Cool and groovy latin soul

A very tasty and rather 'European-sounding' cover of the 1967's psyche-jazz Tom Scott's original from the well-known session percussionist-vibraphonist Emil Richards. Although it comes in a compilation of Emil's best late 60s latin-jazz recordings (interestingly, not a single horn instrument is used in the whole set!), this is an energetic percussive jazz-rock piece, with great vibraphone and bells(!) solos.

From the album Morrison Hotel, Peace Frog is a bouncy toe tapping tune encapsulating funky wah wah with jazzy tones and a hint of country.

What I love about this tune is it's ability to make me get up and dance, head bounce toes tap.

Facinating lyrics, quite contradictory in contrast with the merry, whimsicalness of the music.

"There�s blood in the streets� it�s up to my ankles"

However when your dancing around It has little precedence, the organs and drums take you away and the lyrics are gone.....

country shuffle with fiddles and down-home vocal harmony. short humorous track about summertime heat. catchy, easily repeatable without getting bored/sick of. near the top of my current favorites playlist and has been for weeks. it's available online at dmusic and mp3.com.au FREE. if u aint heard it and like broad americana...do yourself a favor and download it now. u won't be disappointed. their other tracks are as good!

Fun lyrics, especially for one with Latino/Italian heritage. Great singing, good piano.

This is one of my favourite tracks on El Kilo, Orishas superb third offering. I love the horns!

One of the most untypical tennant/lowe compositions. A latin drenched number filled with a joyfullness that is quite unlike anything else in their catalogue. Not their biggest hit and maybe not their best but I find myself returning to it more than any of their other songs. Of course the melacholia is there in the shape of Neil Tennants voice but contrary to his other vocal performances here he seems, well, in lack of a better word, reliefed somehow.

First of all let me say that I have been violently blindsided by this group! ...they very quickly entered my favorite 60's pop group stratosphere and have not budged from my rotation for months now. I first got "From you unto us", the singles collection which is good for what it is, but I think the best introduction to the band is the albums themselves, original ordering of songs in this case is vital to the listening experience.
I liked the singles collection OK, but my first impression was muted and okish until I noticed a couple songs later on sticking in my head for hours... picked up the first album on CD (Wondering the whole time if I should be doing this as I have most of the tracks on the comp, CD right? I like the original ordering BEST! Glad I did, no regrets at all...) and have played little else for some time...

I just got Timeless and I'm choosing one off their second album because the first album is one of the few immaculate pop albums of all time IMO and choices there are easy favorites... the second album seems to be less popular, but there are some serious gems here too and It's also a stone cold favorite...

I am choosing Look Away because I think the most distinctive sonic quality of Eternity's Children are these wonderful uplifting bouncy organ driven songs... ET have several tracks that deliver a great song, beautiful and original atmospheric production, great performances in a deeply satisfying way that is rare... This song is pure pop bliss from the opening notes to the end. I honestly can't think of a better compliment than that this song makes me glad to be alive.

For those of you who played in the band and stumble across this:
From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!

Frances and partner Teri wrote this song about their friends. It includes Fran's bother and sister in law (Marty and Vivie), and her poodles, Suzy and Cuddles. It was one of the first gay themed songs to be included with standards on a mainstream album. It is silly, energetic and rhthymic. Fran's voice is a gas. Learm more about Frances online at the Fabulous Frances Faye Archive. Mark Murphy redid the song and credited it to himself on his Lucky to be Me 2002 CD.

I think this is my favorite version of 'Miserlou'. A really scintillating one, backed by Edmundo Ros's band, with a lot of bongos and an extra little 'Ba Ba Ba' rhythm added in. I believe the US pressing of this superb LP is called 'Fire and Frenzy', but my copy, oddly, is Brazilian, bought in Holland, so I'm entering the title as it was on the record. To me, the album is quite the best thing I have by either Caterina or Edmundo, and I'm quite a Caterina fan, so that's saying something.....

A brilliant little track, often overlooked in the great man's catalogue. Starts off oddly like the James Bond theme (for the time and location!) but gradually changes into a strange chanson-meets-Latin kind of thing... great song though, from a film of the same name. Has anyone here ever seen it?

I can just imagine people sitting in a seedy New York movie theatre on 42nd Street back in 1961 watching a b-movie called "Satan in High Heels". The film is in its last reel and suddenly the main female character comes out on the nightclub stage wearing a leather outfit complete with 6-inch dominitrix boots and a riding crop! The music swells and she starts to sing:
---
i'm the kind of woman, not hard to understand,
i'm the one who cracks the whip and holds the upper hand
I'll beat you, mistreat you, til you quiver and quail,
the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
---
This little film isn't likely to have ever had a soundtrack album which in a way is sad because in addition to this camply little gem there are a couple of other cute vocals by Meg Myles and the other actresses in the film and some great jazz instrumentals sprinkled throughout as well. The fine folks at Something Weird Video have kindly put this little film out on DVD. You can also catch the scene containing this song on their compilation of movie trailers (where I first discovered this film) released to inform people of their DVD catalog.

It's fantastic that this track has come to light. I believe its story is this: Nico auditioned for the film 'Strip-Tease' in 1962, and recorded this song, but eventually Juliette Greco was chosen instead, and so this recording was lost. To me it's a remarkable document - although I knew Nico had made a brief appearance in 'La Dolce Vita', I never knew she had recorded with Gainsbourg. The track itself is a delicate slow number with prominent latin percussion and bongo sounds, similar Serge's other early 60s film work, such as 'L'eau a la bouche'. Nico's voice is just as distinctive as it is on her famous records with Velvet Underground, but in this context it sounds different. I like it when things like this come to light, bringing together two people I admire - like Astrud Gilberto singing Morricone, Scott Walker singing Schifrin, or Julie London singing Margo Guryan.

Born in Broooklyn , NYC, the Puerto Rican blooded percussionist, has jammed and recorded with most of the jazz and latin legends, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson, Dizzy Gillespie and also sessioned with names such as The Stones, Average White Band, Bee Gees etc.
Cocinando Suave is an outstanding "descarga" , a jam session described by Ray himself as "... a slow burner" Listen and enjoy

Although it's simple and rather well known, I never seem to tire of hearing this track. The blend of percussion, vocals and instrumentation is so delicious that people always stop to listen when I put it on. It's also a perfect distillation of what I think Latin Jazz should be - the horns, percussion and vocals are relentless and full of energy, but always tasteful.

My experience of Boogaloo, a style to which I'm quite new, has been varied. In short, I love some of it and don't quite get the rest. The key to me seems to be the right instrumental and percussive blend, and vocals that don't dominate too much.

Although it sounds quite generic, this track manages to satisfy me on the criteria above. From a very lucky thrift store find (this album is up there with James Brown's 'Black Caesar' among my top bargains ever), this opens with a nice solid groove, featuring saxophone, brass and layered, relentless percussion. The vocals seem pretty much off-the-cuff - the main 'Boogaloo baby - baby baby do the boogaloo' is joined by a mixture of muttered Spanish and screaming. The attraction of this song is really the texture - it can't really claim any musical or lyrical sophistication. But the instrumentation and groove are really first rate.

This is a jazzy, haunting track from an LP I bought in Brazil last year. I've tried hard to find information about Jean Kelson, but the only mention I've found (other than those I've made myself) is in one of Ed Motta's excellent archived radio shows at his official site (http://www2.uol.com.br/edmotta/sala.htm). Ed plays a different track from this album, Munganga.

Catolé sounds musically like a variation of Baden Powell's classic 'Berimbau', and opens with an incredibly catchy refrain featuring piano, percussion and trumpet. Gentle male voices then come in and flesh out the melody. The entire album is great. I wonder what the chances are of it coming out on CD...

This track wasn't what I expected. My previous favorite version of this song (although I have many) was probably the one by Mel Torme on his 1962 album 'Right Now'. And since that version was arranged by Ogerman, I had expected this version to be simply an instrumental version like Torme's recording - a cool, finger-clicking, jerky pop number. In fact, there's something much cooler and more sophisticated about this version.

The tune is picked out first by an organ, and then by the brass and woodwinds before returning to the organ, which then jams around the main tune. A really beautiful string section comes in early on, creating some unusual chords that really add to the song and work very well alongside the 'cool' effect of the organ and rhythm. I wish Claus had recorded more songs with this mixture of percussion, jazzy instrumentation and lovely thick string parts. A few tracks on one of his other 60s LPs, 'Latin Rock,' come close, but I'm not sure any of them are as nice as this one.

Starts with a piano tinkling up and down the scale, and then the whole Latin Orchestra starts, ultimately Edmundo's raspy voice bellows out of the speakers sounding for all the world like Shaggy's drunken grandfather. Kind of Rhumba, very very danceable, surprisingly modern sounding with a terrific breakdown to the piano in the middle. Beware Edmundo ros has done another version of La Bamba which is terrible.

Latin soul at it's finest!! Willie and his boys lock themselves into a serious groove on this cut. Also available on the highly-recommended Rhino compilation "Sabroso! The Afro-Latin Groove".

A rather quizzical Latin jazz workout of the Count V's garage classic, rendered here with fuzz guitar and flute! It sounds to me like this uses the same rhythm track as the original version, and since they were both released on the same label, that's quite likely. Another version exists by Brenton Wood (of "Oogum Boogum" and "Gimme Little Sign" fame), also on the same label and also with the same backing track! Talk about getting as much mileage out of the royalties as you can!

A very swinging, groovy Latin jazz take on Shorty Long's Motown classic finds Lewis at the height of his form. As expected, Richard Evans turns in an astounding arrangement, utilizing handclaps, studio chatter and a magnificent horn chart.

Tijuana's favorites race through a tough Question Mark-esque organ 'n' handclap version of "The Philly Freeze".

A wickedly funky and twangy take on this classic Morricone theme. The beat is very cool - funky and surprisingly insistent, reminiscent of some of the best tracks on Howard Roberts's albums of the time on capitol. This track is from the interesting LP 'King Guitar', which also yields a Vinnie Bell-esque 'watery guitar' take on 'Sleepwalk' and a version of 'Tiny Bubbles' done in Latin boogaloo style.

Post Bossa-Nova, Pre-Tropicalia, Brasilian Samba at it's finest!

It's hard to pick a particular Gary McFarland song to recommend: although I love almost all of them, there aren't that many that particularly stand out. Most have some of the same trademarks: whistling or wordless vocals, brass, guitar, and a gentle bossa nova beat. They're slightly wistful, and make me feel like it's summer whenever I hear them. McFarland also worked with some outstanding musicians, including Gabor Szabo and Kenny Burrell on guitar, Grady Tate on drums, and Willie Bobo on percussion.

Long live the king is actually slightly different - it's a simple, upbeat number with a rock beat, bacharach-style trumpet, and picked guitar; a boogaloo-style saxophone also makes an occasional appearance, as does a hammond organ. The German 'Latin Lounge' CD showcases his work on the Verve label, and it's all excellent.

This one has really been haunting me. I recently heard this rare and sought after album, and was entranced by the opening track, a devastating vocal. Although Lani Groves sings in English, in a style very similar to Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, I knew that this was a Brazilian track that I had heard before.

Researching a song with as generic a title as 'I want your kiss' is hard though, and with no knowledge of who the composer was, most of the search engine results were soft porn stories. After a while I threw on Elis Regina's first album, Samba - eu canto assim, and happily found the information I was looking for. The original Portuguese song is called 'Sou sem paz', and was written by Adylson Godoy, who may or may not be the same person as Amilton Godoy, who was the pianist in the Zimbo Trio.

After all my research, I was disappointed to learn that this song has hardly ever been recorded; the only versions I know of are this and those by the Zimbo Trio and Elis Regina.

Trivia aside, this is a nice fusion of several of my musical passions. The chord sequence is unusual, delicate and surprising, and the vocal is passionate. I think it would be fair to say that Lani Groves doesn't have quite Elis's passionate delivery, but for me this is offset by the beautiful backing arrangement, featuring some great organ playing.

Freakishly cool jet-set jazz from the great Benny Golson. A Gary Mcfarland tune that he wrote for his "In Sound" LP, and I must say his version seemed pretty hard to top,until this. A mindblowing mix of styles from the period are included in this one track:Gary Mcfarland's easy-latin swing(complete with whistles),The elecrtrified sax sound of Eddie Harris, and a swirling vocal ensemble thats almost in a Hugo Montenegro mode! Wild!!

A great track, sung in spanish by Nancy Ames. It opens with pulsating horns, a wall of strings and an insistent latin beat. Everything quietens down in the middle, and Nancy sings accapella before the song explodes into action again. The way the brass, strings, flute, bossa guitar and fiery pop vocals are all crammed into two minutes is pretty cool. The whole thing is extremely catchy and intoxicating.

In 2004 this album, along with Spiced with Brasil, finally made it onto CD.

The soundtrack to Bedazzled is remarkably good, one of a few much-hyped records floating around in my head that has actually lived up to my expectations. This instrumental is notable for its haunting mood and astonishingly beautiful chord sequence. The flute melody, lush strings and gentle latin percussion combine beautifully. Musically, it's one of those pieces that's so good you want to cry.

It starts the LP with a blast of horns and a wail of Harry Stoneham on Organ, with a big intro that makes you check the LP sleeve - Is this really that folky ballad?

A drop down to a cowbell latin beat, and then back into the song proper. The main rendition is pretty good, but theres just something about that introduction that just turns it into a cheeseball, high kicking masterpiece. I start grinning every time I hear it, never fails to lift my spirits.

This song comes from the stellar soundtrack to 1968 film "The Lion in Winter," my first outing w/J. Barry. Wow. The whole album edged out all rock music at parties. This song has a lovely rocking boat-on-water undercurrent to it (Queen Eleanor is being rowed upriver in a barge), with soaring turns-taking female /male voices singing in Latin. It has a little, quiet horn bridge to it, but then the waves of sound come back and die out. Gorgeous. Defintely a winter-feel album (the story takes place at Christmas, too).

Taken from his exquisite Latin American Suite, this is an unusual sounding track to me. Mid-tempo, with an unrelenting bossa nova style beat, the action is shared between the piano and various horns and saxophones. I guess it's the strange discordant tones that take this track higher for me. They remind me of some chords I've heard in the more adventurous Brazilian pop music of the late 1960s - basically taking what is fundamentally a sweet sounding, warm chord, and overlaying notes that provide a darker, more forboding feel.

Adding to this, the punctuating horns and reeds give the whole thing a gently groovy feel that's reminiscent of quirky 60s soundtrack music. Really cool stuff, and I recommend the whole album.

The album that this track is taken from was one of those strange albums that acquired mythical status in my mind. Based on a mixture of rumor and personal imagination (I could never actually find a copy), I convinced myself that this must be the coolest album ever made, a perfect fusion of moog, latin and mod sounds. A few years later I picked up the album very cheaply on ebay. Beautiful and interesting as it is, many of the tracks go slightly over the line for me.

'Dansero' is the only track on the LP that captures the blend that I was looking for. It's nice and short at under 3 minutes, and features a delightfully kooky introduction that sounds like the Jean-Jacques Perrey moog flourishes that the group Stereolab sampled on their 'Transient Random Noise Bursts...' album. The drums and moog then join up for a nice pop instrumental, catchy and bouncy. Different moog effects are piled on, but always quite effectively, making this one of the most enduringly successful moog-pop tracks in my collection.

Piero sings in a soothing, breath-y tenor... More italian in tone than latin, although,the best comparison i've found is Luiz Henrique.His phrasing reminds me of Luiz as well,but there is no real relation.The backing has a nice spaghetti -western kind of vibe ala' Moriccone,which gives the whole thing a kind of high planes drifter setting,with plucked electric bass, strummed acoustic guitar,and occasional female chorus with a light string arrangement,Very cool.The whole record is really good,and a lot of the songs have a distinctly latin ballad feel.

One of the best tracks from probably the best album in MGM's "21 Channel Sound" series. Recorded by a Japanese orchestra in Tokyo, the styles range from big-band latin to more exotica-styled pieces. This track belongs to the latter. Each track is dedicated to a building in modern Tokyo giving this album a fun travelogue quality. From the liner notes: THE OKURA. Adjacent to the American Embassy, this hotel is just minutes away from the night club and shopping area. It advertises air-conditioned rooms -- all with bath -- and such extra features as a Japanese garden and Turkish bath. [...]

Very different sounding song for me. It sounds like a mix of late 60ies pop with arabic/turkish influences. A bit sad sounding, but still there is hope :)
I love it cause its got great harmonies, and a mix of guitars, violins, and spanish guitars.

Preston [in fact there is no performer name on this 45 e.p. but this seems to be the label name so its as good as any ] and the band take a minimal take on this Nilsson song and give it a slightly Latin feel. And its Preston's delivery coupled with the organ that make this track essential. Unfortunately the other titles on the e.p. fall short of even interesting

A great kind of euro-surf discoteque tune. Trobbing percussion and a cool snakey guitar. Claus did a lot of these "Brass-ploitation" LP's for RCA in the mid sixtes. Some surf, latin , and a really cool soul one that i've been trying to track down. Very solid stuff from one of the best arrangers ever!

Waltel Branco is the guitarist on a lot of classic early and mid-sixties Bossa LPs with outfits with Wilson Das Neves, Eumir Deodato and I think Ed Lincoln. There is also the classic and highly prized "Mancini Tamem e Samba" LP under his leadership that is available once again on the whatmusic label. Branco is like a Brazilian Les Paul but a little less quirky and a lot more hip. You can't help being more hip with that latin beat backing you up. Lots of deep lumbering compelling beats allow Branco to highlight his fretwork, thus the title - as far as I can translate becasue the cover is a picture of a flame - "Guitars on Fire." Similar to Heraldo Dos Monte "Batida Diferente".

Very rhythmically complex track with gentle finger-picked guitar courtesy of Byrd. Romero was at the forefront of Venezuela's "onda nueva" movement, which was an interesting conflagration of Latin jazz, American pop, calypso & traditional Spanish styles. According to this album's liners: "The time is 3/4, but the drummer often plays 2, giving the beat a 4/4 quality. Or the measure is played in 6, spraying accents in such a way that one hasn't time to count beats to the bar." If that seems perplexing to you, you're not alone. In a 1997 interview, Byrd called this album the most challenging recording he had ever made.

I first heard this one on one of the radio mixes on Stereolab's website, and found a copy for relatively cheap on eBay shorty thereafter.

Anyway, it's great.

The sound reminds me of Gary McFarland's "Latin Lounge" stuff but with a bigger sound and an extra element of subtle funkiness. Gismonti's arrangement here is adventurous, unpredictable and totally engrossing.

The whole album is wonderful -- "Pendulo" and "Parque Laje" are equally as good -- but I'm still most partial to this, the first track that I heard.

This is not so much my favorite B-66' tune as my favorite Gracinha Leporace tune. She sang for Bossa Rio as well as Edu Lobo some rarer solo outings. It's a cover of a great Caetano Veloso tune from an earlier LP. Unfamiliar as I am with the original I can't compare the two, but as far as how out it is for Sergio is without saying. The whole thing sounds really compressed and blissed out, way more soulful than a lot of his earlier stuff, it just drives forward and backward undulating...

Just a beautiful vocal performance, totally solo with chorus overdubs just to fill it out... Gorgeous!

Who would have thought something with a groovy, funky loungey feeling like this could come straight out of the Eurovision Song Contest? Not only that but the girl is cute as a button, has a fantastic blue eyed soul voice and was a bit of a cunning linguist too, this song exists in the original German, French, Italian, Spanish, English and even Japanese! This really is killer lounge funk and ought to be comped, but i'm pretty sure it isn't... Worth checking out though.

Clare Fischer's oft-covered Latin jazz classic was first recorded by the man himself on a 1966 album whose title escapes me right now. Cal Tjader first cut it on "Soul Burst" the same year, but the truly classic rendition for me is the 1971 Tjader re-recording on "Agua Dulce." With a smooth, flowing Rhodes-based sound, some synth effects floating around and none other than Wendy & Bonnie on backing vocals, this version is the one to beat.

Try to find this 1971 electro-gem and let your feet do the rest...A German group called Senor Coconut released a couple of albums on 2000 and 2001 remixing Kraftwerk tunes over a latin flavoured electro setting--pretty far-fetching stuff according to critics. Just listen to this one and you'll find out that Perrey have already done this all this time ago! Party synthesizer music!

Ole Gorme!
She can sing the *&%%**)$% out of this beautiful latin classic. Makes you feel like you're lost in a romantic evening at the Copacabana.

very first Dutch latin funk song on great latin album with haunting melodies...recorded in november 1972

Italian singer Edda dell'Orso is the voice backing many soundtrack scores and lounge-beat tracks by Ennio Morricone, Alessandro Alessandroni, Armando Trovajoli (and his 'Mark 4'). This is a Cinecitta-composer Romolo Grano composition for the cult fantasy-drama TV-series 'La Montagna della Luce'. A very deeply and sensually voiced Edda accompanies the slightly latin-flavoured, percussive funky-jazz piece; the haunting funky bassline and a very gentle tenor present throughout the track complete this exotic, obscure jazzy soundtrack.

When I first came to this site I was suprised to not see any Harper's Bizarre tunes! They were a pretty fab vocal group who seem to be getting their due.

This song is from an almost unknown "lost" album from 76'. (Their heyday was the mid to late 60's, and had great success with their hit "Feelin' Groovy" in 67') And is a suprisingly jammin' version of a song from 1943 called "Speak Low" (From the film "One Touch of Venus"). I've heard other versions of this song, but nothing like this!

It starts off sounding like an O'donell Levy track, with a slinky/breezy latin step, and smooth, jazzy, compressed chords gliding across the top..... And then the vocal kicks-in, with this apropos low vocal harmony, instantly recognizable as HB, but more subdued.... They take the song and totally make it their own! Really just a superb track! Very A&M like, but with a bit more whimsy.... This record is hard to come by and needs a re-issue..... HELLO?!

HB is a must for fans of later B-boy's stuff or other Sunny pop from LA in the 60's and 70's!!!

This is my most favorite song in the world. I love it because it is a classic, latin, late 1970's, sultry, soft, dinner party or alone-with-someone-special type of track. The instrumentation is not totally typical of latin music (fast rhythm, very ornate), it is soft and easy. The vocals are absolutely velvety and very sensual. Although it is a "sad" song, it is one of those songs that makes you want think about that special certain someone.

This is an "excelente" version of Billy Joel's version of "Just The Way You Are". This album was recorded in 1977, beginning his era with BMG/ Ariola records. The executives, happy to have a performer like JOSE JOSE, provided him with the best musicians, numbers and producers of the time. Included in this album are 2 numbers by Mexico's greatest: Juan Gabriel ("Ya lo pasado, pasado" & "Ahora No !"). Among others credited are Napoleon ("Lo que no fue, no sera"), Adan Torres("Almohada"). Of the 10 numbers included, 7 were top ten hits in Mexico, Colombia and the U.S. Leaving disco to other performers that needed to launch their productions to the international market, Jose Jose's album is just pure old-fashioned latin love songs, songs still heared today.

An appropriate song relating to UK society. As a matter of fact..to any materialistic society.

The famous Austrian percussionist Nicos Jaritz recorded a local best-seller LP in 1978 called 'Macumba', full of percussion-heavy jazzy pieces with a latin feel. This is the title track, a haunting flamengo-flavoured mid-tempo jazzy groove with a flawless interplay between a heart-breaking Spanish guitar and a tenorsax solo. I haven't been exposed to many tunes like this, it's really most entertaining, and very, very fresh-sounding!

Brilliant wordless vocal/scat Latin jazz-pop from the mid-70's!

Usually I'm bored to tears with Mr. Muriat's over the top orchestral take on stuff... but this track is a total exception. Starts out with this reeling Beethovenesque orchestral intro, and then lays flat into this funky latin workout, almost in a Deodato meets Zarathustra way. Really nuts. Just a great dancefloor track for loungecore types.

This is another one of those latin songs that was translated to English for the benefit of those that never heard of Roberto Carlos or his original version of this very popular song (Detalhes). It is a beautiful yet tragic love song. I prefer the original, although this version's orchestration and vocals are very similar to the original.

I grew up listening to Joe Jackson and i still find his venturing into all sorts of musical styles and the eclecticism surrounding his musical work very interesting. Starting as a post-punk, new wave singer/songwriter he released three great albums from 79-81 with his "Joe Jackson Band" before going solo with a string of fine albums in the 80s (musically ranging from jazz, R&B, rock to latin-tinged sophisticated pop) and later writing and arranging soundtracks and even doing classical music. He recently regrouped with his band, produced another album and toured with the original line-up consisting of Gary Sanford, Graham Maby and Dave Houghton and surprisingly it worked as good as in the beginning of his career. "Steppin' Out" was released on probably his best solo offering "Night & Day" in 1982, a highly evocative, melancholic, catchy pop song skillfully mixing a synth sequencer beat and keyboards with piano jazz harmonies and xylophones.

On �The Cutter� fellow Liverpool natives, Echo and The Bunnymen successfully wed the Eastern influenced psychedelic sounds made famous by hometown heroes, The Beatles. Crafting Eastern influences into a new post-punk hybrid that was sweeping England in the Early 80�s. It was songs like �The Cutter� that would help define the newly coined Neo-psychedelic sub-genre, practiced by such group�s of the period as The Chameleons U.K., Psychedelic Furs and Simple Minds amongst others. The track opens with a keyboard approximation of Indian strings, whirring briefly before the band kicks into a percolating groove of popping bass, driving straight drums and chinking guitar accents. Ian McCulloch adds another layer of �60 nostalgia, employing his expressive, slack-jawed vocal delivery that conjures aural images of the late Jim Morrison as he unfurls lines that drip with apprehension �Who�s on the seventh floor? / Brewing alternatives / What�s in the bottom drawer? / Waiting for things to give�. The Eastern strings re-enter at strategic points, filling in space between verses and McCulloch�s esoteric pleas to �spare us the cutter!�, which sounds like a good idea in any case. The arrangement also veers into epic territory quite unexpectedly in the second half, signaled by a sweeping wave of keyboard and McCulloch�s more subdued delivery as poses a string of rhetorically poignant questions, �Am I the happy loss? / Will I still recoil? / When the skin is lost / Am I the worthy cross? / Will I still be soiled? / When the dirt is off� -as the music swell behind him. Like any good single, the track never looses steam, cruising through each section with power and grace. A nod is in order for Ian Broudie, who�s smooth production helped The Cutter become Echo and The Bunnymen�s first top ten single in Britain and a linchpin track for the Neo-psychedelic movement.
(AMG)

I discovered this work of absolute genius today - it was on a 3 disc Bowie compilation ("The Platinum Collection") which a colleague was playing at work.

The song starts with an echoey 80s drum sound with a repeated guitar riff, behind which we begin to hear a beautiful chord sequence played on the synth. The riff drops out and Bowie sings a fantastic melody over the chord sequence, which takes many subtle and grand turns. The song has a relatively complicated construction and instrumentation.

When I think of my favorite stuff by Tom Waits, I always look back to the time when the writing and arranging of his songs were more playful, avant pop exercises, colored by a range of intense and deep emotional swatches, yet always with humor. My favorite stretch in his catalog of work is from Swordfishtrombones to Franks Wild Years (Marc Ribot?). Songs were always off-kilter, tenuous, unpredictable...far-away organs played against a punchy latin rhumba beat...oh, here comes the circus, jolted by a bended-note/feedback guitar part. Wha?

I heard a lot more characters in his voice, too. The sideshow barker, the Ironweed hobo, the cocky but sensitive playboy, or the frustrated, suburbia-warped freespirit looking to make a break.

This track off Franks Wild Years feels like an old, worn out, spaghetti western-inspired guitar shuffle. Its whispered from the lips of a grizzled shopkeeper in a soon-to-be ghosttown, telling his concerned companion the need to reach for where your dreams dwell: "out where your enemies lie." There's little consolation against what most likely will be an exercise in futility, but necessary nonetheless, to carve out some sort of happiness. Get used to it.

Somehow it seems to fit these times very well...

Yet another amazing Spanish version of an amazing song. Luis Miguel is a very suave latin crooner and this song especially demonstrates that. I love the late 80's instrumentation, it reminds me of late night in New Year City.

I love this Spanish version of the Stevie Wonder classic because it the new instrumentation. It is still very Stevie Wonder with a new, latin flair. The vocals are absolutely amazing, this guy can really sing.

Lhasa is a Mexican-American woman now resident in Montreal, Canada.

She sings in French and Spanish and incorporates elements of Latin, French and Yiddish music into her sound.

She has a stellar back-up band that includes some of the best musicians in Montreal's rich music scene.

'De Cara a la Pared' is a very sexy and romantic number that I'm sure you'll enjoy.

NB: the CD cover art is among the ugliest I've ever seen.

See it here:

http://mapage.noos.fr/weblhasa/v2/discographie/fr_discographie.html

An intense and beautiful epic, this track is the opener on the band's superb 1998 album, 'Deserters Songs'. I'm quite fickle, and usually prefer two to three-minute songs, but this track is so brilliant that it seems short at 6 minutes. It builds up beautifully, starting with just an echoey string aura, with vocals, synth (a Supertramp-like wurlitzer sound) and guitar coming in one by one. The music finally explodes after a couple of minutes, with full drums and eerie oscillating noises. It's incredibly beautiful and dense, and the song has a melancholy air that is very affecting. Mercury Rev have a habit of putting incredible tracks at the beginning of their albums. I'm glad they are now getting more of the attention they deserve.

This song is circulating on Limewire and is incomplete in any version that is downloaded, but is still incredibly representative of what was lost when Jeff Buckley died.

Mr. Buckley had a knack for a great cover song and wasn't afraid of the schmaltzy stuff, either. Jeff's version was performed solo with guitar as a live-on-air track in the mid-90s and includes a long jam-y intro with commentary. It's one of his most perfect performances, in my opinion. What a shame that it has not been released officially.

the latin intro quickly gives way to the electronic beats chappie is known for. personally, i think this is the best chappie song. i wonder how much is bias towards the name.

This really is the stand-out track from Ed Motta's 2000 album, "As Segundas Inten��es Do Manual Pr�tico". On this album, and in albums since, Ed seems to span jazz-latin reluctantly with pop. The rest of the album, bar a couple of tracks, is a fairly straight forward pop affair, but the song writing on his albums since have been a lot more adventurous and in this vein, but nothing has matched it since.

A superb tale of wronged love and wounded pride performed with a mighty swagger, drenched in latin rhythms and horns, but with that bittersweet humour and English setting that have been hallmark's of Kirsty's whole career.

There are so many songs from Kirsty that I love in so many musical styles, but the "Tropical Brainstorm" album is really the best thing she ever did. She has absorbed the influences from her travels in Latin America, but the album is no pastiche, it is pure MacColl. Whilst occasionally missing its mark, it has so many fine, joyful and wryly funny moments, and, to me, all the signs of an artist entering a new, fiercely creative and joyful stage of her career.

Sadly we will never know where Kirsty's musical journey would have taken her.

Upon first listen to this tune, I was sold! Available so far only on 12", the track starts off in a traditional congas ala samba vibe with dashes of upright bass. Then the simple but colorful piano melody kicks in and your booty is ready to move. Although this is a modern dancefloor stormer you cannot help but hear its nod to a bygone era in Latin music. If it wasn't for the quick tempo I would think this fine example of a dancefloor delight was created in the late 60s, early 70s.

This Melbourne, Australia 6 piece manages to mix dance beats and easy listening/soul samples in a much more interesting and moving way than recent artists working with similar ingredients. This track is sample happy, sampling the likes of the Main Attractions "Everyday," Klaus WUnderlich's "Let's do the Latin Hustle," and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." I immediately recognized the Hustle's melody, acting as a primer for the wonderful 60s soul vocals. This is no doubt a feel good song!

Great lo-fi fun music from france. Samples, cheezy keyboards... really sounds like it's made in a bedroom. This song's a bit silly. Latin beat. guitar strums. cha cha cha. Good for fans of Stereo Total

It's what the world needs to heal

Ex toadies lead singer Todd (Vaden) Lewis, one of the best voices in rock today. Don't know if you get this goodness yet outside of texas, but the tour is upcoming, and I actually heard it on the radio (gasp) something the Toadies 2nd album didn't even get (a great sophmore release from a platinum selling band... hmmmm) anyway its uplifting and real, but does has a little of that Tv sheen on it that instills hope in you, even if life is never really as good as it promises.

Much as I love the original Yellow Magic Orchestra track, today I can only listen to this latin version with superb bongo syncopation. Totally up my strasse.

latin influenced, amazing vocals, opening guitar line is fantastic, lyrics are beautifully written, This song is just really powerful!