Juno Recommends International: April 2023

Review: Kalita's Borga Revolution compilations are pure joy, tapping into the boom in electronic music in Ghana in the 80s and 90s. The first volume came out last year and carried work from the likes of Thomas Frempong and George Darko. On this second instalment we get a whole host of new names to bring us more of that West African heat, and the hits just keep spilling out. Check the urgent stomp of 'Soca For Your Pleasure' by Alan Cosmos & His Bam-Baara Soundz, or the rugged soul and deadly grooves bursting out of Pope Flyne Ackah's 'I Think You Are Right (Jepense Que Tu A Raison)'. If you were into the first edition, this is only going to bring you more delights from an overlooked corner of Africa's musical history.

Review: Ali Farka Toure is widely regarded as the godfather of the genre 'desert blues', which blends distinct elements from Toure's own Malian heritage with electric guitar tropes from blues. Though he's got a panoply of albums dangling from under his immense belt, 'Le Voyageur' is brand new, documenting several unreleased tracks alongside old greats - it's the first album released by the artist since 2010's 'Ali & Toumani'. If the classic 'Kenouna' is anything to go by, then you can be sure to expect blissful horizon-gazing rhythmics, guitar chromatics, and matching counterpoint on vocals - all hallmarks of Toure's distinctive style.

Review: We're not short of compilations and reissues celebrating Jorge Ben's recordings, but what about the many times the Brazilian icon's work has been covered over the years? That's the mission Mr Bongo went on for this compilation, looking to fellow Brazilian legends like Elza Soares, Claudette Soares and Wilson Simonal alongside artists such as Marijo, Os Brazoes, and Doris Monteiro. From MPB and batacuda to samba and bossa nova, there's a whole heap of styles covered here, and after initially being released as a CD-only comp more than 10 years ago, now it's getting a vinyl pressing with shiny new artwork.

Review: For the first in a series of must-have reissues of obscure Brazilian treats, Optimo Music and Selva Discos have joined forces to offer up a new pressing of Fernando Falcao's superb 1981 debut, "Memoria Das Aguas". The eight-track set has long been considered something of a slept-on and hard-to-find classic, with Falcao conjuring up an octet of tracks that brilliantly join the dots between neo-classical movements, dreamy, percussion-led soundscapes (see the sublime "Amanhecer Tabajara (A Alceu Valenca)"), spiraling big band Afro-Brazilian jazz ("Ladeira Dos Inocentes"), intoxicating classical-jazz fusion ("Revoada") and experimental, beat-free sound collages ("Mercado"). In a word: exceptional.

Review: Discodelic is starting a series dedicated to the music of Panama and they kick off with Los Criollos and a fully authorised reissue of their 'Pa' los Panas de San Francisco.' The band might not be as well known as they should and that's down to the fact they recorded only two tunes with this orchestra in the mid-seventies and disappeared forever. Which is a shame, because as this 7" proves - it also comes on coloured vinyl - they had a red hot and infectious sound full of big horns, percussive liveliness and fiery vocals.

Review: On its initial release a decade ago in 2007, Arthur Verocai's Encore - the Brazilian artist's belated follow-up to his obscure, eponymous 1972 debut album - was hailed as something of a modern classic. 10 years on, the set has lost none of its breezy sparkle, as this re-mastered vinyl reissue proves. It features a mixture of samba, jazz-funk and bossanova songs, with featured players including many of those who played on 1972's Arthur Verocai (Azymuth being the best-known to European and American audiences). The production, courtesy of Harmonic 313 member Dave Brinkworth, is superb, too; so sympathetic is it to Verocai's original 1970s style, in fact, that it could have been recorded at the same time as his now acclaimed debut. If you missed out first time round, this should be essential listening.

Review: Given that it can be tricky to track down the original album releases by Colombian 'salsa drura' greats Fruko Y Sos Sus Tesos, this compilation from Vampi Soul makes an excellent introduction to their trademark sound - even if it is made up of 'deep cuts and rarities; from the band's releases on the iconic Discos Fuentes label. This is fiery, dancefloor-ready salsa from the era of psychedelic rock, and it's that aural colour and low-end heaviness that catches the ear throughout. There's not a duffer amongst the 20 tracks on show, which makes picking highlights tough. That said, our current favourites include 'Bang Bang (el Tiroteo', the effervescent 'Oriza', the horn-heavy cheeriness of 'Perlas Negras' and the richly percussive 'Canto a Panama'.

Review: Henry Wenceslas Thenard's obscure but wonderful zouk sounds are real treasure, and also super expensive if you can find the originals. This one is a noter zouk funk disco bomb that first came on the artist's 1978 album Laser. Miaou-Miaou has a compelling rhythm with lush autistic guitar riffs and seductive vocals up top and the whole thing really comes alive with the horns. On the B-side is a Deni Shain & Mister Francky remix that brings it up to date for modern dance floors with a little more weight and then a horns version which puts them front and centre.

Review: Somehow what we have here is a lost MPB gem, but from rural Finland. This is a first-ever reissue of it, 33 years after it was first released by the Brazilian pair of Rosanna Guimaraes Tavares and Zelia Nogueira da Fonseca aka Rosanna & Zelia. They left their home in Latin America in 1988 and headed to Europe where they dropped a wealth of albums in Germany into the mid-2000s. Zelia still make music and the pair sang on a house cut by German mainstay Ian Pooley. They wrote this one while on a short trip to Finland for the local label Maumau Music and it got a regional release at the time - and now makes it onto the world stage.

Review: El Palmas Music are reissuing a rare 1970s Venezuela salsa record that spotlights the work of enigmatic Caracas guitar maestro, Andres Moros

Given his singular vision on the 1976 salsa masterpiece Andres y Sus Estrellas, the absence of information on Venezuelan musician Andres Moros, also known as 'Morito', feels almost criminal. What we do know is that Morito first began his musical journey as a live performer in the bars and nightclubs of Caracas in the 1960s-70s, at the full height of the Venezuelan salsa boom, and was a core figure on the scene. Alongside a small band, Morito would frequently perform in the bustling live music circuits of Caracas and La Guiara.

'Andres y Sus Estrellas' was the result of a long-held dream of Morito's to partner with Grant to record an album. This album, Morito's debut project, is now getting reissued by El Palmas Music. With big band compositions spiced with the flavour of Caribbean rhythm, the album is a seminal example of Venezuelan music at the height of its salsa movement. Grant's effortlessly smooth-flowing vocals chronicle tales of love, passion and party, masterfully guided under Morito's cohesive musical direction.