivotal evolving period in the band's career, the recordings giving a snapshot of what would become their sound on Force Of The Wind, yet with echoes of avant-psychedelic-pop footprints from yester years.

Produced at a time when band leader Alex Chumak had moved from Minsk to Kyiv, torn between the need to try something new and the homesickness it brought about. Travelling back to Minsk almost weekly, Alex joined fellow band members Mikita Arlou and Stanislav Murashko to lay down II at Studio 42. The album captures these transient feelings, contextualised through the broad scope of influences the band were nourished by. From MPB to Ethio-Jazz and the Italian library soundtracks of Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani, the album shines with touches of joy from across the globe.

The opening track 'Verocai' is a tribute to the Brazilian maestro and 'Mirouze', whilst being named after a French favourite of the band, Jean-Pierre Mirouze, pays clear homage to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. A ghostly sample and invisible connection to music made miles away in a different era that has influenced and become part of the band’s lives. This is further reinforced in the album's enchanting closer, the aptly titled 'Nascimento', another nod to the great Brazilian musician and singer.

The beginnings of the cinematic, soul-laden jazz Soyuz are now known for, are on display across the likes of ‘Lyric’ and 'Motive I'. The latter an orchestrated jazz instrumental with sensuous string sections, all of which were recorded on the warmth of a Studer reel-to-reel and waltzing Rhodes keys.

Soyuz’s wide-ranging palate is further demonstrated in tracks like ‘Business Partners’ with its Krauty, kosmische, new wave production featuring Inturist, and the oh-too-short Anatolian-influenced interlude 'Corrida'. Elsewhere, 'Tezeta' and ‘es-2 Jazz’ hint at the psychedelic haze of soul-funk, with the former featuring verses from Serbian rapper Petar Martic.

For this new physical and digital release, the whole album was mixed from scratch by Ryan Power before Joker worked his magic on the remaster. More excellence is to come from Soyuz, but in the meantime, we are thrilled to present this essential recording from the band’s foundational years, mixed to a level that does it the justice it deserves.

Limited to 200 copies on green vinyl worldwide. Only available at hhv.de and in Japan.

João Donato need no presentation his one of the of tropical groove masters from all eras. Albums like A Bad Donato, Quem é Quem or Lugar Comum from his 1970's Works are legendary. This one is a homage to that era and João Donato returning to his Tropical Jazz Funk Groove original style. It is known that good albums generate good shows, but in the case of this album, we can do the opposite. "Donato Elétrico" began to take shape following a show performed by the artist in 2014, at Sesc Pinheiros (São Paulo, Brazil). On that occasion, the musician released the emblematic album "Quem é Quem" on stage, after a delay of more than 40 years. For this late release, Donato invited young musicians from São Paulo, with whom he had already been working on the idea of a new project, and who helped him recreate the original atmosphere of "Quem é Quem", full of grooves, whose essence was in the João's electric piano.

Record Store Day 2020 Release.
Limitation: 1000 copies.

180g vinyl reissue of the mega rare Mexican-only Luiz Eτa album from 1970 in facsimile artwork and remastered sound.The Brazilian pianist and founder member of Tamba Trio is accompanied here by a large group of top-notchBrazilian musicians.

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

Still untouched by human settlement barely 500 years ago, the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Rodrigues and the Seychelles were colonized by Europeans (French, English and Dutch) from the end of the 16th century on and operated as trading posts on the Indian route. Slaves were deported from Africa and Madagascar to cultivate coffee, spices and sugar cane. On the margins of the plantations, during clandestine gatherings, they exorcised their daily lives through percussion, singing and dancing. It is the tschiéga, chéga or sega, from Mozambique and Malagasy influence.

The gradual appropriation by the Creole populations of Western instruments and European melodic traditions (quadrilles, waltzes, polkas, scottish, romances, mazurkas), as well as the cultural contribution of committed workers from India laid the foundations of the modern sega.

This crossroads of influences was to continue to grow, especially from the 1950s, when the first phonographs arrived, playing all kinds of varieties but also jazz, soul, rock'n'roll, and even Cuban or Brazilian music.

For the Sega, these were the first steps towards a period of intense creativity that would cover the 1960s and 1970s. Amplified instruments arrived, and electric guitars, basses, drums and keyboards quickly replaced violins and accordions. Record production exploded and saw the advent of many micro-labels featuring genius arrangers such as Marclaine Antoine, Gérard Cimiotti, Eric Nelson, Claude Vinh San, or Narmine Ducap who explored the Sega in its many facets. Psychedelic keyboards, fuzz guitars and undulating basses invited themselves on the furious ternary polyrhythms of drums, ravannes, bongos, claves, triangles and maracas, to produce a unique style.

Here are some pearls from this golden age of the segas of Mauritius, Seychelles and Reunion Island that are compiled in this volume 2 for our greatest pleasure!

Pana is the behind-the-scenes powerhouse shaping the sound of reggae in Hawai‘i today. His productions have backed the likes of Ka‘ikena Scanlan, The Green, Fia, Likkle Jordee and more.

Since its release, Hibiscus has propelled his prominence as a solo artist to unexpected heights. Having released the EP in February 2020 with minimal effort to promote it beyond his immediate fanbase, the response has been overwhelming. Each track pairs a guest vocalist with Pana's production, and some songs have become staples on local radio stations.

Aloha Got Soul is proud to present Pana's Hibiscus on vinyl, with the instrumental versions included on the B-side.

Having spent their formative years in São Paulo Brazil, as a teenager, Lau Ro found themself uprooted from their home. Moving with their family to Europe in search of a better quality of life, their story was like that of many immigrants in the same position. Lau Ro’s parents found work in factories and cleaning jobs, for the first few years in the North of Italy and then in Brighton on England’s Southern coast. “We never managed to visit back home, so my connection to Brazil became largely made up of childhood memories and my fascination with all the 60s and 70s music I could find from there.

In Brighton, the young non-binary singer and composer would immerse themself amongst the city's vanguard of free-thinking artists and musicians. Lau Ro formed Wax Machine whose prefigurative, psychedelic community provided a glimmer of countercultural hope amid a backdrop of national political decline. From 2020-23, Wax Machine birthed three cult-favourite albums in as many years; indebted in part to their British psychedelic forebears from progressive folk, rock and jazz yore. But the kernel of Lau’s Brazilian sound was already beginning to blossom across Wax Machine’s releases. Now, taking root deeper still, Lau Ro steps forward with their debut album: Cabana.

Named after the small wood cabin at the bottom of their garden where the album was recorded, Cabana is a deeply personal record of memory, self-discovery and imagination. Melancholy and hope combine across ten tracks of dreamy bossa, ambient folk, fuzzy tropicalia and majestic MPB. The music is swathed in masterful string arrangements and trippy electronics in equal part, while Lau Ro’s delicate, yet quietly confident voice takes acerbic aim (in both English and Portuguese) at polluted city life, while dreaming of a utopia, rich with nature and wildlife.

Like the musical equivalent of semantic drift, Lau Ro’s displacement led to the creation of another Brazil. A mythic place in Lau’s soul, as they put it, “where the sunshine and joy of my childhood remained untapped.” Lau continues: “It’s music that might sound as if it came out of a parallel universe Brazil, rather than its modern day landscape. I am nowadays rediscovering Brazil, going back as often as I can and trying to stay connected to these different parts of the world and myself.”

Vocal harmonies and arrangements and excellent guitar work are masterfully combined creating a joyful journey featuring the undisputed talent of Raymundo Bittencourt, Octávio Burnier and Paulo Moura. "The human voice is more than just a musical instrument; it is ally to the thought. Vocal art is one of the most beautiful forms of musical expression and an endless resource. It's a shame that so few devote themselves to it in our popular music. I would therefore like to congratulate Aquarius and Continental for the release of this LP and may it be received by all with the same affection and attention than those who dedicated themselves to making it" Paulinho Tapajos These notes, originally printed on the back cover of this 1976 beauty, are a perfect introduction to the vocal harmonies and arrangements and excellent guitar work that are masterfully combined creating a joyful journey that features the undisputed talent of Raymundo Bittencourt, Octávio Burnier and Paulo Moura. An amazing bit of Brazilian samba funk that also touches on MPB, bossa nova, jazz… This sought-after gem opens with the beautiful version of Burnier & Cartier’s ‘Só Tem Lugar Prá Você’ (one of the two B&C versions included on this album, with a pitched-down ‘Europanema’ sparkling on the B side), building up a mellow, airy vibe that stays throughout the entire album. This release is the result of a collaboration between Vampisoul and Glossy Mistakes.

Rubinho E Mauro Assumpção's 'Perfeitamente, Justamente Quando Cheguei' has to be up there as one of the finest Brazilian-psych-folk-MPB records we know. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find in the wild; even on digging trips to Brazil, an original copy rarely shows up, and when it does, it comes with a hefty price tag.

This highly sought-after rarity was released on the Brazilian label Tapecar Records in 1972 and is the one and only album by the sensational pairing of Rubinho and Mauro Assumpção. Effortlessly blending folk, MPB, funky-psych, rock, and relaxed, swaggering samba, this record ought to be heralded as a true Brazilian classic. However, maybe due to its scarcity and the previous reissue predominantly being only available to the Brazilian market, it has not had a chance to fully shine and find the wider audience it deserves. Through our reissue we hope to put things right. Fans of records by Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges are sure to enjoy the same magic and allure in 'Perfeitamente, Justamente Quando Cheguei'.

In addition to being the album’s songwriters, Mauro Assumpção took on the role of producer and Rubinho was co-producer as well as playing piano, organ, acoustic guitar and performing vocals. The record features the drummer Gegê who worked with Milton Nascimento, Edu Lobo, Nana Caymmi, Dom Um Romão and more. It also features guitarist Rick Ferreira, who played with Erasmo Carlos, Gal Costa and other greats. Rounding off the players on the album are Darcy Da Cruz and Formiga who have graced many a fine recording on horns.

'Perfeitamente, Justamente Quando Cheguei' is a truly stunning work that washes over you with beauty. Delve in and savour.

In 1959, flutist Herbie Mann put together a very interesting band that was in its brief existence (before Mann's interests shifted elsewhere) one of the top in Afro-Cuban jazz. Utilizing four trumpets (including Doc Cheatham), up to three percussionists and a flute-vibes-bass-drums quartet, Mann performs four standards (including "Dearly Beloved," "I'll Remember April" and "Autumn Leaves") and two originals in a style that was beyond bop and much more African- and Cuban-oriented.

Personnel: Herbie Mann (flute, bass clarinet), Johnny Rae (vibes), Nabil Knobby Totah (bass), Rudy Collins (drums), Ray Mantilla (conga drums), Ray Barretto (bongos except on #8 and #12). Plus trumpet section: Doc Cheatham, Siggy Schatz, Jerome Kail and Leo Ball. Recorded in New York City, 1959

Paz en La Tierra is a result of a search by the Meridian Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna of the heart of something that can be called a 'power format' of Colombian Caribbean music; Accordion, Guacharaca, Caja, Congas, Electric bass, and vocals.

Departing from this idea, and casually working with the music of a documentary on the famous singer Diomedes Diaz, Iván Medellín (accordionist of Conjunto media luna), and Eblis Álvarez from the Meridian Brothers, embarked on a new work building a sound exclusively on the traditional format, searching for several spaces between the lines in the universe of accordion in Colombian music.

The duo departed from the basic: the line of vallenato, the most famous in the country but not the only one, the line of sabanero music more of the lands of Sucre and Córdoba inclined towards cumbia, bullerengue, son vallenato among other airs fed the group's ideas. The Barranquilla center deserves a separate mention, due to its cosmopolitan approach, using all kinds of influences, from the Caribbean islands to ancient rhythms or even modern rock and funk, also used as an inspiration for this record.

In the process, new ways of melody appeared and new ways of expression emerged. Although the rhythms used in the record are rooted in the traditional, the duo glitched those rhythms turning them into new directions in the style, using exclusively the past references to transmute the sound into something that looks inside a parallel future.

Using several theatrical situations, alterations in musical structures, and slight deformations of the traditional harmony (a tonal center and its dominant) the result of "Paz en la Tierra" is enigmatic and charming, and at the same time directed towards the dance floor keeping the past alive and flourishing the essence of the tradition.

Ykytu is Brasilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento’s fourth album for Now-Again Records. Produced by Nascimento’s longtime engineer Jason Hiller, this album is do Nascimento’s first solo guitar album and, like his previous album, Preludio, is reliant on do Nascimento’s own compositions, with a little help from like-minded musical travelers. In keeping with the trajectory of his previous albums, including Dança dos Tempos and Tempo dos Mestres, Ykytu follows folkloric Brasilian music, Brasilian jazz, bossa-nova and samba as experienced through the mind and able fingers of an expansive musician, this time in a minimalist, meditative manner. “Even though this album is a bit experimental and even abstract at times, It is meant to be a calming and easy listening experience,” do Nascimento offers. “I choose to keep the songs and arrangements intentionally very bare and stripped down. Just adding few layers and colors here and there.” The album came together during the Covid-19 pandemic, but one hears anything but isolation in Ykytu’s grooves. Do Nascimento performed the album almost entirely with a Strimon Timeline pedal, with a few loops and overdubs, and the result is a full-fledged, if quiet and subtle, conversation Do Nascimento has with himself, as he ruminates about this stage in his life, in his musical journey, and his music’s place in the world. Ykytu means "wind" in the indigenous Brazilian Guarani language. In his own way, as he was quarantined in Los Angeles, Do Nascimento has succeded in journeying outwards, in heeding the call of the open world. At the same time, he has remained true to the spirit and calling of his forebears, hearing their whispers, amplifying them, augmenting them, and allowing them to flow outwards.

100-year-old Walter Gavitt Ferguson from Costa Rica is a living legend, a Calypsonian of mythical proportions. Rooted like an old tree on the caribbean shore, he has never left his home town to look for fame, instead fame came looking for him. Throughout eight decades his musical gifts have attracted people from near and far, contesting Calypsonians, travellers, musicologists, musicians, pilgrims and the president of the Republic. They once even moved a recording studio to his house, as he refused to go to the city. But many years before that, Ferguson used to sell his legendary self recorded cassettes to travellers and music lovers from all around the globe. He never kept a copy and with age startet to forget many of old compositions. A recently started, international "Tape Hunt" was able to locate more than 25 such tapes in Canada, Costa Rica and the United States and rescued 60 of his forgotten songs. Vol. 2 of this tropical treasure is now available, resurrected directly from original cassettes of the Calypso King.

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

"Hope and liberation reign free on an album overflowing with Caribbean cumbia flavours.

On his debut album as El Drágon Crillo, Colombian producer, musician and singer Paulo Olarte Toro finds a meeting place between bouncing Caribbean cadences and dance floor- ready beats that threaten to propel your body into motion.

Pase Lo Que Pase (translating as Whatever Happens, Happens) is one of those albums that threatens to take you some place new, in this case to the Colombian Caribbean some time around the 80s or 90s, when analog synths, punchy drum machines and Afro- Caribbean guitar melodies ruled the roost. The fact it was this era when Olarte Toro was growing up in Colombia should not go unnoticed. Now based in Geneva, Switzerland, it’s like he’s dialing back the years to a more innocent musical time, re-imagining what it was like for those early pioneers of reggaeton (long before it became so commercial) and for the musicians on Colombia’s Caribbean coast augmenting their tropical vinyl sets with rough-and-ready samples and lo-fi drum sounds.

Within this sonic milieu, there is joy at every corner, from the moment opening track “La Número Uno” sets off on its stripped-back champeta rhythm. In its swirling guitar lines, programmed beat (slowed down to cumbia pace) and unrushed vocals it’s impossible not to lose track of time. Scratchy samples that mimic a dog’s bark and a beatific synth that enters the fray late on only add to the summery shimmer. Further twisted guitar lines are to be found on following track “La Brisa”, which was influenced by US West Coast 90s rock a la Jane’s Addiction (spot the reference if you can), while “Líbrame de Todo Mal” finds an unlikely union between reggae, a disarmingly-anthemic 80s synth line and stinging guitar, with the odd klaxon letting you know this is a party you’re at. It’s a fiesta at which you’re never far from cumbia, as on the mesmerizing “Cumbia Fantasia”, but also throughout the album, where cumbia’s rhythm, instrumentation and traditions are continually hinted at. If musically there is much playfulness and a hint of nostalgia, albeit thrust up-to-date thanks to Olarte Toro’s production (lest it be known he has been making electronic music for nigh on 20 years), lyrically there is a heavy heart at play. The title track is a perfect example, as Olarte Toro states:

“’Pase lo que pase’ talks about the situation that Latin America is experiencing at the moment. It’s a situation that, even though it is old, has become more important and has gained much more awareness on the part of the people. It talks about how the new generations are afraid of a situation that is no longer bearable, that people want a change and that they no longer care at what price, they no longer care if the price they have to pay is their life.”

While despairing at the continued inability of Colombia, and Latin America as a whole, to find peace, equality and a sense that the fight is there to be won, Olarte Toro is also hopeful. “Hoy No Moriré”, with a Brazilian influence in its percussion and guitar, is the story of someone who faces social injustice every day and has grown increasingly tired of the struggle, yet in its chorus, “Hoy No Moriré” (“Today, I Will Not Die”) it also shows their resistance and hope for a better time. “Ojos de Bosque”, a duet which likewise has a sprinkle of Brazilian bombast and is unafraid to get close to ‘pop’ terrain, was written when the first pandemic hit. It’s dedicated to Olarte Toro’s daughters, telling of the sadness that came with uncertainty and confinement, but likewise it’s optimistic, looking for inspiration in daily life and showing that you should never lose the desire to continue.

With his arsenal of guitar, bass, analog synths (chiefly Roland Juno-106 and JX-3P), samplers and percussion, not to mention his guiding voice, Olarte Toro has created an album that could only have been made by him, by a Colombian who grew up with Latin rock, reggaeton, cumbia, champeta, etc., and who moved to Europe to become a noted name in underground dance music circles. Since switching to making music wholeheartedly with a Latin tinge a few years ago he has not held back, releasing albums as a member of Acid Coco and Contento, with one from Jaguar to come.

Now, with his first solo album as El Drágon Criollo, we find him at his most playful, joyous and paradoxically realist, summoning a mesmeric sound that represents the Colombian Caribbean’s past, present and future."

“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.

Venezuelan aggressive guaguanco originally released in 1967 and reissued for the very first time. Frank y sus Inquietos is a little-commented Venezuelan treasure in our time, an amazing, almost unknown jewel of Venezuelan hard salsa, treasured with zeal by music lovers of all times. This group is evidence of the musical communion of the young Caracas of the late sixties with the sounds of the Caribbean in their nascent marriage with urban aggressiveness. As a result of these meetings of “friends who played instruments” such as congas, bongos, piano, timbales and their fiery discharges on the top floor of Block 3 of La Silsa, a building located in this humble and highly populated Caracas popular area, the repertoire of songs by the homonym Frank y sus Inquietos (1969), with an exquisite imagination and brimming with vitality, authentic vocals and choirs, overwhelming percussion, strong bass and fierce piano conducted by Frank González.

Dom La Nena’s new album, Tempo, is about time. Not that it demands a lot of your time: most of the songs barely pass the three-minute mark. But the Brazilian-born, Paris-based singer, songwriter and cellist has created a series of small, crystalline moments – sometimes sunny, often dreamy, and occasionally laced with that beautiful nostalgia the Brazilians call saudade. Tempo is La Nena’s third full-length release, after 2013’s critically acclaimed Ela, and her internationally-flavored indie-folk collection called Soyo in 2015; she’s also half of the duo called Birds On A Wire with Rosemary Standley (from the popular French band Moriarty). Add to that her time spent playing with Jane Birkin and collaborating with Julieta Venegas, Jorge Drexler and Piers Faccini, and you have an artist with an eclectic, multi-lingual style that’s hard to define but easy to like.

With its blend of pop, world, and chamber music, you may hear Tempo as a response to, or a respite from, difficult times. And you wouldn’t be wrong, although La Nena says that wasn’t intentional. “We give value and attention to so many things,” she explains, “but we forget the essentials: our time and focus, being present, which is the most precious thing we have.” And so each song reflects a moment in time: birth, anticipation, aging, death.

You may also hear Tempo as a lush tapestry of synthesizers, strings, and percussion instruments. This time, you would be wrong. In a remarkable display of arranging and orchestrating ability, Dom La Nena created all the sounds on the album herself, using layers of her voice, her cello, and a few piano parts. Even the percussion sounds were made on the cello. “My intention on this album was to explore new ways to use my instrument,” she says; “so I have used lots of pedals, guitar amps, and effects, to change the original sound of the instrument and take it somewhere else.”

The album, despite its sonic surprises, doesn’t come out of nowhere: its vibrant, tropical languor could be heard on 2015’s Soyo. And the homey, intimate sound also appears on her 2016 EP of covers, called Cantando. Still, Tempo marks the return of a distinctive and unusual musician. It’s about time.

Limited to 500 copies. Latin Funk Psych Fuzz Blaster basically covers all the realms of rare record collecting in one shot!!
There's the Funk Fuzz Blaster "Maranatha" or the Ray Barretto Latin Jazz Groove cut "El Que Se Fue" with freaky synth blasts.
The Texas Easy Funk moves of "Squeeze" which remind of Steam Heat, or the lounged out soul rendition of Stevie Wonder's classic "Bird Of Beauty”. Something for everyone and impossibly rare!!

Seam splits. Writing on cover and on label sticker.

Back to the roots of one of the most influential south-american songwriter and composer. A pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s, Joao was often called "father of bossa ", while in his native Brazil he was referred to as "O Mito" ("The Legend"). This compilation investigates his early career, showing the many sides of his sophisticated art.

Paz en La Tierra is a result of a search by the Meridian Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna of the heart of something that can be called a 'power format' of Colombian Caribbean music; Accordion, Guacharaca, Caja, Congas, Electric bass, and vocals.

Departing from this idea, and casually working with the music of a documentary on the famous singer Diomedes Diaz, Iván Medellín (accordionist of Conjunto media luna), and Eblis Álvarez from the Meridian Brothers, embarked on a new work building a sound exclusively on the traditional format, searching for several spaces between the lines in the universe of accordion in Colombian music.

The duo departed from the basic: the line of vallenato, the most famous in the country but not the only one, the line of sabanero music more of the lands of Sucre and Córdoba inclined towards cumbia, bullerengue, son vallenato among other airs fed the group's ideas. The Barranquilla center deserves a separate mention, due to its cosmopolitan approach, using all kinds of influences, from the Caribbean islands to ancient rhythms or even modern rock and funk, also used as an inspiration for this record.

In the process, new ways of melody appeared and new ways of expression emerged. Although the rhythms used in the record are rooted in the traditional, the duo glitched those rhythms turning them into new directions in the style, using exclusively the past references to transmute the sound into something that looks inside a parallel future.

Using several theatrical situations, alterations in musical structures, and slight deformations of the traditional harmony (a tonal center and its dominant) the result of "Paz en la Tierra" is enigmatic and charming, and at the same time directed towards the dance floor keeping the past alive and flourishing the essence of the tradition.

180 gram reissue of Rita Lee's (Os Mutantes) debut solo album, originally issued in Brazil in 1970. Orchestral arrangements by Rogerio Duprat and production by Arnaldo Baptista, with a cover of The Beatles' "And I Love Her."

“Style, Style is the answer to everything, an original way to face a boring day, or a dangerous day, I'd rather do a boring job with style, than an exciting thing without style, style is pure art”. It is with these words that Rodrigo Brandão begins his poetic, spiritual journey and with high doses of “straight talk” without “eiras or borders”. A record that brings at its core a mixture of elements such as jazz, psychedelia, spoken word, synthesizers and afro futurism with Brazilian matrices. Brandão makes us reflect, bothers us and forces us to understand the other sides, questioning society's problems for the reality of life. The past, now and future in one direction, like a revolutionary celestial storm.

Twisting time and uniting spaces with words and sounds in “other states”. Rodrigo invokes in his narrative the subversion of the listeners. Mentioning that we can face life's difficulties and beauties through style, propagating love instead of hate. A transcendental journey that will undoubtedly transform many who will embark on this sidereal state.

Here and after the LP “Outros Espaço” alongside the mythical SUN RA Arkestra, Brandão arrives accompanied by musicians with a unique caliber from the spiritual jazz and international free jazz, such as the Brazilians Thiago França (meta Meta) and Guilherme Granado (Rob Mazurek Octet, São Paulo Underground ) the free jazz magicians Rodrigo Amado, Yedo Gibson, Hernâni Faustino and Carla Santana the Guinean Kora magician José Braima Galissa. Luxury cast that make Outros Estado an unavoidable work in current the current jazz scene.

“The truth is hard to hear. Even in music. But I can tell you that when you really listen to it, it's beautiful, like the sweetest sound you've ever heard. Brandão's poetry is like that. Lower your weapons. And listen with the same vulnerability it was created with. That's where you'll find beauty. “Brian Jackson” Felipe Portes Jornalista, Sociólogo, DJ e Escritor

The concept behind the debut album by Neapolitan producer Paolo Petrella, (also known for Fratelli Malibu, SuperMegaFuckinMachine, and Nu Genea's live band bass player) is both straightforward and unparalleled. It involves re-imagining Renato Carosone's iconic hits infused with the vibrant essence of Cumbia. An original and fresh perspective of the history of Napoli, re-thinking traditions while blending cultures, like an imaginary colony of South Americans living in Napoli’s fishermen neighborhood of Santa Lucia. Cumbia Luciana sounds like the manifestation of a dream, as the poem on the liner notes recites: “It's 3pm in the afternoon, the sea is calm and there are some clouds in the sky from time to time the sounds of mopeds can be heard in the street. A boy is in his bedroom and out of boredom keeps time by tapping his fingers on the bed frame. He leaves the house for a walk keeping the sea on his side. Rumor has it that ten days ago immigrants arrived from Peru, the boy walks and listens it's Sunday, day of celebration, it's 3.30pm the boy walks and listens he is interrupted by a whole new sound, never heard before from a window of a ground floor house men are playing, the boy stands under that window for a while"

A mysterious release, not only for its unique expressive style but also because it isn't even known when it was initially recorded let alone its release date. According to non profit Studio Piccolo owner Vincent Bruley, it could have been recorded during the 70s and eventually released in the early 90s, sometime throughout Nilton Castro's time in Paris making music for contemporary dance classes (often led by his wife). This album was originally intended for accompanying dancers in classes with an emphasis on rhythm and coordination. Given Nilton's background and expertise in percussion, the focal point of this album is to present an array of Afro Brasilian rhythms performed by himself with additional moments of choir, flute and keys/metallophone. Effortless due to Nilton's prowess and unburdened by typical financial pressures (often behind the release of a record), the result feels like charmingly unadulterated and pure expression throughout the entire album. But what really takes the listener to places of unheard-of bliss is “Ondes (Les Vagues)” a track that has plagued the curiosity of diggers and collectors for a while now. With its harmony crescendos elegantly coming and going as per the title, overlayed on Nilton's subtle percussive patterns, an aural landscape of illusory beauty - listening is believing. Remastered and officially re-issued with its original artwork.

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

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

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

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

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

With his new album, Gecko Turner confirms that he is a standout artist in the global groove scene, a must for the outernational sounds aficionados.

Somebody From Badajoz is the fifth studio album in his much lauded discography and his first in seven years, eagerly anticipated by both his fans and himself: "this business of dedicating yourself to music and making songs... it's a long game."

With the release of his first two, remarkable, albums, Guapapasea! (2003) and Chandalismo Ilustrado (2006), Gecko started cultivating what one astute journalist defined as Afro-maduran soul—the "maduran" bit referencing Extremadura, a region in central-western Spain.

Badajoz, Gecko's birthplace, is the biggest city in the area, on the border with Portugal, by the Guadiana River. It is a place that oozes history, where there is constant movement at the border, and people's character is friendly and open-minded with foreign habits.

Gecko's Afro-maduran soul isbuilt on Afro-American music and drenched in Brazilian, African, Latin American and Jamaican sounds. There are also echoes of a youth marked in equal parts by our man's admiration for the Beatles and the flamenco that could be heard everywhere in Badajoz in the seventies. It makes for a singular sound and a musical language of its own—spicy, succulent, full of nuances, but with a very personal flavour.

The album opens with the Nigerian talking drums of Twenty-twenty Vision, (neo) soul in a magical falsetto, carried by a sumptuous orchestral arrangement with a cinematic flavour: "I'd been thinking about doing something called 'Twenty-twenty Vision' for some time, making a play on words with the vision we have of the world after the year 2020 and the medical expression, which, in ophthalmological terms, means 'normal or complete vision.' Beyond that particular song, I think that's the mood of the album: a look at society in the twenties of the 21st century and the feelings and demons it produces."

It's followed by De Balde, a very special song born from a posthumously discovered lyric by the great writer Carlos Lencero, a regular collaborator of Camarón, Pata Negra, and Remedios Amaya, and also from Badajoz. While conceived as a fandango, Gecko has moulded it into his sound in such a seamless way it now seems as if the words could only have been written to be embraced by the percussion, brass, and backing vocals heard on the album. It's the only lyric on Somebody From Badajoz not written by Turner, still it sits rather comfortably with the rest, sharing the same emotivity and sensitivity, as well as the trademark humour and irony.

Other tracks see more protagonism for the rhythm.The beat-driven Ain't No Fun Preachin' to the Choir features Gecko's vocals walking the thin line between singing and talking over a phenomenal afro-disco-funk-infused trailblazer. In Am I Sad? it's impossible to not bob your head to the queen of Papatosina's mongrel rhythm, as close to the banks of the Guadiana river as it is to the shores of the Mississippi. Qué Siesta Tan Buena, He Babeao Y To! is an ode to the snooze in true Afro-Maduran fashion. And in Come And Try, the Caribbean influence is evident—lovers' rock that invites you to dance in good company.

In these songs, and throughout the album, for that matter, the musicians accompanying Gecko, who himself plays many of the instruments as well, shine brightly. All hailing from Extremadura, Javi Mojave (percussion), Álvaro Fdez 'Dr. Robelto' (bass), and Rafa Prieto (guitar) have been carrying him with delicate forcefulness since he started out as a solo artist. At the same time, the wonderful and essential voices of Deborah Ayo, Astrid Jones, Fani Ela Nsue, and Miriam Solís give the album a sunny variety of colours. And there are many more—a sensational group of musicians contributes dazzling harmonic bursts to many of the songs. The palette of sounds is very diverse and rich in textures and nuances, including, for example, the ngoni, bells, and various repurposed kitchen utensils.

The groove is always around, moving between the magical border sound of Everybody Knows Somebody From Badajoz and Little Dose, the silky soul of The Sibariteo Appreciation Society, and the exultant celebration of End Of The World (which surprisingly sees Gecko turning to the occasional use of autotune), a piece that could be used for the final credits of a Monty Python film and, in fact, closes the album.

Gecko Turner has done it again with Somebody From Badajoz, looking to the future without losing sight of the roots. In times of upheaval all over the globe, when people are looking for purity, he delivers a formidable piece of work: risky, optimistic in spite of everything, and with a decidedly bastard sound. Let's rejoice.

After the demise of LOS Shakers, brothers Hugo & Osvaldo Fattoruso released in 1969 "La Bossa Nova de Hugo & Osvaldo".

Here, they paid homage to the music they grew-up with: jazz, bossa nova and candombe but adding Beatlesque pop-psych and Brazilian/Latin sounds to the mix, following what they had already done with Los Shakers in songs like "Never Never" or "Adorable Lola".

Cool covers of Burt Bacharach, George Harrison and candombe pioneer Manolo Guardia blend together with lovely self-penned songs and even new, bossa-styled versions from Los Shakers catalogue.

Recorded in 1968 mostly by Hugo and Osvaldo playing all the instruments by themselves, it was originally released in 1969 in a tiny edition of 400 copies, making it one of the most desirable collectable albums related to Los Shakers.

The missing link between "Toto's Bar" and OPA's "Goldenwings"?

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.

Joey Pastrana had a special gift for singing
songs in both English and Spanish. Along with
other boogaloo luminaries like Pete Rodriguez
and Joe Cuba; Joey Pastrana was responsible
for introducing Latin music to many English
speakers across America. With a wonderful and
talented orchestra, Joey Pastrana paved the
way for the new Latin music fusions that have
come to be known as the Latin boogaloo.
A master of the timbales, Pastrana was also
a brilliant singer known internationally for
his energizing live performances. Honing his
musical skills in his beloved New York City,
Joey was enamored at an early age by the
sights and sounds coming out of Spanish
Harlem during the early sixties. Taking his cue
from the R&B and Jazz that was popular at that
time, Pastrana became a master of rolling
rhythms that shook up hips in dance floors
throughout the world. One of the top artists of
the boogaloo/Latin soul era, Joey Pastrana’s
music is regarded as one the most wonderful
and exquisite examples of the world-famous
New York Latin sound.