South American music and culture magazine

World Circuit Records will be releasing Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2 on 19th March as a double CD and limited edition double LP. The collection features a ridiculous array of tracks recorded in Colombia’s legendary Discos Fuentes studio between 1950 and 1988. We are going to feature the compilation a hell of a lot more on the site. But in the meantime, here’s a special video the guys at World Circuit have put together for El Combo De Los Galleros’s “Soledad” and a Soundcloud taster of Adolfo Echeverria Y Su Conjunto’s “Amaneciendo”, two indications that this is going to be a very good compilation indeed! Continue Reading

At the end of last year we held a small private screening of Esperando el Tsunami, a new film from Vincent Moon and Lulacruza logging a musical journey across Colombia. Now, with our good friends Movimientos, we will be holding an official screening of the film at Rich Mix in London (followed by great Afro-Colombian music from Cumbé). Prepare yourself for a truly original journey into Latin America! Continue Reading

If you thought singing animals were reserved for animated Disney movies, think again. Albery Albuquerque and his son Thiago study animal sounds of Northern Brazil and compose music in the voices of their subjects. It’s a serious academic endeavor. “With music, we are opening a giant door into the world of science,” explains Albery. Continue Reading

Ten years ago, Sudakaya was conceived in Ecuador’s underground music scene. It wasn’t long before the group emerged from the depths of urban subculture and marched onto the national and international stage. Since 2004, Sudakaya has toured its reggae-ska all over Latin America and Europe. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the group is coming to the United States and kicking of its North American tour with a show in New York City on March 3rd.

Sudakaya @ D’antigua
Saturday 3rd March
Show: 9pm
Tickets: $25

Event details and tickets: http://www.tickeri.com/events/sudakaya

Throughout the month of March, Sudakaya will play in Washington DC, Chicago, Florida and Texas, including a show at SXSW 2012 in Austin.

We were extremely honoured to be invited onto Cal Jader’s Movimientos radio show on SOAS Radio in London for a Sounds and Colours-style takeover. The result was an hour of hip-hop, afro-beat, indie, electro-pop, noise and all manner of other alternative music that hopefully spread the word on some of our favourite artists. Continue Reading

Novalima is set to release it’s third full-length album Karimba on January 31st, 2012. The original four Limeños: Ramon Perez-Prieto, Grimaldo Del Solar, Rafael Morales, and Carlos Li Carrillo have teamed up with a variety of musicians to create an electro-traditional sound distinct to Peru. Drawing on indigenous Afro-Peruvian rhythm’s and percussion instruments like the cajon, Karimba seamlessly blends clean, modern electronic beats with energetic and soulful organic instrumentation on top. Continue Reading

Interesting new side project here from Bomba Estéreo’s Liliana Saumet. Under the moniker of Leidi Li, she has teamed up with Argentina’s AOIM (known to his bank manager as Pedro D’Alessandro), for a track called Maté A Mi Novio (“I Killed My Boyfriend”), which considering Liliana’s boyfriend is Pedro, makes you wonder how he thought about this recording session would end. The song is considerably more down-tempo than Bomba Estéreo, and sounds pretty damn good to our ears.

Kudos to Remezcla for the heads up on this one.

Here is a new collaboration between two of the Spanish-speaking music world’s finest talents. “Novias” already existed on El Guincho’s Pop Negro album from last year. Here, Javiera Mena – Chile’s queen of electro-pop – adds her vocals, giving the song a completely new lease of life. There’s a power in Javiera Mena’s voice which always grabs your attention, making you believe every word she says, and it’s in full effect here. Continue Reading

Diogo Nogueira is the freshest face in a long lineage of samba. The son of samba composer João Nogueira, Diogo grew up at the rodas, the music circles that characterize samba Carioca and a tradition Diogo carries on today in Brazil and internationally. Continue Reading

New York’s Summer Stage is kicking off its 2012 season with an evening of performances by Nu-bossa bombshell, Bebel Gilberto, Grammy-nominated jazz singer Gregory Porter and other acclaimed artists at Highline Ballroom in New York City on January 5th. Continue Reading

The latest video in Vincent Moon’s Petites Planetes series is a 12-minute film of Elza Soares, one of Brazil’s most reverred samba singers. As you may well know Petites Planetes has become a great source for original music videos – especially ones featuring Brazilian and Argentine artists – and this latest instalment is no different. You can watch more videos like this one at petitesplanetes.cc. You can read our review with Vincent Moon here.

Tulipa is that rare artist who can combine high and low art, combining her rich, powerful voice with quirky, idiosyncratic melodies for catchy pop songs that could well be Brazilian classics of the future. She will be coming over to London from Sao Paulo on December 19th for a special show that will only set you back a fiver. Now that’s a Christmas bargain! Continue Reading