Mirtha y Raul – El Sueño De Andría
Grupo Monumental – Tremendo Tremendo
Back in 2007, out of seemingly nowhere, Canadian record label Waxing Deep released the first volume of Si Para Usted, featuring some extraordinarily rare (especially for us here in the States, what with the embargo and all) Cuban music from the 1960s and 1970s. That release was nothing short of a revelation, since these hybrid forms just really hadn’t been heard widely and were almost non-existent in our collective funky conscience. This second volume, in what is thankfully now a series, had some very big shoes to fill, and I’m happy to say it’s largely on par with the original.
This volume seems like it gets deeper, focusing on less well known groups, but not sacrificing anything in terms of quality of sound. Speaking of which, the overall quality of sound is much better on this volume, these tracks sound like they were mastered from the originals, whereas some on Vol. 1 sounded like they were mastered direct from vinyl.
Just as with the first volume, the sound here is a mix of funk with latin rhythms, some of which sounds just like other sonic experiments in latin funky, but many times the mix gets mixed up in some very different and distinctly Cuban ways. For my money, the best two tracks are the ones I’ve provided you with here, Grupo Monumental’s tremendous “Tremendo Tremendo,” with a scintillating organ especially in the breakdown where it makes an almost telephone ringer like tone and “El Sueño De Andría” which is surely very funky, but ends up a bit more psychedelic than most of the cuts presented here (and sounds to my ears just a shade reminiscent of McDonald & Giles “Tomorrow’s People”).
Other standouts include both tracks from Los Brito, especially the opener “El 4-5-6,” a cover of Barrabas’ (or did Osibisa do the original?) “Wild Safari” retitled “Safari Salvaje” by Los Rapidos and the way over the top (at least vocally) “Siboney” by Los Llamas. Here’s to hoping that Waxing Deep just keeps this series a rolling for a long time to come, I can’t imagine how much music there is to mine from this period in Cuban music.
Just so you know what you’re missing if you didn’t hear Volume 1, here’s my favorite track from that collection, from Juan Pablo Torres’ group Algo Nuevo. This one still blows my mind every time I play it, and it’s only the first track on the first comp. So, very very necessary…
Mate, you have such a seriously wicked taste in music!
Why not so many many comments? Is the world in such a sorry state that it can't recognize it's salvation through listening to the quality tunes that you play?
Greetings from the UK.
Wow, thanks again! I've been trying to figure out the lack of comments myself. This is a relatively new blog, only up a couple of months and it's still finding an audience. I know people are checking it out and the number of visitors is steadily increasing, so I'm thankful for that, but I am especially thankful for readers like you who do let me know what you think.
Much appreciated,
Michael
Your welcome Michael. Yes I guess there's a helluva lot more music blogs around now than there were a few years ago, all jostling for position as "the coolest new thang" on the block, that It can take a while for people like your good self who clearly appreciates the quality of "Timelessness" in music. I'll stop there before I start goin' on about crystal power n ish but basically keep on doin what you're doin because you got the quality control sorted!
Thanks again, glad you appreciate it. Hopefully more voices will get added to the mix as time goes on…