(Music With Soul 7").
Actual growing interest for "tropical" music provides a wide variety of projects and vinyl releases. Muzzicaltrips looked into a afro-venezuelan influenced project (Conjunto Papa Upa, from the Netherlands based label Musicwithsoul), a very good actual DJ friendly sound, loaded with interesting traditional elements. This was opportunity to exchange with the father of this project, Alex Figueira, a real music specialist on the (yet little documented) afro-venezuelan culture.
Showing posts with label muzzicaltrips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label muzzicaltrips. Show all posts
Toto La Momposina and Baranquilla Carnaval Live in La Habana (2013)
Afrocolombian spirit gliding over La Habana, could be a good summary of this unique night, beginning in the Teatro de America, and ending in the streets as an improvised carnaval...
Pico Culture #04 - Soundsystem aesthetics (Baranquilla)
Above painted wood piece is an original decoration from the pico "El Solista", carefully conserved by a fanatical pico lover.
From the 70s each pico developed his own aesthetics through colorful paintings and decorations on the speakers and the control tower. This transmits a real identity to each pico, and can be inspired from pure psychedelic figures (El Dragon, El Cobra), or from personal experiences (for example, El Coreano was created by a colombian man who went to fight in Korea war), or from musical artists (El Pijuan), or from revolutionary figures (El Gran Che, El Gran Fidel). The visual identity personifies the pico, and usually transmits a message of power ("indestructible", "la potencia africana", "guerrillero de la salsa").
It really contributes to glorify the soundsystem, as being also considered as a piece of art.
Meeting with Lansiné Kouyate and David Neerman
Kouyate-Neerman, Palmwine Mandingo Party, Nuits Sonores 2012.
This unique musical experience is based on a duo: Kouyate, balafon player from Kangaba in Mali, and Neerman a french vibraphone player. More than a cultural meeting, the dialogue between this two cousin instruments is here pretext to creative explorations in rhythm and melody. Taking roots in both jazz and mandingo tradition, the created atmosphere is definitely modern: although recorded in an analog studio, the second album integrates the balafon with breaks and vibraphone effects research. The title "Skycrapers and Deities" reflects perfectly the approach, linking up modernism and tradition, concrete and mysticism, human and god.
I saw them live in 2011 as a great opening for Randy Weston, and this month during Palmwine Mandingo Party, which allowed them to fully and freely express their original transe music in front of a highly charged dancefloor...
Meeting with Lansiné Kouyaté and David Neerman before the concert:
Palenque culture #01 Palenque de San Basilio
Palenque de San Basilio is a village not far from Cartagena (Colombia) which represents a really unique cultural space. At the dawn of the17th century, several groups of african slaves escaped from spanish settlers, building fortified villages called "palenques". San Basilio village, led originally by african king Benkos Bohio, is the only one who survived up to nowadays.
Pico Culture #03 - Mysterious records
In order to maintain exclusivity of tracks played on each pico (and thus gain loyalty of the public who has to go to the party to listen to specific exclusive hits), it was common to tear away or paint the label sothat no one could read the original track. The result is some really unique beautiful pieces, but also some unidentified hits (everyone knows the song but no one knows who was the artist, so the track is only known by his spanish surname). That's the case with the following 7" played by the pico El Dragon, but originally from the famous pico El Coreano.
MIX /// Muzzicaltrips In Colombia (afrocolombiano, bombo, cumbia, currulao, gaita, guanguanco, porro)
Colombia is surely one of the most impressive country in Latin American, notably due to importance, diversity and quality of his music. Regionalism and opening to numerous influences being two particularities, listing and studying every styles (and sub-styles) becomes quickly a full time job.
For sure this 60s 70s LP selection cannot be representative of the richness of colombian music, but just travels all around the country, introducing some great gaita, jazzy cumbias, bombo, porro, currulao, guaguanco, afrocolombian crazy tracks from Silver, Fuentes, Felito, Tropical, Machuca, Curro...
Que disfruten el viaje!
Pico Culture #02 - MIX /// Terapia Africana Mix (a selection of pico african hits)
From the 70s, while the soundsystem culture was developing, more and more african records arrived on the colombian coast due to increasing commercial exchanges between international harbors.
Some african songs became hits, african styles being surnamed: nova for highlife tracks, rastrillo for kenyan tracks... It was such a big success for the youth of Cartagena and Baranquilla that even each popular song received his own surname. Also several tracks have been bootlegged in terapia/champeta compilations (which leads to find improbable records including a pure benga followed by an awful 80s techno), and not always credited the original artist/title, but just the local surname known by everybody.
That's the reason of this special selection, composed only of african tracks (Liberia, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Zaire). These tunes are popular in Baranquilla's southern barrios, as long as you speak about: la botellita, el serrucho, la guitarrita, la mecedora, la munequita, el rastrillo, el beto, los palitos, la pipona, el ejen, el akien, la llorona...
Pico Culture #01 - Introducing "El Pico"
I do not pretend to describe here it all, as its richness makes it an infinite task, but I'll just try to enlighten some aspects discovered during researches in Baranquilla.
MIX /// Muzzicaltrips In Congo (1966-74)
A travel around really beautiful rumbas and early soukous, played by orchestras during early years of Congo under Mobutu Sese Seko. Great voices, crazy guitars, sweet horns, in various congolese styles. Selection is based on 45s from Fiesta, African and Pathe labels, which are not extremely rare to bump into in africa as generally not the styles hardly sought after by vinyl diggers, in parallel to be a bit lost in the huge congolese production.
MIX /// Muzzicaltrips back from Barcelona (45rpm selection)

Muzzicaltrips Mix /// 45rpms found in Barcelona (24min):
MIX /// Kikiribu (boogaloo, cha cha, latinfunk, descarga, montuno, mapale, salsa, locuras bailables)
An original latin selection full of crazy tracks from Spanish Harlem, Caracas, Lima, Bogota, La Habana...
"a fumar la pipa de la paz y bailar la danza boogaloo"...Kikiribu Mix by ORL Muzzicaltrips (50min):
The Flying Carpet Radioshow

I just had a ride on a musical flying carpet, The Flying Carpet Radioshow (Radio Ciutat Vella FM 100.5 Barcelona).
An african records selection, and some context.
Listen to the radioshow:
MIX /// Tropical Round Trip #3 by Muzzicaltrips
A sound travel around Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Guadeloupe, Benin, Ivory Coast, Angola, Nigeria...
Tropical Round Trip #3 (77min):
MIX /// Muzzicaltrips back from Benin (45rpm selection)

...El Rego, L.A. Aux Ecoutes, Polydisco, Mélomé Clément, Poly-Rythmo, African Songs, Picoby Band, nagra sessions, african scream contest, afro beat, jerk fon...
Enjoy!Muzzicaltrips back from Benin 45s selection:
I recommend to listen to this (re)reading the great liner notes from Analog Africa compilations (big up Samy) to perceive the context of these productions and this musical era.
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