Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: Opa's Back Home was first reocrded in 1975 but not released until 1996; it was the fourth and final album by the esteemed Uruguayan fusion band, whose preferred admixture was usually some melted pot of funk and samba, making for an impressive heuristic building on their intuitive recalling of their mutual upbringing in South America. Mysteriously (for reasons unknown to the band), Opa's debut was shelved and remained so until the mid-1990s. But the story goes that it was recorded after renowned label producer and owner Larry Rosen heard the band playing in a Brooklyn nightclub; with this in mind, Back Home makes for an ironic title, since the sonic turn expressed by the band is not one of homesickness, but rather that of an immersion in New York's metamorphous music scene ('Brooklynville' has an instant proto-hip-hop vibe, if not for its original urban field recording, then certainly for its bulbous broken funk twang). Now reissued on vinyl and CD via Far Out, you won't want to miss this round trip.

Review: Late last year, El Palmas Music dropped Color De Tropico, a terrific collection of vintage Venezuelan music that showcased far-sighted fusions of cumbia, salsa, and numerous American and European styles (jazz, rock, soul and so on). This speedy follow-up covers similar sonic ground and is every bit as essential as its predecessor. Highlights abound from start to finish, but our picks include the rocking, organ-laced psyche-cumbia of Los Kings' 'Empecemos (Let's Start)', the Venezuelan reggae-soul of 'Buena Suerta' by Las Cuatro Monedas, the percussion-and-synths brilliance of Mario Y Sus Diamentes' 'Santo Domingo' and the plucked guitars and infectious rhythms of Anselmo Y Su Conjunto's 'Seis Pajueliao'. The latter is a bona fide tropical treat!