Browse by Label: VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)

Artist:	LAS GRECAS
Title:	Gipsy Rock
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 001LP

Vinyl-only release. Vinilísssimo is a new, vinyl-only reissue label created by Munster Records. Devoted to Spanish-produced releases from the '60s to the '80s, Vinilísssimo will cover a vast range of genres, from beat and garage to psychedelia, progressive rock, soul, funk, flamenco rock, punk, hard rock and so on, featuring some of the most relevant and popular artists of the time as well as obscure acts that are still influential on Spanish music to this day. All reissues will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl and will feature the original artwork. Reissue of this essential album in the history of Spanish popular music from 1974. Las Grecas' Gipsy Rock is a mixture of rock and flamenco driven by pop romanticism, sexual freedom and the impulse of youth. Includes the huge Spanish/Latin America hit "Te Estoy Amando Locamente." Gipsy Rock officially marked the start of the love affair between gipsy art and long-haired rock. "Te Estoy Amando Locamente," apart from its huge popular impact, opened the ears of giants such as Paco de Lucía and Camarón, who in the following years would electrify their accompaniment. Besides, with Las Grecas took off the extraordinary career of José Luis de Carlos, one of the most visionary Spanish music producers, who would develop these initial findings on groundbreaking records by Los Chorbos, El Luis, and Zíngaro o Manzanita. Las Grecas were sisters Carmela and Tina Muñoz Barrull, gipsies raised in Carabanchel Bajo, at the time a near-shanty-town on the outskirts of Madrid. The two sisters, ignoring family opposition, appeared at many popular tablaos (flamenco venues) in the Spanish capital such as Los Canasteros -- where they infatuated the legendary Manolo Caracol -- and Caripén. To the latter venue went José Luis de Carlos, attracted by the rumors about those two pretty gipsy girls who sang in unison, a shocking idea in flamenco. After signing them to CBS, the producer tried to get them together with flamenco and pop musicians, from Paco Cepero to Rodrigo García. Finally, he decided to make them front a made-to-measure hard rock band, formed by the best studio musicians of the time. It was an international group which included Caribbean percussionists and a Portuguese guitar player, Johnny Galvao, who would become their main arranger. Although he was responsible for the arrangement of their hit, plus an additional 5 songs, another arranger was Pepe Nieto, nowadays recognized as a prominent composer in Spanish cinema. The repertoire of Gipsy Rock came from the palos (flamenco styles) that Carmela and Tina used to sing in the tablaos augmented by hits of the day; songs as varied as "Te Amo, Te Amo, Te Amo" by Brazilian Roberto Carlos or the immortal "Achilipú" by Dolores Vargas, one of the queens of Catalan rumba. And it worked wonderfully. Rock + flamenco-pop romanticism + sexual freedom + youth impulse + eternal, passionate love. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl and housed in the original 1974 artwork in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only.

Artist:	VENENO
Title:	Veneno
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 002LP

Vinyl-only release. Reissue of this LP from 1977, arguably the most influential album in Spanish popular music. Kiko Veneno and brothers Rafael and Raimundo Amador (aka Pata Negra) combined blues, rock and flamenco to create a piece of work that could only have happened in late 1970s Andalucía, most often voted the best Spanish pop album. Without a doubt, it's the most influential album, the one that revealed that flamenco could be used by the artists of the time to create an unprejudiced style of street rock that can be heard in current Spanish artists such as Estopa, Bebe and Los Delincuentes (who took their name from the first track of side 2 of Veneno). Now, for the first time, Veneno is released with its original cover, censored by CBS in 1977. The protagonists of Veneno, starting with producer Ricardo Pachón, didn't feel traumatized by decades of dictatorship. They wanted to create new music for the new times, and that impulse would lead, 2 years later, to La Leyenda Del Tiempo, the record by Camarón in which many of the creators of Veneno were involved. Kiko Veneno, of Catalan origin but raised in Andalucía, had been a hippie during times when that attitude meant risking going to jail. A university student, he lived in California for a while, where he, surprisingly, discovered the possibilities of flamenco. Upon his return, he got in touch with the Amador brothers, flamenco musicians who lived in Seville's gipsy ghetto, who were fascinated by Jimi Hendrix (although they couldn't afford to buy electric guitars!). The recording of Veneno in Madrid's Audiofilm Studios has become the stuff of legend: too much joking around, an excess of drugs. The record label's shock was even bigger when they saw the planned cover, which featured the band's name stamped on a brick of hashish. They made them change it, but incomprehension was the general response to the record. Despite the championing of music journalists and media such as TVE (the Spanish public TV broadcaster), the album had little commercial impact and the project disbanded, although Veneno would resuscitate further on. In later years, the record became a clandestine best-seller, shifting tens of thousands of copies of its mid-price edition. Its free and confident attitude keeps shining on Spanish pop music today. Housed in a gatefold sleeve and pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only.

Artist:	ELKIN & NELSON
Title:	Elkin & Nelson
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 003LP

Vinyl-only release. Released in 1974, Elkin & Nelson added unique flavors to the Spanish pop music of the time: Latin American songs and rhythms (plus The Doors' "Light My Fire") performed with freshness and intensity. The LP features the duo's first radio hit, "A Caballo," and was brilliantly produced by the most misunderstood musician among the Spanish beat pioneers: Juan Pardo, briefly a singer in Los Pekenikes and founding member of both Los Brincos and Juan & Junior. Brothers Elkin and Nelson Marín Pérez arrived in Spain some time in 1973. They were from Medellín (Colombia) and along with their luggage, they brought their own compositions and South American, Caribbean and even American songs, many of them unknown in Europe. Merely playing acoustic guitars and with an exuberant way of singing, they put up an energetic show around the clubs in Madrid. Juan Pardo was fascinated by their strength and took them to CBS, at the time the most audacious record company in the Spanish market. Elkin & Nelson is a great example of the top class productions by CBS in '70s Spain. The best studio musicians in Madrid were hired and the result was lovingly packaged by the company's art department. For the photo session, the brothers were styled in a glamorous way, close to the look associated with the "Gay Power" movement. It was a very risky move which didn't gain them a lot of sympathy. Even in the later years of Franco's regime, homosexuals were persecuted in Spain and extravagant looks weren't allowed on the public TV channel. The anecdote about the cancellation of a performance by the British band Sweet after the censors saw their looks a few minutes before coming on air is well-known. However, Elkin & Nelson did create a stir: they were the only Spanish-singing artists featured in Gay Rock (Ediciones Júcar, 1975), the influential book by Eduardo Haro Ibars, although the author and poet was disappointed when he interviewed the Colombians and found out that they weren't even interested in playing with their sexual ambiguity. In later decades, the Marín Pérez brothers briefly reappeared in Spain with records as a duo or solo releases by Elkin. Gatefold sleeve includes liner notes and the original 1974 artwork, pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.

Artist:	FLAMENCO
Title:	Flamenco
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 004LP

Vinyl-only release. In the land of traditional flamenco, this five-piece from Seville combined in 1973 their musical heritage with psychedelic rock to produce a mighty flamenco rock fusion. Unappreciated at the time, this groundbreaking LP sounds today free of any ties and absolutely devastating. Few initial audacities can match these Andalusian guys: to name themselves Flamenco coming from Seville and playing their style of music. They were a long-haired five-piece into psychedelia in the land of orthodox arte jondo (traditional Andalusian music). True B-list rock artists in Seville, usually ignored and unrecognized even in their most undisputed values, until very recently no one took their explosive fusion of flamenco and psych-rock seriously. Behind the group were the Garrido brothers, tireless promoters of the local Sevillian scene from 1967, first in Los Soñadores (with two released singles and also featuring Tele, future drummer in Triana) and later in Galaxia (with another two singles and a sound that already flirted with psychedelic fusion). It was in 1972 when, under that beautifully provocative name, the executive production of their manager, Emilio Santamaría (father of Eurovision winner Massiel), and the musical production of Carlos Montenegro, they released this, their only LP, and four singles, all included on the album and produced with the charts in mind, although they didn't get anywhere near them. At first glance, Flamenco may have been filed along with many of the light flamenco pop acts from the '70s (Payos, Gazpacho?) but today, there's no doubt about their singularity, although at the time the fact that they dared to use texts by Lorca or tanguillos (a flamenco style) by Paco de Lucía didn't grant them the first division status and respectability they were after. The band bared their souls on the opening track, the ardent "Dímelo," a simple flamenco rumba in its origin but here transformed by psychedelic additions in perfect collusion with borrowings from Santana's Latin rock and Osibisa's Afro-rock. It's a track that practically defines the record and its extreme manners freely permeate the two sides of the album. Guitars, distortion, organs, fuzz, percussion and the singer's jonda voice invite the listener into a psychedelic discothèque, and only a madman would nowadays dare to underrate a group like this. Including the original 1973 artwork, this LP is pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only.

Artist:	LOS BRAVOS
Title:	Ilustrísimos Bravos
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 005LP

Vinyl-only release. Spanish band from the '60s, known all over the world for their smash hit "Black Is Black." Recorded in London in 1968 with arrangements by Jean Bouchety, Ilustrísimos Bravos contains songs by Vanda-Young, Augusto Algueró, Reed-Mason and Manolo Díaz. The cover picture was taken by renowned photographer Alberto Schommer. In 1969, when Ilustrísimos Bravos was released, Spain's most international band had just split. At the end of 1968, producer Alain Milhaud, responsible for Los Bravos' success, announced at the Café Gijón in Madrid that singer Mike Kennedy was leaving the band to work as a solo artist. At the same public event, a lawyer turned up to declare that the group also wanted to part ways with Milhaud. It was a dramatic move that ended up in negotiations so that Los Bravos could keep the rights to the band's name and continue with another vocalist: Englishman Anthony Anderson, brother of Jon Anderson, by then frontman of Yes. The reason for this conflict was the fear that a Mike-less Bravos would be ignored by Barclay-España, Milhaud's production company. It's well known that the band members hardly participated in the recording sessions that took place in London, which were ruled by Milhaud's efficiency ideal, which involved using studio musicians instead. Thus, at the start of autumn 1968, when Ilustrísimos Bravos was recorded in London's Lansdowne Studios, only Mike Kennedy, guitarist Tony Martínez, and (according to some magazines) organ player Jesús Gluck were present. The musical director was a friend of Milhaud's, the great Jean Bouchety, responsible for many French pop hits and a recording artist under his own name. Bouchety even recorded an orchestral version of "Great Is Our Love," the song by Augusto Algueró included here. Ilustrísimos Bravos gathers pieces by the singer-songwriter Manolo Díaz translated into English (except "Como Superman," an outtake from the previous LP) with songs by established composers: Les Reed and Barry Manson, who had written hits for Tom Jones; Harry Vanda and George Young, from the Australian Easybeats, who penned the glorious "Bring A Little Lovin'"; Kenny Young and Scott English were New York songwriters, and "Save Me, Save Me" was the single released in Europe, while "Dirty Street" was chosen for the United States. However, the songs from Ilustrísimos Bravos only had some commercial success in Spain: their sound had probably gone out of fashion by 1969. The dream of keeping the worldwide impact of "Black Is Black" vanished. It would be more than 6 years before Mike Kennedy returned to front Los Bravos, and it wouldn't be a triumphant comeback. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only.

Artist:	LOS BRINCOS
Title:	Contrabando
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 006LP

Vinyl-only release. Reissue of the third album by Los Brincos, the best Spanish '60s pop band, acclaimed, then and now, as the equivalent of the Spanish Beatles. Partly recorded in London by Larry Page, it was released in 1968 and includes the hits "Lola," (no relation to The Kinks song) "El Pasaporte," "So Good To Dance" and "Nadie Te Quiere Ya." The sleeve was designed by filmmaker Iván Zulueta. Contrabando proved the band's viability after members Juan Pardo and Junior had left to start their own career as a duo. The other original members, Fernando Arbex and Manolo González, quickly rebuilt the four-piece with Ricky Morales -- Junior's younger brother -- and Vicente Fernández. Los Brincos remained faithful to their beat group aesthetic, but opened up to new musical possibilities. The album was recorded at the London studios of Pye, Decca and EMI (that is, the legendary Abbey Road, with engineer Geoff Emerick). For Fernando Arbex, it was essential to establish themselves in the international market and several songs were recorded in both English and Spanish. Until then, Los Brincos only recorded French and Italian versions. In order to help that international push, they enlisted Larry Page, who had had success with The Kinks and The Troggs. According to Manolo González, Page was involved "to a point" in the production and helped them complete a record that demanded efficiency and urgency (since recording studios were expensive in London at the time). The band also recorded other songs that were never released and are thought to be lost -- the Holy Grail of Brincos fans. But all of Larry Page's contacts weren't enough for the band to break through in the UK, where two singles were released on the producer's label, Page One. However, before the LP was released, "Lola" and "El Pasaporte" were big hits in Spain, making it clear that Juan & Junior hadn't taken the four-piece's audience with them. On this record, Los Brincos expanded their instrumental repertoire and arrangements into an eclectic crazy-quilt of playful, bouncy, inventive Spanish psych-pop: in the case of "Lola," those vaguely Mexican trumpets announced that Arbex was a composer with an instinct for mainstream tastes. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only.

Artist:	KAKA DE LUXE
Title:	Las Canciones Malditas
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 007LP

The legendary recordings of the first Spanish punk band, Kaka De Luxe. In just a few months between 1977 and 1978, Kaka De Luxe laid out the foundations for what would be later known as "La Movida," the early-'80s Spanish countercultural movement that also included figures such as filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar and photographer Alberto García-Alix. Kaka De Luxe featured future members of Alaska y Los Pegamoides, Paraíso, La Mode, Radio Futura, Ejecutivos Agresivos, Décima Víctima, Zombies and Los Secretos, and only lasted about nine months. Their mythical status is due to the presence of essential figures of the future of Spanish pop music, such as Olvido Gara (Alaska), Fernando Márquez (Paraíso, La Mode), Enrique Sierra (Radio Futura), Carlos Berlanga and Nacho Canut, not to mention painter Manolo Campoamor. Briefly, the band also featured Carlos Entrena (later in Ejecutivos Agresivos and Décima Víctima), Bernardo Bonezzi (Zombies), Javier Furia (early Radio Futura) and brothers Javier and Enrique Urquijo (Secretos). During those giddy times, these teenagers -- most of them underage -- achieved a remarkable repercussion: enthusiastically backed by journalist Jesús Ordovás, they gigged frequently, finished second in the Villa de Madrid battle of the bands, and even made some recordings. Though that last detail must be qualified: broadcaster Mariscal Romero got them an audition for Chapa, the hard rock imprint started by record label Zafiro. When he heard the result, Romero was shocked by their amateurism and publicly rejected them; though, that didn't prevent him from releasing a 7" with four tracks: "Rosario," "Toca El Pito," "Viva El Metro" and "La Pluma Eléctrica." What we can hear on this record are in fact demos: several tracks start with the title and a "1, 2, 3, 4," followed by the track played all at once. The band members didn't have any experience in a recording studio, neither did they have a real producer who could try to give shape to this glorious and irreverent racket. Funnily enough, it's thanks to Mariscal Romero that we have the first recorded document of Madrid's new wave: precocious kids who had heard rumors about London punk and dreamed up actions equivalent to the daring stuff happening in the British capital, while at the same time recovering classic pop forms. They had met during the Sunday mornings at El Rastro (Madrid's main street market), then a sort of post-Franco agora for repressed ideologies and nascent subcultures, where people sold records and fanzines. The British do-it-yourself attitude encouraged people to take up an instrument and challenge social order. The provocations by their Madrid counterparts had a humorous tone ("Pero qué público más tonto tengo," "Pero me aburro" trans: "Some silly audience I've got," "But I'm bored") or were related to sex (the amazing S&M odyssey of the innocent protagonist of "La Tentación"). Kaka De Luxe was an eruption of talent destined to radically transform the face of Spanish pop during the following decade. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only.

Artist:	LENO
Title:	Leño
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 008LP

Reissue of the first album by Leño, the foundation stone of Spanish hard rock and a record which has been massively influential for over 30 years since its release in 1979. Their sound, with influences ranging from blues rock to prog, and their defiant attitude established a blueprint adopted by different generations of urban rock bands, right up to today. In Spain, the Church of Hard Rock considers Leño's first LP its gospel. Several generations of Spanish bands have developed under the guidance of Rosendo Mercado, leader of the band and affable pontiff of this institution. In fact, 2010 has seen the release of a tribute double CD to Leño titled Bajo La Corteza ("Under The Bark," which makes a reference to the band's name, which means "Log"). It's important to remember that Madrid's rock scene spent a good part of the '70s in clandestinity; only after the death of dictator Francisco Franco did it come out of the catacombs. In the book Rosendo: Rock En Las Tripas (Guía de la Música, Madrid, 1994), Pedro Giner detailed the miseries of the band members' previous groups such as Fresa or Ñu, and even Rosendo's struggles during his military service in a Western Sahara under war threat. The urgency to communicate can explain this debut's fury, made without many means: it was recorded in 70 hours, including mixing. The repertoire ignores conventional structures: over five minutes of the first track, "Castigo," go by before Rosendo's voice rises, rough and menacing. Although the guitarist admitted he was influenced by British guitarist Rory Gallagher, Leño's first steps go beyond the blues-rock canon, trying to crush mental structures. "El Tren," which Rosendo used to play with Juan Carlos Molina in Ñu, was an invitation to an LSD trip. Although there were some pastoral moments in Leño, the band stood out for their belligerent reaction towards their environment. They sing of a city where "not even the rats can live," and the track "Este Madrid" also points at the disappointment of a democracy where the powerful can impose their will (and the former rebels are happy to just get high). Rosendo had no patience either for a society which, after years of rejection, couldn't wait to embrace rock music as a symbol of modernity. "El Oportunista" ironically talked about punk and businessmen who "invest one and get ten in return." He didn't know how much that opportunism was going to cost him: the band had signed an onerous contract and, when they split in 1983, its members had to give up all their rights in order to obtain artistic freedom. The record cover also requires an explanation: it represents the replacement of the bass player, with the departure of Chiqui Mariscal and the arrival of Tony Urbano. The overall look reveals they followed the photographer's orders, who tried to create a kind image which didn't correspond with the harshness of the grooves. Liner notes in Spanish and English, pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only. Gatefold sleeve.

Artist:	LOS CANARIOS
Title:	Ciclos
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$47.50
Catalog #:	MRSSS 009LP

2LP release. The pinnacle of Spanish prog rock, Ciclos was also the farewell record by Los Canarios, a group founded by Teddy Bautista. Released in 1974, it's an astounding conceptual album based on Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and incorporates synthesizers, mellotrons, vibraphone, electric guitars, a soprano and a classical choir. Regarded as the greatest Spanish soul band, Los Canarios emerged in 1967 and are still remembered for explosive tracks such as "Get On Your Knees" and "Free Yourself." But Los Canarios had an unusual final incarnation, in a progressive rock style. Towards 1973, the musical and philosophical interests of singer Teddy Bautista led him to breaking up with his bandmates, who continued under the name Alcatraz. Teddy reformed the band with an international formation: drummer Alain Richard, keyboard player Mathias Sanvellian, bassist Christian Mellies and guitarist Antonio García de Diego. Only Bautista's charisma can fully explain Ciclos, possibly the most complex production of 1970s Spanish rock. If it sounds astonishing today, in 1974 it went against all market trends: at the time, singer-songwriters such as Joan Manuel Serrat, Patxi Andión and Lluis Llach were successful. Spanish rock had no presence in the charts and was reduced to a clandestine underground. Alfredo Carrión directed the choir from the National School of Singing, and Rudmini Sukmawati, daughter of the legendary Indonesian President Sukarno, shines as an opera singer on this record. Ciclos is usually described as the symphonic rock version of The Four Seasons, which puts it close to Pictures At An Exhibition by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but that's not quite right: Vivaldi's compositions are integrated into an immense canvas which includes rock, jazz, soul and old popular songs. Keyboards play a fundamental role, although this is a narrative work where a multitude of voices tell the story. The plot is difficult to summarize: it aims to portray the history of humanity, from the Big Bang to the Apocalypse, through the adventures of a character named Embryo. Explanatory texts were provided within the luxurious packaging, including a contribution from Teo Escamilla, the great photography director of Spanish cinema. Includes the original 1974 artwork and a 20-page booklet. 180 gram vinyl 2LP, pressed in a limited edition of 500 copies and housed in a gatefold sleeve.

Artist:	FUSIOON
Title:	Minorisa
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 010LP

Vinyl-only. Minorisa (1975) was the best and last record by Fusioon -- the most consistent Spanish prog rock band of the first half of the '70s, whose daring compositions mixed traditional music from Manresa, Ibiza and Menorca with elaborate instrumental passages. The first half of the '70s was a dark age for Spanish rock, but some bands held on to their vision with wonderful stubbornness. Fusioon recorded three albums and achieved some recognition: there's even a video of the band on YouTube defending their radical sound and performing a portion of this album on national television. Hailing from the industrial city of Manresa, the band consisted of keyboardist Manel Camp, his bassist brother Jordi, the spectacular drummer Santi Arisa and guitarist Martí Brunet. Some had a rock background and others came from music school; however, they all shared a penchant for progressive rock and the feeling that folk music could be an ingredient in their experimentations. They recorded two LPs for Belter, a commercial label that didn't know what to do with them. The first one (from 1972) contained folk and popular influences and opened with a composition by Manuel de Falla. The second one (1974), also without a title, featured original songs and a piece by Tchaikovsky. The band used to play seasonal residencies at clubs in Castelldefels, Barcelona and, during the summer, Ibiza. In 1975, there were winds of change: the dictator Francisco Franco began his decline. In July, Fusioon took part in Canet Rock, an open air festival which presented the new musical offerings for the soon-to-arrive times of freedom. The four-piece hoped to join Zeleste, the company which organized the festival and which had a record label, live venue and management office. They weren't interested. Zeleste's rejection demoralized the band. Although they were pioneers in recovering their native roots, they were considered "imperialist" (!) due to their solemn instrumental passages. Unfortunately for them, the stylistic focus had moved from prog rock to jazz rock. Moreover, they didn't have any political message and -- check this out -- they were looked down upon as hicks because of their coming from Manresa, in contrast with the cosmopolitan character of their peers from Barcelona -- and the two cities were only 60 kilometers apart. Despite all that, they bade farewell in style. The Spanish subsidiary of German label Ariola wanted to open up to creative music and signed Fusioon. The band recorded Minorisa in Madrid, their most complex and mature record. The two suites, written by Manel Camp, used folk melodies from Ibiza and Menorca. The third piece, "Llaves Del Subconsciente," revealed Martí Brunet's passion for electronic music. This album is a swansong for the first period of Spanish prog rock: weird, stately, and wonderful.

Artist:	LOS BRAVOS
Title:	Los Bravos
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 011LP

Vinyl-only release. The Vinilísssimo label reissues on vinyl for the first time the 1966 debut album by Spanish beat/soul band Los Bravos, the most international Spanish act of the '60s. Recorded in London under Ivor Raymonde's direction, it features such powerful tracks as "Trapped" and the worldwide chart hit "Black Is Black." "Black Is Black" is remembered as the peak of '60s Spanish pop. However, although Los Bravos came from Madrid, it was a truly international hit: French record company man, Alain Milhaud employed a German singer (Michael Volker Kögel, later Mike Kennedy), supported by British musicians and songwriters. After settling in Spain, the visionary Milhaud flies to London in search of an international release for Los Bravos. The Spanish recordings don't get much attention, but Phil Solomon, one of the industry's big fish, sees potential in the singer, who commands soul's emotion and Gene Pitney's dramatic flair; he appreciates the project's strength, with capable musicians and their own songs, written by Manolo Díaz. Solomon suggests they join the star-making machinery of Decca Records, and in the spring of 1966, the band is in London, where they must record -- with horn arrangements -- tracks approved by Decca. Ivor Raymonde directs the sessions, makes it clear to the Spanish band members: he will only require Mike's vocal performance; due to union impositions and simple efficiency, he prefers to use session musicians. Hence the urban myth that surrounds "Black Is Black," which says that Jimmy Page played guitar on the track. With a cover that seems to be an answer to the famous photos of The Beatles arriving at Madrid's Barajas airport, the first LP by Los Bravos features five songs by Manolo Díaz plus an adapted Italian song ("She Believes In Me"). Decca provided material by multi-faceted songwriters: the exciting "Trapped" is the work of Irish Phil Coulter and Scottish Bill Martin. However, all hopes are pinned on "Black Is Black" and its Motown drive. Released in the United Kingdom in June 1966, it took off immediately, thanks to the support of stations such as Radio Caroline, reaching #2 on the British charts and #3 in the U.S. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies, including an insert with liner notes in Spanish and English and a reproduction of the original 45 and EP sleeves.

Artist:	LOS BRINCOS
Title:	Los Brincos
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 012LP

Vinyl-only release. Vinilísssimo reissues on vinyl for the first time the 1964 debut LP by Los Brincos, the Spanish answer to The Beatles. Los Brincos were Spain's first truly pop band and their songs, image and attitude represented a needed breath of fresh air in a stale music scene and a country under a dictatorship. Includes their hits "Flamenco" and "Dance The Pulga." Almost 50 years after their appearance, it's difficult to explain the huge break that Los Brincos represented. There'd been young bands in Spain since the late '50s, but they were limited by the lack of good instruments, scarce information and the lack of liberty under Franco's regime. Usually, these bands played cover songs of foreign hits and only released 4-song EPs. Suddenly, Los Brincos took it to another level: they wrote their own songs, and introduced themselves with an amazing debut LP supported by two EPs and two singles (until then a rare format in Spain). Novola, the recently created pop subsidiary of Zafiro, funded the adventure. Everything seemed rather impressive, from the looks -- Spanish capes, shoes with bells -- to the claim that they were going to cause "Brincosis," with its corresponding dance. However, they had genuine rock credentials: they had been members of Los Estudiantes and the very strong Los Pekenikes; both Juan and Junior had also recorded as solo artists. The Brincos' debut, released in late 1964, has the stamp of producer Maryní Callejo, whose text on the back cover shows a noticeable skepticism with regards to the "yé-yé" movement, even though she was key in giving shape to such confluence of talent. There are as many ballads as vibrant tracks; both extremes emphasize the band's vocal skills. Certain details prove that, beyond Liverpool, the band assimilated Mediterranean and Spanish-American melodic models as well. "Flamenco" made them stars. The song revealed the swagger that would become an essential part of their image. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. Features the original artwork, plus an insert with liner notes in Spanish and English, and a reproduction of the original 45 and EP sleeves.

Artist:	MICKY Y LOS TONYS
Title:	Micky Y Los Tonys
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 013LP

During his 50-year career, Spanish rock 'n roll pioneer Micky has done all kinds of things. At the peak of his period fronting Los Tonys (spanning most of the 1960s) he commanded with authority all the genres that were around in that marvelous decade: rock 'n roll, twist, surf, beat, garage, etc. Micky y Los Tonys developed a very personal career -- inspired, ironic (when not sarcastic) and played songs mostly written by themselves. The band started up at the legendary morning sessions of Madrid's Price Circus Theatre during 1962, the real foundation stone of Madrid rock at the time, and they immediately stood out due to their covers of Spanish and Latin classics ("La Luna Y El Toro," "Guadalajara," "Zorongo Gitano") rocked up by the guitar sound patented by The Shadows. However, opening this record, from this period, you'll find their furious surf take on "La Cucaracha." In 1965, they debuted on screen with their role in the movie Megatón Ye-Ye, without a doubt one of the most notable Spanish contributions to the new pop aesthetic promoted by Richard Lester and The Beatles in their A Hard Day's Night. The movie had an excellent soundtrack which is unquestionably one of the band's highlights, and which showed their hardest side with garage beat gems such as "Sha-La," "Jabon De Azufre," "Pretty Baby," "Tu Seras Muy Feliz," "Ya No Estas" and "Estoy Cansado." The change of music style brought about by the film took them to their second golden age: "No Comprendemos Por Que No Somos Millonarios," "Cuarto Intento De Exito" and the arresting "Up & Down," a roaring nugget à la Stones that showed the band's enormous versatility. In 1967 they visited the film studios again, this time along with the great Spanish rock 'n roll artist Bruno Lomas and a very young Massiel (future winner of the 1968 Eurovision Festival), in Codo Con Codo. It was a fun movie which revved up every time the band performed original midtempo tracks such as "Cuando Pienso En Ti" or the fantastic "El Problema De Mis Pelos," which featured some delicious phasing effects, shining as one of the best moments in Micky y Los Tonys' brilliant discography. But the record doesn't end there; there's still time for two highlights from the end of the decade, "Correcto O Falso" and "Boum, Boum, Boum," which round up this exultant anthology. 180 gram vinyl. Limited edition of 1,000 copies. Includes an insert with liner notes in Spanish and English and original sleeves.

Artist:	LOS CHEYENES
Title:	Los Cheyenes
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 014LP

Los Cheyenes were four teenagers from the Poble Sec neighborhood in Barcelona: brothers Roberto (singer and lead guitar) and Joselin Vercher (bass, backing vocals) plus Jose Maria Garces (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and drummer Ramon Colom (ex- Flaming Stars and the only one with previous musical experience). They had a cocky, defiant look. They were angry young men with a repertoire of their own influenced by British white R&B. They debuted in 1965 with "Valgame La Macarena" (written by the famous Spanish songwriter Jorge Domingo), a song with an obvious Spanish flair in the style of Los Brincos' "Flamenco" and the closest they ever got to a hit. It was the main track on their first EP, completed by a cover of Los Kinks' "Come On Now" ("Ven Ahora"), another title by Jorge Domingo ("No Me Esperes") and a self-written song ("Llore Por Ti"). You could sense there was something great in those grooves, although the lack of resources and the rush to find a place for them within the "industry" didn't help much. Neither did their indomitable attitude. They tried to use the censorship incident that banned them from appearing on TVE (Spanish public TV broadcaster) after refusing to get their hair cut, staging a parody of it in Madrid's Gran Via which caused a traffic jam outside the Radio Madrid studios. That same year they released their second and fantastic EP where, right away from the cover, with a black and white picture of their faces looking like drugged-up zombies, it was obvious they were different from everyone else. Two self-written compositions ("Conoces El Final" and "¿Por Que Te Fuiste?") along with a Guess Who cover via The Hollies ("Y Olvidame") plus another song by Jorge Domingo ("Devuelveme El Corazon") confirmed the perfection of their immediacy, energy and rage. They started the following year with the single "He Perdido Este Juego"/"Tu No Llegaste A Mi." The former, punk before punk, is pure teenage adrenaline: R&B with sharp riffs, a tight rhythm and a mischievous harmonica towards the end. The latter, featuring refined guitars, mixes melancholic folk rock with what is known today as "popsike." A third EP rounded out the magical year of 1966. All the songs were written by the band, and the record was the most honest representation of who they really were. The last breath of an unrepeatable moment that lasted almost two years -- the sum of coherence, rigor, talent and stubbornness that only happens during brief moments in life. And perhaps they should have left it there. Compulsory military duties, disenchantment, people leaving the band occurred later. They still released a half-hearted last single that did not live up to their own legend: Borrachera/Siguiendo El Sol, without Roberto, who was replaced by a new lead guitarist and a new singer. He would come back in 1968 but by then the demise of Los Cheyenes was inevitable. 180 gram vinyl. Limited edition of 1,000 copies. Includes an insert with liner notes in Spanish and English and original sleeves.

Artist:	LONE STAR
Title:	En Jazz
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 015LP

The Vinilísssimo label presents for the first time on vinyl the 1968 jazz album En Jazz by '60s Spanish pop quartet, Lone Star. This album features a wide variety of music including standards, Mozart, songs by Spanish composer Pau Casals, Ray Charles and rhythm and blues, played on vibraphone, piano, double bass and drums. Formed in Barcelona around 1960, Lone Star broke the mold of contemporary Spanish bands. Like all the groups signed by the EMI subsidiary Hispavox, they had to record covers of foreign hits, specializing in The Animals. However, they obtained enough recognition to be able to record their own material, achieving a huge impact in 1968 with "Mi Calle," an outstanding song that reflects working-class frustration in Spain under Franco. That same year, La Voz de su Amo released En Jazz. For a while, Lone Star operated on two fronts: first, they would play jazz and later, their pop songs. They gained a fantastic reputation and were signed up for Festivales de España, an official touring circuit that used to offer "cultural" shows during the summer. Pedro Gené would switch his usual role as singer to that of piano player for the jazz section; Juan Miró would leave the guitar to play the vibraphone, Rafa de la Vega would play the double bass and Enrique López would play the drum kit with brushes. During an interview from that time, the band stated "It's jazz which contains all the styles: cool, classic, modern. We try to play straightforward jazz, commercial, which can be attractive to the youth." On this record you'll find a Mozart sonata, a traditional Catalan Christmas song, Ray Charles' "I Believe To My Soul," and classic standard "Misty," written by pianist Erroll Garner. En Jazz is a unique project featuring sublime Spanish musicianship, bravely capable of both jazz and rock chops. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies only. Insert includes liner notes in Spanish and English.

Artist:	SOLERA
Title:	Solera
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 016LP

Recorded in 1973, Solera's debut album was a Spanish interpretation of the U.S. West Coast sound and late-period Beatles. The four band members were responsible for the wonderful songs and lyrics, and the album was brilliantly produced by Rafael Trabucchelli. A landmark in 1970s Spanish music, the birth of Solera can be explained looking at the career of its four members. The most experienced of them, José Antonio Martín, had already toured Europe at age 14 along with his city's choir and dance group. By then, both he and his brother Manuel had become infatuated with the sounds of young America, but their presence in several '60s bands only left a trace of two records for RCA with Los Gansos. Rodrigo García came back from Bogotá in 1969. He had lived the previous few years as a star fronting the Colombian band Los Speakers. Thanks to that background, he was soon busy in Madrid, featuring briefly in Los Pekenikes and getting a regular gig in charge of the Vox organ in Juan Pardo's band. José y Manuel enrolled him for their first LP as a duo, the amazing Génesis, released in 1971, but everything would change with the second LP, Pronto Amanecerá, when bassist José María Guzmán joined the band, who had been performing on stage for years, first with the "Rey del Silbido" ("King of the Whistle"), Curro Savoy, and later with Los Diamantes and Micky. In the periods between recordings and rehearsals, the two brothers discovered the McCartney-esque talent of Guzmán and Rodrigo's Dylan phrasing, and start to wonder how they would fit in with the increasingly folky atmosphere of their compositions. As a whole, Solera is the most accomplished creation from this 4-piece. The brothers' vocal harmonies reach great heights and provide a deliciously sunshine-y counterpoint to the ochre-colored sound of their colleagues. Rodrigo wrote a major classic, "Linda Prima," but Guzman's talent also shines -- most likely responsible for the chamber pop character that permeates the record; specifically, the sweetly playful "Viejo París," the Beatles-sounding "Juan" or the Badfinger reminiscences of "Tiempo Perdido." You'll be amazed at the romanticism these timeless grooves exude. Reissued on vinyl for the first time, and pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies only. Includes an insert with liner notes in Spanish and English.

Artist:	LA BANDA TRAPERA DEL RIO
Title:	La Banda Trapera Del Río
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 017LP

Vinilísssimo presents the 1978 debut album by seminal Spanish rockers La Banda Trapera Del Río. "Cornellá -- a satellite town on the outskirts of Barcelona, a depot for immigrants abandoned to its own rotten luck. Spain -- a country that had been in the dark for 40 years, then pushed to make a quick move if it wanted to join the capitalist orbit. La Banda Trapera Del Río arrived by pure surprise within such a confused context, with devastating certainty and precise aim. Their uniqueness was their ability to naturally present a social critique of the two realities they belonged to, without any other mirror than their own reflection. 'Nobody is nothing,' they said, 'we are everything.' Their conscience was exposed to working class militance and they were musically anointed in the hard rock that was blasted in bars and discos at the time, but La Trapera possessed their own will. Arrogant, provocative, disobedient, they provided a mythical and poetic credibility to the plain character of the outskirts' juvenile delinquent. Through their music, La Trapera forged a new archetype: the curriqui, i.e. the little thief that lives precariously, an expert in other people's car radio cassette. With hash, a Xibeca beer and proletarian cheekiness, unafraid to speak their mind, with nothing to lose, they didn't give the curriqui a revolutionary voice, but they gave him something to think about. La Trapera only wanted to have as much fun as possible. If they wanted to change anything, it was the collective perception of a rock scene that, in their eyes, had become complacent. In order to do that, they had their singer Morfi Grei's shocking stage immolation, Raf Pulido's naturalist lyrics and the inspired guitar of Tío Modes, without forgetting about the enthusiasm of their manager, Chiri, and the contacts of Carlos Carrero. The latter was one of the few receptive and independent journalists in the local press, and acted as a Svengali who, among other things, got them a contract with Belter, the Mecca of Spanish popular music, the only record label that gave them a chance, without knowing the risks they were taking. Produced by Carrero, and the origin of a stir in stuffy circles, their first single, a daring call for menstrual normalization, appeared in the same period that produced the debuts of Madrid's Burning and Ramoncín & WC, originators of the cheli sound. Although they came out the losers out of those three bands in the commercial sense, La Trapera were winners in the legend stakes. Their first LP was released a year after it was recorded. Just 500 copies reached the record shops. When the band split up, leaving an unissued second album, that first LP remained an isolated statement which captured all the mystery they left behind. Successive generations got to know the band through the oral transmissions of the traces left by their seminal gigs. Many would see the light thanks to the countless bootleg tapes of their LP that spread around the street markets of Madrid and all over Spain. Apart from their live energy, the essence of La Trapera is preserved intact. A frantic collusion of blues rock, hard rock, prog and proto-punk, their eclecticism is still surprising, charting the path of a precocious evolution that would take shape in their best and most remembered songs. Although they reformed years later, never again would La Trapera be as immediate and universal, nor would they enjoy a more fertile balance between chemistry and skills." --Jaime Gonzalo; 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. Includes an insert with liner notes in Spanish and English.

Artist:	VAINICA DOBLE
Title:	Heliotropo
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 019LP

"Heliotropo (Ariola, 1973), the second LP by Vainica Doble, strikes me as the discovery of the world in little more than half an hour -- a treatise on the human condition, from childhood until death, based on the small things. Themes on this album include disappointment and the necessary courage to face mistakes, the road that lies between perception and memory and that vital path that appears once we have cleared out the fallen leaves that were hiding it. It's the 'recalled' memories that will make up our life, as life is just firm present and feeble past. Carmen Santonja and Gloria van Aerssen speak to us, sometimes as the worried mother, other times as the warm lover that whispers secrets in our ear and, finally, as the slightly older friend, wiser and more experienced, who tries to show us life's twists and turns. They possessed an intellectual and vital knowledge light years away from their contemporaries, an unusual curiosity and talent, and their musical references were as wide as scarce were their prejudices. Often considered two kind and sensitive angels, they were indeed that and much more too: malevolent, sweet, sarcastic, intelligent. From each of their tracks flowed a power and talent that showed us a thousand ideas. Social commentary, folk and fuzz hand-in-hand, treatises of luminous psychedelia born out of a children's tale, the scent of the southern seas, and more. They carried Spanish copla and traditional songs in their hearts and the old (even then) musical movies of the '40s in their memories -- all of it strung together by a decadent melancholy that provokes an almost unhealthy attraction. What in others were anomalies poured from Vainica Doble as something natural, fluent, truthful. Nothing in them seemed forced: rock, copla, folk, French chanson, nursery rhymes, etc. And standing behind it all is the great Pepe Nieto: arranger, producer, and artisan who was able to reproduce and support their natural, iconoclastic personalities. Their songs were and still are buoys of memory. Familiar places in which to find shelter. Every time we visit them something wonderful happens." --Ximo Bonet. Vainica Doble were one of the most unique artists in Spanish music. On Heliotropo, they brought together rock, folk, Spanish copla, French chanson and lullabies to create music completely their own. Deluxe gatefold 180 gram reissue with original artwork and liner notes.

Artist:	PIC NIC
Title:	Pic Nic
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 020LP

A recording of disarming delicacy, the only album by Pic Nic was released by the Hispavox label in the hazy year of 1968 after the short, one-year life of the five-piece, and it featured an innocent and touching cover which immediately invited people to find out what was behind it. The formation of the group began in 1966 Barcelona after the split of Brenner's Folk, a short-lived band created by the Venezuelan musician Vytas Brenner. They included most of the original members of what later would become Pic Nic, mainly guitarist Toti Soler, then 17, Jordi Sabatés and, of course, Jeanette. The rest of Pic Nic's line-up was completed by Isidoro "Doro" de Montaberry and Mexican Mario Alfonso "Al" Cárdenas. Jeanette (real name Janette Anne Dimech, born in London in 1951) was a child of the diaspora; her mother was from the Canary Islands and her father from the former Belgian Congo. From her native England the family had moved to the United States, where she would remain until she arrived in Barcelona as a 14-year-old, her tender voice carrying the echoes of Californian folk-rock. Rafael Turia, a radio man and neat interpreter of Donovan songs in Spanish for Discos Belter, introduced them to the Hispavox label. Their official story starts after their meeting with the Madrid record company. Producer Rafael Trabucchelli got involved and that was it. He changed their original name to Pic Nic and chose Jeanette as their vocalist. They recorded their first single, Cállate Niña/Negra Estrella (1967), which sat at number one on the charts for 10 weeks. After their equally-successful second single Amanecer/No Digas Nada (1968), they got working on what would be their only LP. The album possesses a rare pre-adolescent lyricism, and Trabucchelli's arrangements and production transforms their folk ballads into something never heard before, or since, in Spain. Besides the Vytas Brenner song "Te Esperaré," the covers of Peter, Paul And Mary's "Tiny Sparrow," Janis Ian's "Society's Child" and the only track sung in English, bluesman Jesse Fuller's "San Francisco Bay Blues," are remarkable and their renditions rival the originals. However, there's no better track than "Cállate Niña" to define the spirit of the album: a lullaby sung by two small girls after the death of the mother of one of them, it overflows with melody despite its simplicity, and its use of triangle, harmonica and a male backing vocal provide an absolutely ghostly quality. Jeanette would start a successful solo career two years later, covering songs written by Manuel Alejandro, José Luis Perales and André Popp. After that, Pic Nic never recorded another record. Includes an insert with liner notes in Spanish and English. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only.

Artist:	PATA NEGRA
Title:	Guitarras Callejeras
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 023LP

Raimundo and Rafael Amador are Pata Negra (an expression meaning "top class"), belonging to a family of great gypsy flamenco guitarists. Their father, Luis, and uncles Diego and Ramón accompanied several generations of artists of the highest category: Antonio Mairena, Fernanda de Utrera, Farruco, Matilde Coral, La Paquera, Chocolate, etc. Their reference point was the essential flamenco styles: seguriya, soleá, cantiñas, bulerías and tangos. Raimundo and Rafael had absorbed that culture since they were children and nobody would suspect what they would learn in the streets of 1960s Seville, full of hippies, rockers and an acid explosion that came from the military bases of Rota and Morón. When they were not even teenagers, Raimundo and Rafael would sing and play in the city center bars, accompanied by their cousins and other friends from their Tres Mil Viviendas ("3000 Dwellings") neighborhood. In the streets they got to know other kinds of music: blues, rock, swing and even the jazz manouche of their "uncle" Django Reinhart. They were like an insatiable sponge that would absorb records by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and the vital Californian revolution that entered Spain via the south of the south: Seville and Cadiz. They were the first to introduce the plectrum technique to flamenco guitar, the first ones to stretch the strings in order to obtain quarter and octave tones. The first gypsy rockers. The first bluesmen of the Tres Mil Viviendas, of Seville, of Spain. That's why Guitarras Callejeras, recorded in 1979, has the value of a foundation stone, the invention of a musical language unknown until then. This edition includes the original mini-LP and another two tracks from the same 1979 sessions, only available on CD until now. Liner notes by Ricardo Pachón.

Artist:	BURNING
Title:	El Fin De La Década
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 024LP

Legendary Spanish rock band Burning arrived at the recording sessions for their second LP full of self-confidence. After the relative critical, but not sales-wise, success of their first album, Madrid, they'd been chosen to write the main theme song for a movie in which they ended up appearing. "¿Qué Hace Una Chica Como Tú En Un Sitio Como Este?" (trans. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"), they asked, without realizing they had written one of the fundamental songs in the history of Spanish rock. The single sold well and the band got some coverage in the rock press of the time. Atypical, hard to classify and right at the point of balance between dangerous and likeable, the members of Burning showed that they had what it took to be rock stars, and they only needed a further step in the studio to prove it. Leaving behind their city and the social circle they had created, they travelled to Barcelona for the recording with a handful of great songs in their hands. Enrique Tudela, an impeccable guitarist and main producer at the Belter label, had the difficult task of taming these beasts, who were now trying to learn how to cope with their new toxic addictions. The sessions were chaotic and took place mainly at night to avoid escapades to the local bars, but they were very productive. The result was an album that features dirty, provocative classic rock, as visually embodied by the risqué cover art featuring their main tools: pocketknives and needles, records and pills, porn magazines and a typewriter, all laid out on a table. This LP was possibly their most successful, but eventually their founding member left the band as heroin use and arguments increased. Nothing would be the same after El Fin De La Década, but these nine tracks permanently ensured the band a hallowed spot within Spanish music history. On 180 gram vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve with liner notes.

Artist:	PATA NEGRA
Title:	Blues De La Frontera
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 025LP

One could listen to this groundbreaking record today, almost 25 years after it invented those new languages, in a different manner. As Camarón himself put it, recognizing the talent of his apostles: "Pata Negra do what we all aspire to do, flamenco-rock." Like cavemen in spaceships driven into the studio, late, by the success of Guitarras Callejeras, this record would be the last one recorded by the Amador brothers together. By then Raimundo and Rafael were taking part in the recording sessions separately, and a little later, during the filming of the movie Bajando Al Moro, they finally split for good. Ten years after the seminal Veneno album (the former project of the Amador brothers and Kiko Veneno), and with the road paved by Nuevos Medios' Mario Pacheco they reached an agreement with producer Ricardo Pachón to release this album, but it wasn't easy: there were no songs and the two brothers didn't speak to each other; ideas weren't coming along and the LP ended up being recorded in three different stages, more by chance than anything else. For example, at the last moment, they recorded something as filler, some scattered ideas joined up in a tanguillo style and with a chorus that is pure Eric Clapton; a mess in which roles change, as the drummer plays the bass, the guitarist programs a drum machine and Rafalillo handles the lead guitar. In the end, "Camarón" exceeded all expectations and became the strongest track on the LP. But the first thing they decided to record was the jazzy tour de force represented by the covers of "How High The Moon" and "Pasa La Vida," indolent sevillanas by Romero Sanjuán, as well as the bulerías based on Lorca's "Bodas De Sangre" with Riqueni on guitar and the mestizo track par excellence which would title the LP, bulerías played with a guitar pick that recreates the falsetas (flamenco guitar parts) of philosopher/guitarist Diego el del Gastor, who lived in Morón de la Frontera (hence the title). The second push came when, in the summer of 1987, they put together an efficient band: Antoñito Smash on drums, Jesús Arispont (later of Def Con Dos) on bass and Juanjo Pizarro on guitar. They also embellished four poems by Carlos Lencero, a frequent lyricist in Ricardo Pachón's productions. In the end, more than 14 people collaborated on this, their fourth record, released in 1987. Liner notes in English and Spanish by expert Luis Clemente.

Artist:	VAINICA DOBLE
Title:	Taquicardia
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$27.50
Catalog #:	MRSSS 026LP

180 gram vinyl reissue of one of Vainica Doble's strongest and most experimental albums. Folk, jazz, pop and traditional Spanish music create a beautifully haunting and captivating LP.
"In 1984, the Spanish Movida movement was in full bloom and the people taking part in it professed the same devotion to Vainica Doble that British punk displayed towards teen idols such as Marc Bolan. But it would be hard to find a record from those years more impervious to the Movida than Taquicardia, the authors of which seemingly didn't know about such admiration or didn't care about it. Eternal dilettantes, it wasn't strange that the career of Gloria van Aerssen (born in 1932 in Dos Hermanas, Seville) and Carmen Santonja (San Sebastian, 1934) moved forward, most of the time, due to the encouragement of a fan. But this 'jump without safety net,' as Mario Pacheco described it, only could have happened on a label as pathologically respectful towards its artists as Pacheco's Nuevos Medios imprint, and at a vital point such as the one the duo were going through during the middle of the decade. It was his enthusiasm which took them out of their silence to record their sixth album and the end of a cycle, as their later recordings would finally be an epilogue of what culminated here magnificently. Elegant, classic, austere and, nevertheless, sounding at times like genuine avant-garde, Taquicardia is the reflection of a critical stage in the life of its authors. Disillusioned by the poor repercussion of their two previous albums for Guimbarda, the outstanding El Eslabón Perdido (1980) and El Tigre De Guadarrama (1981), Gloria and Carmen had found themselves at the peak of mature age and empty-handed. The duo delivers here their most personal, introspective and bitter work, which surprisingly becomes, as if by magic, a superb collection of calls to chaos, libertarian fables and exultant love songs. Passion becomes idolatry, gallant coplas (Spanish popular songs) are touched by grace, pieces of marital bitterness, all of which culminates in an anthem of incredible beauty such as 'Sígueme,' clean, stripped, overwhelming. Gloria declared being so ashamed of the track's almost pastoral tone that she refused being credited for it. Of course, it's her voice which will make the song remain forever. Stripped of the glitz they had displayed in the preceding years, it's harder to find here the source of popular and academic music which could usually be heard in their music. But that clarity allows us, more than ever, to enjoy the boldness of many of their song structures and, of course, their vocal harmonies. These two pieces of vinyl contain their most refined work." --César Sánchez aka Fulgencio Pimentel; Liner notes in English and Spanish by César Sánchez.

Artist:	LA BARRA DE CHOCOLATE
Title:	La Barra De Chocolate
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 508LP

La Barra De Chocolate was a short-lived project led by Pajarito Zaguri, a former member of Los Beatniks, Los Náufragos, and a key figure in the birth and development of Argentine rock. In 1968, he gathered some musician friends that used to visit the legendary Buenos Aires venue La Cueva. They soon caught the attention of the Music Hall record label and in 1969 released their first single, Hippies Y Todo El Circo/¿Cuál Es La Forma?. They also won the Festival Beat talent contest and their second single, Alza La Voz, sold over 40,000 copies. However, after the recording of their first album and the release of a few more singles, the band split the following year, unable to cope with their newfound success and perhaps due to the other music projects all the members had. This brief period was enough to produce a fantastic LP containing garage, beat, psychedelia and the influence of Bob Dylan which represents a brilliant portrait of late 1960s Buenos Aires. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl with the original artwork.

Artist:	TRAFFIC SOUND
Title:	Virgin
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 509LP

Formed in 1968 by members of bands from Lima, Peru, such Los Hang Ten's and Los Mad's and other musicians, Traffic Sound started as a covers band playing songs by The Doors, Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Their influences came from England and the U.S., and apart from some bossa nova played at rehearsals, Latin music didn't feature in their repertoire. However, their origin and background could still be heard in their sound, something which they embraced even more after Santana's success. Their first LP with self-written songs, Virgin (1969), is a masterpiece of Latin rock. In it, the band from Lima combined psychedelia, hard rock, a hint of progressive rock and a Latin tinge to create a personal, mighty sound full of details. The best example is "Meshkalina," a track with references to Incan culture which became an anthem of the period and was heard all over Peru. The LP was a great success and even saw a U.S. release. Traffic Sound would record another two albums (Traffic Sound and Lux) which took them to greater success and tours in Brazil and Argentina, before finally disbanding in 1972. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl with the original artwork; housed in a gatefold sleeve.

Artist:	BARRETT, SYD
Title:	The Madcap Laughs
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 504LP

Not much introduction needed for this magic album. Vinilísssimo proudly presents one of the most important cult albums of the 20th century. "I wanted it to be a whole thing that people would listen to all the way through with everything related and balanced, the tempos and moods off-setting each other, and I hope that's what it sounds like," Syd Barrett, 1971.
"Listening to the long-player four decades on, there's no doubt that, for all of its fractured fragility, it does indeed possess a unified quality. In fact, The Madcap Laughs is an immersive experience, dragging the listener into a world of tangled emotions and battered sound. Hope and fear, joy and dread, loathing and longing, whimsy and reality -- all of these contrasting sentiments and emotions manifest themselves, animating an album that continues to be felt." --Phil Alexander / MOJO. On 180 gram vinyl; housed in a gatefold sleeve.

Artist:	TOMORROW
Title:	Tomorrow
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 505LP

Early British psychedelia band Tomorrow, alongside Soft Machine and Pink Floyd, were the most relevant of the London-based underground sound circa 1967. They were formed by Keith West ("Excerpt From A Teenage Opera" aka "Grocer Jack," which inspired The Who's Tommy), John "Twink" Alder on drums (who replaced Viv Prince in The Pretty Things and later formed The Pink Fairies) and Steve Howe, prodigal guitarist from the Syndicats on its way to form highly successful progs Yes. The group only managed to record one album before breaking up in 1968. That sole album is a solid effort, with quite a few first-rate tracks featuring backward guitar phasing ("My White Bicycle"), electric Sitar riffin'("Real Life Permanent Dream") and infections pre-hippie anthems ("Revolution"). It's a record full of gentle harmonies and hooky melodies with affectingly trippy lyrics. A great psych pop album from one of the most fascinating eras in music history. Officially available for the first time with its original artwork and tracklist sequence. On 180 gram vinyl.

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Artist:	CRAMPS, THE
Title:	Songs The Lord Taught Us
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 501LP

Artist:	BUZZCOCKS
Title:	Another Music In A Different Kitchen
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 506LP

Artist:	RAMONES, THE
Title:	Brain Drain
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 507LP