Altercat Vinilo y CD

Review: We're always happy to have another reissue of Nana Vasconcelos works. this one from Altercat, 'Nana Nelson Angelo Novelli' is a cult album of Brazilian music from 1975, originally on the Saravah. It is a record which epitomizes of the sound of Clube da Esquina, which is the title given to an e explosion of sound fusions that occurred in Minais Gerais at around that time. It takes in rock 'n' roll, psychedelia, traditional bossa nova and percussive sounds and is well demonstrated here. Various moods, from the psychedelic 'No Sul do Polo Norte' to the funky 'Tiro Crusado' to the haunting 'Aranda' all make this a classic.

Review: Horacio Chivo Borraro is an Argentine saxophonist who toured with many bands and artists in the 1960s and 70s. His album Blues Para Un Cosmonauta is a curt four-tracker of naive-not-naive free jazz and avant-garde spiritualisms, all of which, in theme, collapse the boundary between actual space exploration and that of the figurative astral plane. A comparatively rare jazz record, now reissued in greater numbers, its mystique is backed up by its musical dubiousness, with quizzically trilling synths on the title track, or the potent and full-bodied electric pianos on 'Cancion De Cuna Para Un Bebe Del Ano 2000', spreading both confusion and delight.