Tripped-out grooves from this legendary combo from Uruguay – a mix of candomble roots and wilder rockish touches – but also served up with a bit of Latin in the mix too! There's some great heavy percussion on the bottom of most tracks – and even when the guitars are fierce and fuzzy, the overall sound is nicely rhythmic, and often a bit funky – a great blend of global elements, and coming across with the same sort of power as the best Latin funk albums from Peru! There's perhaps a bit more psychedelia here than on those records, but never in a way that's too indulgent or dated – thanks to some lean, clean arrangements. Titles include a cover of Tito Puente's "Guayaba", plus "Adios A Jimi Hendrix", "Cajon De Castanas", "Llamada Del Sur", "Buscado", "Donde Esta El Doctor", and "Mas Alla Del Sahara". (Rock, Latin) CD

A record that's every bit as groovy as you might guess from the title – served up by one of the most unique combos to record for Colombia's Discos Fuentes in the 70s! Afrosound certainly have plenty of rhythms and sounds that resonate with their contemporaries at the top of the South American scene – but they also use rootsier percussion, and served up a rawer sound too – definitely bringing back some West African modes, after that scene had an earlier influence from the world of Afro-Cuban music! There's some especially cool keyboards that get all weird and distorted – like electric guitar on some Peruvian records – balanced with plenty of live, loud percussion – on titles that include "Banana De Queso", "Baila Felipe", "Negua", "Ponchito De Colores", "Carruseles", "Zaire Pop", "Rapsodia Del Chinito", "Me Voy De La Vida", "Salsa Con Tabaco", and "La Negra Saramuya". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful brown-eyed soul from the Ohio scene of the 70s – just the sort of record you might have expected to hear from East LA or Spanish Harlem back in the day – but even more amazing to come from Cleveland! The group are a Latin combo at the core, but they've soaked up plenty of soul influences from the late 60s and early 70s – bringing in bits of harmony soul, funk, and other hip touches to really expand their groove – in ways that are similar to the changes Joe Bataan and his contemporaries were going through at the time! There's a few funky instrumentals that get nicely tripped out, offset with some wonderful mellow soul numbers, and a few straighter Latin bits – all of which show a really amazing range for the group. As usual, Numero does a great job of bringing their whole story to light through the great notes – but even without them, we're plenty happy with the music on the set! Titles include "Loving You", "To Be Sure", "Here We Go Again", "Cold Wine", "Trivialities", "Just Call Me", and "Listen People". (Soul, Latin) CD

Wonderful work from this New Orleans combo – a Latin act that feels like they'd be much more at home in the Spanish Harlem scene of the 60s, especially given the soulful undercurrents of this set! On previous releases, the group already showed a great talent for crafting just the right sort of classic Latin groove – tight percussion and sharp instrumentation, all honed down with the rhythms in a way that really carried a strong old school punch. But this time around, they've got all that and more – a stronger Latin soul spirit than before, which really comes through in the pacing and presentation of the songs – holding back sometimes to give the listener more, in ways that few young Latin groups seem to get! The style is wonderful – and in addition to older New York modes, these guys bring in a few other elements as well – always without any hoke or gimmick at all. Titles include "Dejame", "Mary Wants To Boogaloo", "Oye Mamacita", "Hasta", "Sad Eyes", and "Swahili Baby". (Deep Funk, Latin) CD

A mighty nice little package – one that's overflowing with the special sort of Latin and soul music hybrids that rose up from the Spanish Harlem scene in the late 60s – the kind of cuts that helped establish Fania Records as one of the most important Latin labels around – and one of the grooviest too! These aren't the 70s salsa tracks that Fania spread across the globe – but the more New York-styled numbers that often had English language lyrics in the lead, sung by a soulful vocalist – and set to small combo rhythms that were overflowing with energy, and plenty of touches of jazz, soul, and funk! These are all the mixes from the rare 45rpm singles issued by Fania back in the day – and although the songs are wonderful, the collection together is even cooler as a whole – dozens of tracks, including some really rare ones – all bound up in a 7" book-styled cover, with 60 pages of notes, and a bonus funky 45! Titles include "Silent Heart" by 125th Street Candy Store, "Micro Mini" and "Make Out" by Harvey Averne, "Too Much Lovin" and "So Fine" by Joe Bataan, "Willie Baby" by Willie Colon, "Soul Drummers" and "Mercy Mercy Baby" by Ray Barretto, "Geronimo" and "Funky Big Feet" by Bobby Valentin, "Mercie" by Ralph Robles, "Camel Walk" by The Latinaires, "Batola Boogaloo" by Bobby Quesada, "Grazin In The Grass" by Orchestra Harlow, "Spinning Wheel" by El Apollo Sound, "Hey Sister" by Monguito Santamaria, "Who Is The Girl For Me" and "Look At Her" by Ralfi Pagan, "New York Soul" by Ray Barretto, "Some Lonely Heart" by ronnie Marks, "Let's Get It Together This Christmas" by Harvey Averne, "Shaft" and "If I Were A King" by Joe Bataan, "Johnny's No Good" and "Blonde Latin Blues" by WRLC, and "Today" and "Try Just a Little Harder" by Butter Scotch. Lots more too – and the bonus 7" single features two promo tracks recorded for DJ Symphony Sid – one by Joe Bataan, the other by Bobby Valentin! CD