Arabian Prince - Innovative Life - The Anthology - 1984-1989 (Stones Throw - 2008)

12 electro funk bombs produced by the west coast pioneer Arabian Prince under his own moniker or for others (N.W.A, Professor X, J.B. Beat). The liner notes teach everything you need to know about the birth of hip hop in California. At first essentially a DJ thing, clearly oriented to dance and party, west coast rap only really existed on the hip hop map when NWA mixed electro beat with gangsta and ghetto tales and made millions of dollars out of it. Gangsta rap was born, rap music became a business like the other ones and its pioneers like Arabian Prince moved to something else (movie special effects for the latter). The instrumental bonus tracks on the CD, Simple Planet and Beatdabeat, are really surprising and are a must-have: Arabian Prince electro beats draw a direct line between Compton and Detroit and could have been released on UR.























Download => Arabian Prince - Innovative Life - The Anthology - 1984-1989

Vinicius de Moraes/Roberto Paiva/Antonio Carlos Jobim - Orfeu Da Conceiçao (Odeon - 1956)

Orfeu Da Conceiçao is a Brazilian play inspired by the Orpheus legend and written by Vinicius De Moraes. Vinicius made a musical out of it in 1956 with the help of Jobim, Roberto Palva (singer) and Luiz Bonfa (guitar). Orfeu Da Conceiçao is a really ambitious work that goes beyond the realm of bossa nova to touch classical music and jazz. The first track, Ouverture, starts like classical music and then switches into a bossa nova. Eu O Meu Amor mixes big band jazz with samba. Minologo De Orfeu is a poem recited by Moraes himself. You can hear as well for the first time the classic Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Voce. Jobim and Bonfa worked a second time on the Orpheus myth when they wrote the soundtrack of the Orfeu Negro movie, based on the same Moraes play. It's just the kind of record that has seminal and masterpiece written all over it.

Download=> Vinicius de Moraes/Roberto Paiva/Antonio Carlos Jobim - Orfeu Da Conceiçao

Quantic presents Tropical Funk Experience (Nascente - 2010)

Tru Thoughts producer Quantic makes the perfect addition to the Palenque Palenque compilation I posted a while ago. While Palenque Palenque was restricted to the Columbian scene, Tropical Funk Experience explores both Columbian and Panamean scenes and and doesn't limit itself to the champeta style but features 70's cumbia or salsa artists. The same suspects are of course here on both compilations (Wganda Kenya, Aberlardo Carbono Y Su Conjunto, Pedro Beltran) but fortunately the songs are not the same. Being a producer and DJ work, Tropical Funk Experience is a bit more mainstream than Palenque Palenque and is consequently able to please the less adventurous ears.











Download => Quantic presents Tropical Funk Experience