Search:maria amor

Gonzalo Benitez and Luis Alberto Valencia were kingpins of the musica nacional movement in Ecuador. Check them out on the cover, on a rooftop in Quito’s Old Town, surveying their dominion. In 1970, when Valencia collapsed onstage during a performance of the yaravi Desesperacion — ‘My heart is already in ashes’ — and died four days later, aged 52, his coffin was carried through those city streets on the shoulders of his fans.

They began singing as a duo in their mid-teens. During twenty-eight years together they recorded more than six hundred songs, for Discos Ecuador, Nacional, Granja, Ortiz, Rondador, Onix, Fuente, Real, Tropical, Fadisa, RCA Victor — and of course CAIFE.

Their exquisitely romantic harmonising is a sublime blend of collected forbearance and abject self-annihilation, underpinned and elaborated by the heart-piercing, improvisatory guitar-playing of Bolivar Ortiz. Effectively the third member of the group. ‘El Pollo’ sets the tone and intensity for everything that follows: listen to his soloing at the start of our opener, Lamparilla.

Musically a pasillo — a cross between a Viennese waltz and the indigenous yaravi rhythm — Lamparilla draws its verses from a poem by Luz Martinez from Riobamba, written in 1918 when she was 15, under the influence of Baudelaire and Mallarme. Another pasillo here, Sombras is one of the best-loved songs in the musica nacional canon, setting lines about undercover sex and loss by the Mexican poet Maria Pren, which were considered pornographic on publication in 1911.

And Benitez & Valencia looked back still further, to the indigenous roots of Ecuadorian music, as the key to its future. Carnaval de Guaranda is their take on a song dating back to the era of the Mitimaes, a broad group of Bolivian tribes conquered by the Incas and displaced to Ecuador. ‘Impossible love of mine / I love you for being impossible / Who loves what is impossible / Is the truest lover.’

Lovingly presented in a gatefold sleeve with spot-gloss, and printed inners, with stunning photos and expert notes. Excellent sound, drawn from original tapes, by way of Abbey Road, D&M and Pallas.

The gala evening at the Paris Opera on December 19, 1958 was announced in the press as "the greatest show in the world". Maria Callas, at the height of her glory, performed for the first time in front of a Parisian audience. The diva delivered all the facets of her art through the Italian classics that she loved, with the theatrical genius that is proper to her. Paris gave her a triumphant evening!

The original recording of this evening, broadcast in Eurovision throughout Europe, has been newly restored with the greatest care.

Presentation by Benoît Duteurtre, novelist, essayist and music critic.

Excerpts from Norma by Bellini
Excerpts from Il Trovatore by Verdi
Excerpts from Il Barbiere di Seviglia by Rossini
Complete second act of Tosca by Puccini

Far Out Recordings proudly presents two previously unreleased tracks of glorious Brazilian sunshine music. Written and recorded in 1978 by pianist, composer, sound engineer, studio owner and former amateur skateboarding champion Ricardo Bomba, ‘Eu Sei’ and ‘Flutuando’ were almost doomed to total obscurity when the master tapes were binned following a ruthless studio clear out. Luckily Bomba kept a cassette tape copy from which Far Out has remastered the release for 7” vinyl/ digital.

Throughout a varied career, which included a four year stint as bandleader of Jorge Ben’s live show (78-82), Ricardo Bomba had a string of idiosyncratic, underground pop hits throughout the 80s, including ‘Você Vai Se Lembrar’ which recently featured on Soundway’s Onda De Amor (Synthesized Brazilian Hits That Never Were 1984-94) compilation, as well as his then award-winning, now obscure solo album Ultralight (1988).

With the stunning vocals of Mariana Couto (the first wife of Chicago percussionist Laudir de Oliveira), legendary drummer Peninha who has recorded with the likes of Jorge Ben, Quarteto Em Cy, Lincoln Olivetti, Tony Bizarro and Gal Costa, and Brazilian guitarist Blimba Buarque, “Eu Sei” and “Flutuando” truly are lost gems of the late ‘70s Rio de Janeiro MPB scene.

*Disclaimer! This release was mastered from cassette tape, so the sound quality may differ from other releases on Far Out Recordings. We advise listening to sound clips before buying where possible... The music was simply too good to not release!

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.

Two of our favorite records that we here at Real Gone Music have reissued in the last few years were the debut pair of records (both originally released in the early ‘70s) by legendary Brazilian percussionist Airto; each album serves up a savory, bubbling stew of Brazilian folk, fusion jazz and bossa nova spiced with a hint of tropicalia. While Airto’s contributions on each record were, of course, front and center, there was another player on those records that almost stole the show: one Severino Dias de Oliveira a.k.a. Sivuca, a small, wizened man (often somewhat uncharitably described as “gnomish”) whose dazzling virtuosity on accordion, guitar, and keyboards—coupled with a powerful singing voice that belied his small stature—made one instantly sit up and take notice. Further investigation revealed that stealing the show was nothing new to Sivuca; championed by Oscar Brown, Jr., he was the instant star of tours by both Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba among others. Sivuca started making records back in the mid ‘50s, and recorded for a number of labels in the States, including Reprise and RCA, but it is this record, made in 1973 for the Vanguard label, that is the one that collectors worldwide have zeroed in upon. And with good reason; it offers the same beautiful blend of styles found on those Airto records, but with an emotional shading all its own, a joyfulness paradoxically infused with melancholy, best expressed on Sivuca’s mesmerizing take on Bill Withers’ oft-covered “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which is likely to become your favorite version.

Something is stirring in downtown Tucson. That's no great surprise perhaps: Calexico have been sending out missives from the desert for 20 years now, Giant Sand for even longer than that, and the Green on Red revival is surely overdue. Let us remind ourselves that this isn't a big city in the American sense, but that its hinterland is indeed as big as it gets. For an hour south, Mexico starts. And this is where things get interesting.

Born in Nogales, Arizona, raised in Nogales, Sonora, multi-instrumentalist and band-leader Sergio Mendoza grew up listening to the Mexican regional styles jostling for headspace in a young, music-mad mind - cumbia mainly, but mambo, rancheras and mariachi too. The border is always a fierce arena of exchange, both commercial and cultural, and so there was American music too. At one point 'rock and roll, the classics', as Mendoza himself deadpans, seemed to win out and he stopped playing those 'Latin styles' for a good decade and a half.

The return to those sounds was a strong one in 2012's Mambo Mexicano, co-produced by Mendoza and Joey Burns of Calexico - a band for which Mendoza has become an increasingly integral touring and recording member. While that record had a studied air, tentative in parts (as befits the renewal of an old love affair), ¡Vamos A Guarachar! is another beast entirely: by turns raucous ('Cumbia Volcadora', featuring Mexican electronic pioneer Camilo Lara), tender ('Misterio', surely Salvador Duran's finest moment with the band so far) and plain serious fun, as in 'Contra La Marea' and 'Mapache', it also bears a robust electronic edge, a keen pop sensibility and all the hallmarks of Mendoza's love of 60s rock, with the closing track, 'Shadows of the Mind', sure to be included if anyone decides to update the Nuggets collection for the 21st century. This is roundabout way of saying that it appears to have everything, but never too much of anything. Focused, fierce and beautifully executed by a superbly drilled set of musicians, it is a record that fully matches the band's explosive live performances.

You could, of course, take the trip to Tucson yourself, to the home of this essential set of field recordings. The scene hangs out together, so ... if the stars align and their frantic tour schedules permit, you might see any number of folks from Calexico, Giant Sand or up-and-coming cumbia rockers Xixa deep in conversation somewhere in town with a quiet young man in black. That's Sergio. Right now, in this endless game of Tucson tag, Orkesta Mendoza are IT.

Resilience is an album that calls on the classic rave sounds of Chrissy's Midwestern youth to explore themes of love, positivity, perserverence, acceptance, and the fight against cynicism. Get ready for big piano melodies, chopped breakbeats, heavy bass, and jacking Chicago drum programming, plus guest appearances from some of Chrissy's friends: vocalist Carrie Wilds, Portuguese DJ/producer/singer Maria Amor, and Berlin-based techno artist Dean Grenier. RAWAX will present it on three ep's!


Chrissy is a genre-bending DJ/producer with releases on Classic, Freerange, Razor N Tape, Hypercolour, and Planet Mu, and a 20-year DJ career spanning Chicago house, disco, rave, jungle, footwork, and more. He ran the influential 'My Year of Mixtapes' blog, and currently runs two record labels: The Nite Owl Diner and Cool Ranch.

'Chrissy is one of the best DJs to ever walk the earth and I am just going to keep saying it until everyone agrees with me.' — The Black Madonna.

Resilience is an album that calls on the classic rave sounds of Chrissy's Midwestern youth to explore themes of love, positivity, perserverence, acceptance, and the fight against cynicism. Get ready for big piano melodies, chopped breakbeats, heavy bass, and jacking Chicago drum programming, plus guest appearances from some of Chrissy's friends: vocalist Carrie Wilds, Portuguese DJ/producer/singer Maria Amor, and Berlin-based techno artist Dean Grenier. RAWAX will present it on three ep's!


Chrissy is a genre-bending DJ/producer with releases on Classic, Freerange, Razor N Tape, Hypercolour, and Planet Mu, and a 20-year DJ career spanning Chicago house, disco, rave, jungle, footwork, and more. He ran the influential 'My Year of Mixtapes' blog, and currently runs two record labels: The Nite Owl Diner and Cool Ranch.

'Chrissy is one of the best DJs to ever walk the earth and I am just going to keep saying it until everyone agrees with me.' — The Black Madonna.

Rauch is a sonic interpretation of the work of photographer Friederike von Rauch, composed collaboratively by Berlin-based producers Felix K, Marcel Dettmann, Sa Pa and Simon Hoffmann. Arranged and mixed by Marcel Dettmann, the recording stands in dialogue with von Rauch's architectural images of post-World War II European monasteries, including La Tourette by Le Corbusier and Iannis Xenakis near Lyon, Roosenberg Abbey near Ghent and Maria Regina Martyrum in Berlin. The images were first exhibited together with the music on this LP as part
of an installation for von Rauch's solo show insgeheim ('in secret'), held at the Goethe-Institut Paris during the international Paris Photo art fair in November 2017.
While the complimentary relationship between the sounds of Rauch ('smoke') and the images exhibited in Paris invites interpretation, both can also be experienced as separate artistic entities. On the 42-minute-long LP, drones, modulating harmonic soundscapes and implied rhythms maintain an abstract emotional core while occasionally taking on vaporous, amorphous qualities. Similarly, von Rauch's images - often borderline abstract in composition - resist being identified by location or spatial context. Nevertheless, they also hint at their spiritual origin.
Rauch is part of an ongoing artistic collaboration between Marcel Dettmann and Friederike von Rauch, which includes 2011's Ash installation and three photographic works for Dettmann releases on Ostgut Ton.
(de) Rauch, geschrieben und produziert im Kollektiv von den Berliner Producern Felix K., Marcel Dettmann, Sa Pa und Simon Hoffmann, zusammengestellt und abgemischt von Marcel Dettmann, ist als ku¨nstlerische Anna¨herung und Dialog zu den Fotografien von Friederike von Rauch zu verstehen. In ihrer Ausstellung insgeheim im Goethe-Institut Paris, anla¨sslich der Paris Photo 2017, zeigt die Ku¨nstlerin Arbeiten, die in verschiedenen Klo¨stern der Nachkriegsmoderne - von La Tourette von Le Corbusier entworfen u¨ber Roosenberg Abbey nahe Gent zur Klosterkirche Maria Regina Martyrum in Berlin - entstanden sind und klanglich untermalt werden durch die Musik von Rauch.
Die Musik und die Bilder menschenleerer Ra¨ume stehen in unmittelbarem Bezug zueinander, suchen die Auseinandersetzung durch Begleitung und Interpretation. So entstand die 42-minu¨tige Komposition modulierender Klangschleifen und angedeuteter Rhythmik, den Namen von Rauchs beim Worte nehmend, musikalisch abstrahierend und doch im Detail ergreifend. Die Arbeiten Friederike von Rauchs lassen dabei kaum Ru¨ckschlu¨sse zu, welcher Ort sich dem Betrachter offenbart, der ra¨umliche Kontext bleibt verborgen und dennoch transportieren die konzentrierten und beinahe abstrakten Kompositionen, etwas von ihrem spirituellen Ursprung.
Rauch ist auch die Fortsetzung der ku¨nstlerischen
Kollaboration zwischen Marcel Dettmann und
Friederike von Rauch. Die beiden in Berlin
lebenden Ku¨nstler arbeiten hier nach Ash (2011)
zum zweiten Mal an der Schnittstelle Fotografie-Musik, daru¨berhinaus pra¨gten Friederike von Rauchs Fotografien drei Dettmann-Vero¨ffentlichungen auf Ostgut Ton.

"Between Stars" is the debut album from Barcelona based Venezuelan producer and DJ Maurice Aymard. More than two years in the making, 'Between Stars' has been a labour of love for Aymard as he travelled the globe to collaborate with musicians and singers in Barcelona, Berlin, London and Venezuela who could help to bring his vision to life. Released on Aymard's own Galaktika Records (Garnica, James Teej & more), 'Between Stars' was recorded entirely live and features contributions from the likes of Brazilian star Gui Boratto, Columbian singers Andrea and Paulo Olarte, Argentian guitarist Mariano Godoy and many more, the resulting album takes the house music template and expands it to a grandiose level. In an age when anything that isn't packed full of buzzsaw bass and 'sick' drops gets labelled as Deep House, "Between Stars" is the real deal, and from the first bars of the albums opening (and title) track, 'Between Stars' quickly establishes itself as something truly special, a 'house' album that not only works as a coherent whole but sounds as good at home, by the poolside or in a club at 4am. If 'live' house albums have in the past had a tendency to verge on the polite, Aymard's skill as a producer and experience as a DJ keeps things rooted in club culture and nearly every track off 'Between Stars' deserves to find its way into DJ sets over the coming months. Rather than smooth things out the live instrumentation instead adds an energy to the tracks and the subtle touches, that the likes of guitarist David Rondon brings to 'El Final', lift the album up to another level altogether. Since moving from Venezuela to Spain and launching Galaktika Records, Aymard has become an integral part of the European house music scene. With releases on the likes of Berlin's Moodmusic, Hamburg's Einmusika and Denmark's Tic Tac Toe Records, and remix credits for artists such as Mario Basanov, Compuphonic and Combo, Aymard has built a reputation for delivering quality underground house music and with his debut album Aymard looks set to secure his position as one of the scene's most innovative artists.