October 11, 2012

Martin Lopez Y Sus Estrellas | Cocinando

ARTIST:  Martin Lopez Y Sus Estrellas 
TITLE:  Cocinando 
LABEL:  Masstropicas
Mighty-mite indie vinyl label Masstropicas has until now specialized in chicha, Peru’s unique brew of cumbia and psychedelia.  With this release they’re expanding out into a wider variety of the superb tropical music produced in that country in the 1960’s and 70’s. Martin Lopez was a policeman who moonlighted as a bandleader – here he’s working with some true stars, the cream-of-the-cream of Lima’s Discos MAG, the number one label of the era.  The band whips its way through an excellent sampler of the styles that were popular in Peru back then: Cuban-based son (track 2) and descarga (6), funky Latin jazz (11) and chicha (8, with some great organ playing).  And the title track (1) is a sui-generis mixture of psych, descarga and the kind of stuff you used to hear at roller rinks.  This vinyl-only (with enclosed download card) release is great fun, and it opens up a whole new universe of music for Masstropicas to work with.
TOP TRACKS:    1    2    6    8    11
ALSO RECOMMENDED:    3    4    9    10    12

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