Ana y Jaime — Jerusalem
from Es Largo El Camino (1968)
This album is a magical masterpiece of psychedelic folk, from Colombian brother and sister duo Ana y Jaime Valencia Aristizábal. They recorded this when they were just 15 and 17 years old, respectively. Ponder that as you listen to the killer fuzz guitar on this track…
Righeira — Vamos a la playa
from Righeira (1983)
An epic Italo-disco track from 1983, from the Turin-based duo Righeira. Sounds totally carefree, but the lyrics are actually about the fallout of a nuclear bomb:
Vamos a la playa / Let’s go to the beach
todos con sombrero. / everyone with a hat.
El viento radiactivo / the radioactive wind
despeina los cabellos. / messes up your hair.
Vamos a la playa, / Let’s go to the beach
al fin el mar es limpio. / finally the sea is clean.
No más peces hediondos, / No more stinking fish,
sino agua fluorescente. / but fluorescent waters.
An odd choice for the discoteca… and this, three years before actual radioactive winds blew to Italy from Chernobyl. (The video is also worth a look, if you have a high tolerance for neon.)
Marifé de Triana — Dolores, la de Valverde (1971)
Spectacularly glossy track from the sevillana Marifé de Triana, a copla singer and actress. Starts out sounding like ‘Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da’… then the horns come in, recalling a Herb-Alpert-style jam, and then BAM!!… Marifé arrives with a show-stopping vocal performance.
This track comes via a Mallorca-based music blog, Pick Up: Colección de discos. Don’t miss it if you like mid-century Spanish music!
MKRNI — Humedad
from Jumper (2011)
Watch the Chilean kids behind psychedelic electro group MKRNI (as in mac & cheese) bounce and gyrate to their garage organs. This is the stuff tropical dreams (and nightmares) are made of…
Keep an eye out for their new full length coming out in Diciembre, Playa Futuro. Til then, gorge yerself on MKRNI at their soundcloud.
Los Hermanos Lovo — Las Tres Fronteras
from iSoy Salvadoreño! Chanchona Music from Eastern El Salvador (2011)
Well this sure is perky. This track from the DC-based Salvadorenos Los Hermanos Lovo arrived in my inbox today—a new release from the excellent Smithsonian Folkways label.
The music is chanchona (lit, “big sow”) which refers to the string bass. It’s music from eastern El Salvador, where this family lived before fleeing to the US during the civil war.
You must wait for the end when someone shouts “El SalvaDORRRRR!!!” It is without a doubt the apex of the song…I’m on my fourth listen.
Carlos Guzman y Los Fabulosos Cuatro — El Tren
Carlos Guzman and his Fabulous Four came screaming out of the lower Rio Grande Valley in the mid 60s with electric guitars and garage organs blazing—revolutionizing the música tejana of the era by replacing the traditional 12-string bajo sexto and accordion with electrified instruments.
This track is an arrangement of Ray Charles’ 1966 track ‘The Train’ by Fabuloso Cuatro guitarist Ramiro “Snowball” de la Cruz (the nickname “Snowball” came from a fellow bandmade riffing on Cruz’s albinism).
Carlos Guzman y los Fabulosos Cuatro (that’s Ramiro with the sunglasses)
More on Tejano music in the book Tejano Proud and at OndaNet. Music via el fabuloso Supersonido and Los Sonidos del Nopal.
Ritmo de Estrellas — Pituka La Bella
from Pituka La Bella (1960?)
This is too good to pass up… a bit of Cuban charanga from south Florida. Look at the gap in her teeth!
Over at Fidel’s Eyeglasses you can catch a much older (c.1950s) video of this track performed by Orquesta Aragón along with yerdarlingdaily faves Los Zafiros. The dancing is really spectacular.
Los York’s — Abrázame Baby (1967)
Demented garage from Peruvian psych-rockers Los Yorks. The lead singer, Pablo Luna, has a delightful meltdown on this tune, and the band just falls to pieces behind him.
This is actually a reworking of the Rolling Stones’ 1965 version of ‘Mercy Mercy,’ which was in turn a track originally written and performed in 1964 by soul/R&B singer Don Covay and the Goodtimers, with sublime guitar backing by a very young Jimi Hendrix.
To really bring things full circle, my favorite audio weirdos Lucky Dragons sampled the Don Covay version on their tooth-chattering 2002 track ‘Mercy.’ Oh, the journeys a song makes…
This and other Los York’s tracks at the definitive library of garage, Garage Hangover.
Aurita Castillo y Su Conjunto — Si Me Quieres (Puya Guamalera)
from Festival con Aurita
This is like every little kid’s dream—to dance around, singing your favorite song, and then out of nowhere a band of grown-ups start playing along. In this case, they took the fantasy even further—they put it to record. And little Aurita really holds her own!
Morena y Clara — No Llores Mas (1976)
More rumba catalana… with special effects guaranteed to turn your cerebrum into a puddle. Too bad no one taught these ladies to dance. Those moves are awful!
Tony El Gitano — Dolores
from Acid Rumba: Spanish Gypsy Grooves 1969-76 (2011)
This is what happened when flamenco and rumba got busy one night—fuzzed-out funk with hand clapping and flamenco yay-yay-yaying—a love child born in the gitano communities of the Gràcia in Barcelona, christened rumba catalana.
It hit the next level in the studio, when leisure-suited flamenco crooners like Tony El Gitano laid down tracks like this, backed by electric-guitar-toting longhairs with time and hash to burn. This terrific compilation was lovingly put together by the folks at Spain’s Hundergrum label, masterminds behind the Spanish hard psych collections ‘Andergraun Vibrations.’
As sexy as these rhythms are (how deep in the pocket is that bass?!), you’ll see that the genre’s practicants weren’t immune from the ever-popular Spanish mullet. Doesn’t quite inflame the corazon… but I’m sure Dolores felt differently.
Los Amparito – Dicen (con Nubla) (2011)
Pleasing headspace curated by Los Amparito, with Barcelona’s Nubla on vocals. Grab this track on last month’s mix from Revista Plástica.
Ruido Rosa — Dentro (2011)
Zeppelin-style jams from Mexico City’s Ruido Rosa (Pink Noise). Not my usual listening, but if these girls come to New York City, sign me up. They are killing it. The meek need not apply.
Los Pájaros - Turubao de Los Pájaros
from Cariñosamente… (1967)
If you missed the new yerdarlingdaily mix “Las Chinas,” this track by the adorable Venezuelan girl group Los Pájaros kicks things off. I really haven’t been able to get enough of this album. The LP proclaims: “Los Disc Jockeys las consideran como “Artistas Hits” de sus programas.” Indeed.
If you’re a Bewitched junkie, or the type who loves to sing while vacuuming, these sugar packets of pop are the perfect soundtrack. You might also enjoy the album if you don’t remotely identify with either of those categories.
Gloria, Mary, Carmen and Otilia — from the flipside of the LP.
Grab the LP at Venezuela en Ritmo.
Paco Ibáñez & Carmela — Guerra de los Vargas
from The Fantastic Carmela Sings Latin American Folklore (1969)
Here Spanish guitarist and ‘rebel artist’ Paco Ibáñez accompanies Carmela (Carmen Didia) on a Venezuelan folk song by Tino Carrasco. Quench your thirst for all sounds Venezuelan (including Carrasco) at the encyclopedic blog Venezuela en Ritmo—”siempre imitada, nunca igualada.”
