Cerca:the keep

Wiederveröffentlichung des gefeierten Roots-Reggae-Harmony-Group-Klassikers aus dem Jahr 1977 mit Original-Artwork. Die entscheidenden Rhythmen kommen von The Aggrovators & The High Time Band. Aufgenommen bei King Tubby's. Excellent produziert von Prince Jammy. Enthält die drei seltenen und gesuchten Singles 'Jah Gave Us This World', 'Keep On Trying' und 'Black Black Minds'.

Not everybody has not one, not two, but twelve producers attached to her debut release. Not everybody has her one and only album pranked by British artist Banksy (who substituted a topless photo for the cover). Nope, not everybody is Paris Hilton, who has lived in the public eye since, well, forever. She first announced plans to make an album in 2003, during her run on the reality TV series The Simple Life. Originally entitled Screwed, and then Paris Is Burning, the record—finally simply entitled Paris—came out in 2006. And it was…uh… good? Yeah, for real. This record goes expensively pedicured cuticle to cuticle with anything Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson or any other pop culture chanteuse of the like ever put out, and the Paris the heiress displays some real savvy both in her taste of material and the Madonna-like manipulation of her sex symbol image. And her voice? Definitely respectable despite what the haters said. Indeed, the single “Stars Are Blind” went top 20, and the album itself went all the way up to #6, selling over 600,000 copies worldwide. Since Paris has finally answered the pleas of her fans and made a second album, we thought the time was right for a revival of Paris, so we’ve taken the fetching photos from the CD package and given them plenty of acreage to show their stuff, with a gatefold jacket and 4-color printed inner sleeve. And for this release, we’re pressing Paris’ album in her favorite color, pink…and of course it’s hot! A pop culture keepsake from an enduring pop culture icon!

THE CHURCH's ("Under The Milky Way") main man Steve Kilbey solo Best Of: A stylishly designed anthology of solo and collaborative recordings curated into a deluxe gatefold sleeve double album. Spanning the years 1987 to 2023, the album moves through varying styles and moods all of which are a pleasure to listen to, whether in your car on a long country road or through the city at night or sitting down and absorbing the lush audio experience. Songs taken from 20 albums (one song from each album) all of which will be made available once more. Deluxe gatefold sleeve with full colour printed inner bags. Photos courtesy of Toby Burrows, includes arguably some of the best songs Steve Kilbey has written (and co-written). The very first album of its kind dealing with Kilbey's not unimpressive solo career.

The funkiest release on the HDH label and last album from Detroit soul group Chairmen of the Board saw a concerted movement away from harmony soul towards the psychedelic funk-rock sound of Funkadelica.

This record features backing from Parliament-Funkadelic musicians Eddie Hazel (guitar) Bernie Worrell (keyboards and organ), Billy “bass” Nelson (bass) and Tiki Fullwood (drums) who all give the music an enthusiastic funk injection. Reissued on 140g black vinyl with newly mastered audio from Phil Kinrade at AIR Studios, an obi strip and a printed inner featuring a liner note from “Soul Trilogy” author Stuart Cosgrove, enjoy this limited edition 50th anniversary release of Skin I’m In – brought to you with SOUL by Demon Music Group. Get on down with the get down…

goat (JP) are renowned for two albums released in 2013 and 2015 that took Kraftwerk’s man-machine concept back to its roots with swingeing, inch-tight drums, bass and guitar patterns that needed to be heard to be believed. For their long-in-the-making new album ‘Joy In Fear’, band leader Koshiro Hino (YPY, KAKUHAN) describes the process as “90 percent pain” - and we can well believe it - few other records we can think of transmute DAW-composed rhythmic precision into such an expressive instrumental performance. It really is a feat of determination, skill and execution that seems to defy human dexterity.

Make no mistake - an academic exercise it ain’t - in the most visceral sense, goat (JP) make BODY music, for dancing, flailing, for losing yourself in completely. As usual, Hino plays guitar, backed by bassist Atsumi Tagami, while Akihiko Ando joins on saxophone, while Takafumi Okada and Rai Tateishi step in to handle percussion, with the latter moonlighting on flute. Every sound is sculpted into a fragment of cadence: guitar and bass prangs alternately echo and dance between the drums, and Ando's sax is mutated into a respiratory slobber of guttural smacks and phantom breaths.

In some respects, it's tempting to label it jazz, but the kind of jazz that Miles Davis spearheaded on the game-changing 'On The Corner', the blueprint for so much post-punk, electronic music and avant rock. goat (JP) take that raw alloy and sharpen it like a blade, mangling the template with the knotty metrics of Autechre or Ryoji Ikeda. The accuracy is galvanic; it's almost impossible to comprehend each player keeping a mental note of the mathematical time signatures, and yet they floss them out with trills and icy stutters that seem to evaporate around the thick, taiko-like thuds.

They practically get our teeth gnashing with the bruxist rictus chatter of ‘III I IIII III’ , before ‘Cold Heat’ introduces subtly harmonised, new aspects to their sound with slivers of Hassellian flute and ringing overtones of their percussion, while the winding sensuality of ‘Warped’ slips down very nicely. Their links to OG no-wavers like Glenn Branca & Wharton Tiers’ Theoretical Girls - is manifest in the 8 mins of chipping stop/start pulse and parry to ‘Modal Flower’, while a total left turn into Mark Fell-meets-Ligeti-esque messed up metronomics in ‘GMF’ ties it off with a properly beguiling flourish.

keiyaA ist eine in New York lebende Singer-Songwriterin, Produzentin und Multiinstrumentalistin. Aufgewachsen in Chicagos South Side, verbindet keiyaA ihre Jazz-Ausbildung, ihre R&B-Sensibilität und ihre Hip-Hop-Erziehung, um neue Soul-Sounds zu kreieren, die von ihrer kraftvollen, schwülen Stimme und ihrer dichten Lyrik überflutet werden. Ihr Ziel ist es, die Erzählung und den Intellekt der schwarzen Frau in der spätkapitalistischen Welt in den Mittelpunkt zu stellen. Forever, Ya Girl" fand großen Anklang und landete auf mehreren Best of the Year"-Listen, was sie an die kulturelle Spitze katapultierte und ihr das Lob von Künstlern wie Solange, Jay-Z, Earl Sweatshirt, Blood Orange und Moses Sumney einbrachte und die Aufmerksamkeit von Marken wie Apple, Nike und Chanel erregte, die alle in Kampagnen auf keiyaA und ihre Arbeit aufmerksam machten. Seit ihrer Veröffentlichung ist keiyaA zu einer gefragten Kollaborateurin geworden und hat mit MIKE, Armand Hammer, Loraine James, Nilüfer Yanya, Bartees Strange, Nick Hakim, Mount Kimbie, Nubya Garcia und vielen anderen zusammengearbeitet.

As one of the most enigmatic figures of the 1970's Italian soundtrack and library music network Emma De Angelis and her short recording career provides thirsty fans of speedball psychedelic rock and drum heavy instrumental funk with a tight discography rivalling many of the long-standing bastions of the otherwise male-orientated business. * Strictly limited to 1000 copies.*
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Born in Rocca di Papa, near Rome, into a flourishing musical environment Emma was the younger sister of future award-winning composers Guido And Maurizio De Angelis, a duo, who under names like Oliver Onions and Dream Bags, would write chart-topping lyrical theme tunes for a wide range of Italian crime, Giallo and Spaghetti Western films featured alongside full scores by Ennio Morricone and the Magnetic System composers (Bixio Frizzi Tempera).
With encouragement from her brothers, Emma, who would also write music under the pseudonym of Juniper, would record a tight clutch of solo-penned material and seldom credited studio contributions to Guido And Maurizio's film commissions, such as the score for Giuliano Carnimeo's Simone e Matteo: Un gioco da ragazzi (aka Convoy Buddies). While simultaneously pursuing a career as an illustrator and set designer the De Angelis family contacts would lead Emma to the offices of Romano Di Bari, whose up-and-coming Flirt label was finding success providing custom built mood music for use in TV and film. Alongside important composers like Alessandro Alessandroni, Gerardo Iacoucci and A. R. Luciani, the young Emma Di Angelis would record a small number of tracks for a compilation called Underground Mood (credited in the small print to E De Angelis - not to be confused with Italian singer Edoardo De Angelis). It is from this rare LP that the record you are now holding is compiled. Within the Flirt family of labels Emma De Angelis would also share schedules with other important female composers such as Daniela Casa and Giulia Kema' De Mutiis - both of whom have appeared on dedicated Finders Keepers releases.
The tracks on this record provide us with a rare glimpse into Emma De Angelis' short musical career before she became a full-time visual artist. With an unknown personnel or studio date it is easy to speculate a potential family jam in Piero Umiliani's Sound Workshop studio in 1972. One only has to take a listen to Guido And Maurizio's instrumental theme Gangster Story from Enzo G. Castellari's 1973 thriller High Crime (which later appeared on Tarantino's Death Proof soundtrack) or the trippy title theme to Paolo Poeti's kinky 1976 drama Inhibition to spot the family resemblance

Kickin Kuts keep up the good work with another sure shot double sider from Busta Buss featuring 2 of his heaviest bangers.

Vibes player Johnny Lytle was one of the heroes of the early acid jazz club circuit, with his cut 'Selim' being an anthem of the scene.

The Ohio born player had made his name at Riverside where his 1965 album "The Village Caller" made him a star. When Riverside ceased trading, owner Orrin Keepnews collaborated with Lytle on two albums which came out on the Detroit label, Tuba

Ace reissued the first album “The Loop” last year (HIQLP 115). We are delighted to now put out the second, “New And Groovy”. The line-up features Milt Harris (organ) Wynton Kelly (piano), George Duvivier (bass) “Peppy” Hinnant or Jimmy Cobb (drums) Montego Joe (congas) and Lytle on vibes. The band power through a selection of original material such as ‘The Snapper’, ‘The Pulpit’ and ‘Screamin’ Loud’. The album also contains Lytle’s radical reworking of Miles Davis' 'Miles' which Lytle retitles 'Selim'. With poor distribution, “New And Groovy” barely made it to the shops back in 1967 and was ignored for twenty years until DJs such as Bob Jones and Gilles Peterson started playing it in the 80s making it a sought-after LP.

The popularity of “New And Groovy” has remained, and this is first time it has been legally reissued on vinyl. “Snapper one up…!”

Not everybody has not one, not two, but twelve producers attached to her debut release. Not everybody has her one and only album pranked by British artist Banksy (who substituted a topless photo for the cover). Nope, not everybody is Paris Hilton, who has lived in the public eye since, well, forever. She first announced plans to make an album in 2003, during her run on the reality TV series The Simple Life.

Originally entitled Screwed, and then Paris Is Burning, the record—finally simply entitled Paris—came out in 2006. And it was…uh… good? Yeah, for real. This record goes expensively pedicured cuticle to cuticle with anything Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson or any other pop culture chanteuse of the like ever put out, and the Paris the heiress displays some real savvy both in her taste of material and the Madonna-like manipulation of her sex symbol image. And her voice? Definitely respectable despite what the haters said. Indeed, the single “Stars Are Blind” went top 20, and the album itself went all the way up to #6, selling over 600,000 copies worldwide.

Since Paris has finally answered the pleas of her fans and made a second album, we thought the time was right for a revival of Paris, so we’ve taken the fetching photos from the CD package and given them plenty of acreage to show their stuff, with a gatefold jacket and 4-color printed inner sleeve. And for this release, we’re pressing Paris’ album in her favorite color, pink…and of course it’s hot! A pop culture keepsake from an enduring pop culture icon!

2024 Reissue

EQ is a legend in the game of hardcore and rave. The former in-house engineer for Formation Records and DJ SS and the head honcho at F-Project Records, this guy has been involved in so much of the scene’s history. But around 1994 he stopped producing under the name EQ and moved onto other things. That is until now. He is back once again and reinvigorated by the popularity of the rave repress culture and has started to write new material… but in the style of the early 90’s, using lots of old skool hardware to produce his music to keep that authentic UK sound.

His first EP for nearly 30 years takes us right back to the raves of the Midlands, the music of an era. Creative sample usage, rolling breaks, kick drums… melodies and rave stabs! This EP has something for all. Not only that, he has completed his follow up EP already which is due out in 2023 and is as equally impressive.

Back again, the renegade master!

Since forming in 2008, Falling In Reverse have racked up a fanatical fan base, so much so that the band"s legendary videos have been viewed over 30 million times. The attitude of the 1980"s Sunset Strip, the bravado of battle-ready rap, the take-no-prisoners bottom end of metalcore and the boundless revelry of underground EDM parties have all beautifully converged in this one band and this new album. It"s for everyone on Instagram, on Twitter, or anyone with a brain and two ears. "My dad raised me on metal, but my first serious love was hip-hop," Ronnie explains. "When I heard Dr. Dre"s The Chronic, that"s when I fell in love. I didn"t know what the hell they were talking about, the beats were intertwined, and it came inside of me and took me over. When we added hip-hop elements I was thinking, "Should I do this? This sounds crazy! Are people going to like this?" Now I"ve never been so proud of something. The final product, Fashionably Late, is the best work I"ve ever done." First time pressing on limited edition Clear w/Hot Pink Splatter vinyl to celebrate the album"s 15th anniversary!

Itʼs been five years since the last BELONG long player, as the duo works slowly to organize their sound works. Both the time invested, and the wait, have been well rewarded with this return.

Common Era shows extraordinary progression from that first album of dense, scorched earth instrumentals, hints of a new direction having been revealed on the Colorless Record EP from 2008 which contained covers of four should-have-been classics from the original psychedelic era.

The new material has such common pop elements as “songs”, vocals and drum machines, but the results could hardly be called conventional and are like little else happening on the current “scene”. The songs themselves are akin to radio transmissions received from another time and place, just as likely to be the future as the past, or even from a contemporary alternate universe.

They are both passionate and dispassionate, grey yet technicolor, ghostly and palpable, distant yet immediate, grainy and focused. Upon listening these conceptual contradictions are dismissed with ease, as the recordings reveal that they fit all of these descriptors simultaneously, an extraordinary balancing act.

B2 Recordings is back with a second release that is every bit as good as the first. This one comes from Reece Johnson and is a joyous mix of uplifting disco sounds with a timeless edge. 'Comin' In Hot' is a lose-limbed opener with percussive edgy and low-slung drums topped off with dazzling chords. 'Glass Heart' then brings the funk with more expert looseness and this time some hooky and soulful vocals. 'Sup America' keeps the party rolling with instrumental disco brilliance and a Spanish vocal to add real heat while 'Feelin' The Beat' and 'Got To Be Free' close out with higher tempos but no less class.

Shrouded in mystery, hailing from Hamburg, Germany, Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band (BRSB) releases their long awaited debut “55” on Brooklyn’s own Big Crown Records. Long time multi-instrumentalist and band leader Bjorn Wagner spent a few months in Trinidad & Tobago where he became fascinated with Steel Drums. His initial intrigue with local steel pan music culture led him to learning the instrument both through help of local players and on his own. After he became proficient on the pans Bjorn had his own instrument built from a used oil barrel by legendary pan man Louis C. Smith. Upon returning home to Germany, Bjorn set out to blend the Tropical Steel into his already sharply honed Funk, Soul, and Hip-Hop sensibilities. The outcome is an updated take on a classic format, a truly unique sound. Their first two recordings were covers of The Meters “Look A-Py-Py” & “Ease Back” which they self-released on a 45. Looking back on these two sides you can tell they were just getting their chops up for what was to come next. This is evidenced by how all hell broke loose when they went on to cover 50 Cent’s hit PIMP taking the DJ and vinyl collecting communities by storm. Many people thought the recording was the original sample and probably still do to this day when it is played. The original Mocambo pressing sold out quickly and is now a collector’s item fetching heavy prices when it changes hands. It was this tune that made the introduction between Bjorn and Danny Akalepse of Big Crown. They immediately hit it off and started making plans to do a full length project with the band. Keeping in the tradition of Steel Drum records, 55 is a journey through re-interpolations and covers with an updated approach, pushing Steel Pan music to uncharted territory. Flawlessly bringing previously untouched genres into the steel pan cannon ranging from Underground Hip Hop tunes to staple Funk tracks and some of all that falls in between. BRSB’s 55 is reinvigorating tunes both well-known and helping to shed some light on tunes still largely undiscovered. However, some of the strongest tunes on the album are original compositions, from spaced out Disco vibes on “Beetham Highway Ride” and “Port Of Spain Hustle” to the ugly face inspiring drums of “Laventille Road March”. Recorded to analog 8 track tape at The Mocambo Studios in Hamburg, 55 is a gritty, punchy journey in sound drawing on music from around the world, using production aesthetics from across both eras and genres, all coming together seamlessly. If the 45s that have already come out on Mocambo, Plane Jane, and Truth & Soul are an indication, this full length is going to be a staple to both casual listeners and Disc Jockeys alik

3rd release for Simon Heslin aka SY on RAWAX!
He keeps the quality level again very high!
Big future-retro release - not to be missed.

2024 Repress

Finders Keepers invite you to witness the incredible first ever Buchla synthesiser concerts/demonstrations providing a distinctive feminine alternative to The Silver Apples Of The Moon if they had ever been presented in phonographic form. This is history in the remaking.

This spring Finders Keepers Records are proud to release an archival project that not only redefines musical history but boasts genuine claim to the overused buzzwords such as pioneering, maverick, experimental, groundbreaking and esoteric, while questioning social politics and the evolution of music technology as we've come to understand it. To describe this records as a game-changer is an understatement. This record represents a musical revolution, a scientific benchmark and a trophy in the cabinet of counter culture creativity. This record is a triumphant yardstick in the synthesiser space race and the untold story of the first woman on the proverbial moon. While pondering the early accolades of this record it's daunting to learn that this record was in fact not a record at all... It was a manifesto and a gateway to a new world, that somehow never quite opened. If the unfamiliar, modernistic, melodic, pulses, tones and harmonics found on this 1975 live presentation/grant application/educational demonstration had been placed in a phonographic context alongside the promoted work of Morton Subotnick, Walter Carlos or Tomita then the name Suzanne Ciani and her influence would have already radically changed the shape, sound and gender of our record collections. Hopefully there is still chance.

In short, Suzanne was a self-imposed twenty-year-old employee of the Buchla modular synthesiser company, San Francisco's neck and neck contender to New York's Moog. Buchla was run by a community of festival freaks and academic acid eaters whose roots in new age lifestyles and the reinvention of art and music replaced the business acumen enjoyed by its likeminded East Coasters. In the eyes of the consumer the creative refusal to adopt rudimentary facets like a piano keyboard controller rendered the Buchla synthesiser the more obscure stubborn sister of the synth marathon, steering these incredible units away from the mainstream into the homes and studios of free music aficionados, art house composers and die-hard revolutionaries. Championed and semi-showcased by composer Morton Subotnick on his albums The Bull and Silver Apples Of The Moon, Buchla's versatility began to open the minds of a new generation, but the high-end design features and no-compromise modus operandi was often confused with incompatibility and, in the pulsating shadow of Moog's marketing, the revolution would not be televised nor patronised. Suzanne Ciani, as one of the very few female composers on the frontline (and also providing the back line) did not lose faith.

These concerts' are the epitome of rare music technology historic documents, performed by a real musician whose skills and academic education in classical composition already outweighed her male synthesiser contemporaries of twice her age. At the very start of her fragile career these recordings are nothing short of sacrificial ode to her mentor and machine, sonic pickets of the revolution and love letters to an absolutely genuine vision of and 'alternative' musical future. In denouncing her own precocious polymathmatic past in a bid to persuade the world to sing from a new hymn sheet, Suzanne Ciani created a bi-product of never before heard music that would render the pigeon holes ambient' and futuristic' utterly inadequate. Providing nothing short of an entirely different feminine take on the experimental records' of Morton Subotnick and proving to a small, judgmental audience and jury the true versatility of one of the most radical and idiosyncratic musical instruments of the 20th century. These recordings have not been heard since then.

The importance of these genuinely lost pieces of electronic musics puzzle almost eclipses the glaring detail of Suzanne's gender as a distinct minority in an almost exclusively male dominated, faceless, coldly scientific landscape. Those familiar with Suzanne's work, a vast vault of previously unpublished non-records', will already know how the creative politics in her art of being' simultaneously reshaped the worlds of synth design, advertising and film composition before anyone had even dropped a stylus in her groove. Needless to say this record, finally commanding the archival format of choice, courtesy of the Ciani and Finders Keepers longstanding unison, was not the last first' with which this hugely important composer would gift society, and the future of a wide range of exciting evolving creative disciplines.

You have found a holy grail of electronic music and a female musical pioneer who was too proactive to take the trophies. With the light of Buchla and Ciani's initial flame Finders Keepers continues to take a torch through the vaults of this lesser-celebrated music legacy shining a beam on these non-records' that evaded the limelight for almost half a century. You can't write history when you are too busy making it. With fresh ink in the bottomless well, let's start at the beginning. Again. You, are invited!

Eight no-nonsense tracks, straight to the point. Moroka delivers the goods in this raw, unpolished gem of a release. Constructed in a week at home in Loughborough Junction after a conversation with FG boss Alex - these cuts are all about the energy, no time wasted on refinement. The drums rumble and shuffle, crashing into each other with an unpredictable rhythm that keeps you on your toes. The narrative here is simple: Mo, his neighbourhood, and his gear.

Early support and plays from Shy One, Scratcha DVA, D Bridge & Mr Beatnick.

Photography by Charlie Birch, design by Alex Horne, tape covers riso printed at Terry Bleu, Amsterdam.

Comes with insert and download coupon.

Imagine a Latin remake of Back to the Future. The mad scientist is Arsenio Rodriguez (the godfather of salsa) and the young student who travels through time with him is Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers). This album can only be described as the perfect soundtrack for that movie that never was.

After the massive buzz generated by his first solo album, Mentallogenic, Alex Figueira got back in the studio to work in a more collective fashion this time, carefully assembling the second album of his largest project to date, Conjunto Papa Upa; a team of 6 musicians, spanning 3 generations of some of the best talent in the Latin and avant-garde scenes.

In an era where tropical music is dominated by purely electronic and rhythmically uniform sounds, the ten songs encompassed in “Fruta Madura” (“Ripe Fruit”) wander through the most diverse tempos, rhythms, and motifs effortlessly. A real breath of fresh air that gracefully incorporates soul, funk, jazz, psychedelia, and electronics into a solid tropical, irresistibly polyrhythmic foundation, without ever succumbing to the many genre clichés.

The distinctive production and catchy songwriting of Figueira shine in a very distinctive light on this second full-length. Living up to his reputation (Miles Cleret, founder of Soundway Records, called him “one of the scene's truly authentic and eccentric producers”), he takes the opportunity to show he’s not afraid to keep walking his own path.

Taking the band for a wild ride through the traditions of Africa, America, and the Caribbean; contrasting them with a ridiculously wide plethora of vintage, contemporary, and futuristic sounds, and pivoting on the exuberant musicality displayed by his musicians; the result leaves no doubt: this album is destined to be considered a future classic of the exciting tropical psychedelic music of the 21st century.

Addressing the most diverse themes in this new collection of songs, things take on a much more mature tone, as the title clearly suggests.

The opening track “El segundo es más sabroso” (“The second one is tastier”) sets the tone in the most assertive way imaginable, with the band boldly declaring, through multiple metaphorical references (laid upon a crazy mix of Dominican merengue, Detroit techno, classic and free jazz, dub, and electro), that the bar will be set higher with this second album.

The remaining compositions touch upon the most diverse subjects, with a fair dose of humor, sarcasm, and postmodern “magic realism”. “El Algoritmo” (The Algorithm) is a parranda-cumbia hybrid (for lack of a specific term) about the omnipresence of technology in our lives. The sophisticated Latin soul of the titling track “Fruta Madura” makes a case for the beauty of the maturity process. Some key philosophical teachings of Marcus Aurelius (the role of causality, the impositions of “the logos” and the importance of self-control) get a twisted cumbia treatment on “Reos del Deseo” (Prisoners of Desire). “No le pongas Coca-Cola” (“Don’t put Coca Cola in it”) shows us the most satirical side of the band, accusing those who mix Coca Cola with Rum of committing "sacrilege", on a powerful base of Dem Bow (the grandfather of Reggaeton), intertwined with touches of soul, salsa, and Cuban comparsa.

"Háblame Claro" (“Talk to me clearly”) is a story of heartbreak that evokes in its first part the spirit of the erotic salsa of the 80s (a subgenre deeply despised by purists), and after an unexpected samba interlude, leads to the hardest salsa of the 70s (a subgenre adored by purists), to end up in the surprising form of pure Afro-Cuban ceremonial music.

“Tu mamá tenía razón” ("Your Mom Was Right") is an attempt to exalt the spirit of the Latin American soap opera in the key of “acid bachata”, to recount a real-life case, witnessed by the band on countless occasions: the partying woman who arrives at the show accompanied by her bitter husband, who obviously does not like to dance. A very cheeky song to talk about the very serious and pertinent topic of female empowerment.

“La misma vaina” (“The same thing”) with its indescribable blend of bantú, candomblé, and Mozambique rhythms with abstract synthesizers, is an ode to adventure in favor of the aversion to taking risks and seeking predictability.

“Amigas picadas” (“Salty friends”) is another humorous song recounting another real-life case witnessed by the band on countless occasions: a love encounter sabotaged by the girlfriend's friends, who all happen to fancy the same guy. A jazzy take on the ancient Dominican rhythm of pambiche (grandfather of merengue), with generous psychedelic touches, resembling the classy late 60s releases of Guadeloupe's legendary producer / label owner Henri Debs.

“Vinimos a hablar” (“We came to talk”) takes sarcasm to the highest level, to ridicule the absurdity (also experienced by the band firsthand) seen in live music venues where people pay a ticket to go and have conversations that could be carried out much better on any bar, where no band is playing. The music alternates between a delicate melody with loose, sparse percussion and a full-on, pumping Angolan semba, with a techno kick drum included; bringing things to an apotheotic grooving finale, where the peculiar swing of Venezuelan calypso from the Callao region is thrown on top of all the precedent elements; closing the album in the most uplifting, “end of the carnival parade” feel.

The artwork is a delicate and impactful oil painting by Colombian artist Kevin Simón Mancera, who has collaborated many times with the label before (“Maracas, tambourines and other hellish things” tape and the Lola’s Dice LP).

What the experts are saying:

“Alex (Figueira) dove into this work with a brutal cohesion between lyrics and synths. Timbre poetry, sound poetry (you name it). And that, superimposed on his always impeccable percussive base, confirms the title of “avant-garde visionary of our beautiful Latin music”".
EBLIS ALVAREZ (MERIDIAN BROTHERS)
“Papa Upa's infectious quirkiness is a balm against boredom. A mature album, but without an expiration date”.
GLADYS PALMERA

“Here there is a lot of strength, drum, cadence and psychedelia, lost dance rhythms, united in an intercontinental Latin/African/and Caribbean journey, a unique winning combination that we could consider the new “Ritmo Figueira”.
DISCODELIC

Conjunto Papa Upa are: 



Alex Figueira - Timbales, percussion, vocals. 

Gerardo Rosales - Congas, percussion, vocals. 

Ramón Mendeville - Bongos, percussion, vocals. 

Randy Winterdal - Bass.

Andrew Moreno - Guitar.

Nico Chientarolli - Organ, piano, synths.



All songs written by Alex Figueira. 

Arranged and performed by Conjunto Papa Upa. 

Recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Alex Figueira at Heat Too Hot, Amsterdam.