Imagen Musical de Chile - Various Artists

A couple of weeks ago I spent a rainy afternoon wandering around the charity shops of a small town called Horley.  There isn't much there, a sports centre, a few pubs, a couple of supermarkets, but it is the closest town to Gatwick Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, a jumping off point to pretty much anywhere.  I had a fairly uninspiring afternoon until I hit the last charity shop (the one closest to the train out of there), and happened upon a pile of albums from Chile, the first of which I am posting today.   Transport of an entirely different kind.

This triple album was released in 1964 and is something like a musical postcard for "...tourists, travellers or foreigners who stopped in Cerrillos or were once in Valparaiso, [for] dreamers of all latitudes who came to this end of the world  to fish, to ski or....casually came to Chile for a day and remained here the rest of their lives".  The record documents the wealth of Chilean folkloric musics that spread in popularity through Chile and other South American nations through the '30s, '40s, '50s and '60s. This music prepared the way for the South American Nueva Cancion - the protest music of Latin America's turbulent 1970s.




Record 1:
01 Chile Lindo - Los Huesos Quincheros
02 Despierta, Quierida Duera - Conjunto Cuncumen
03 Alba - Conjunto Millaray
04 El Cachimbo - Coro Chile Canta
05 Cuando Doblan Las Campanas - Elena Montoya
06 El Pampino - Los Condores
07 El Tortillero - Los Huesos Quincheros
08 Serena en Navidad - Elena Montoya
09 Buenas Noches San Jose - Conjunto Cuncumen
10 Casamiento de Negros - Violeta Parra
11 Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros - Los Huesos Quincheros
12 Cantarito de Greda - Los Baqueanos
13 Echandole E Lpelo - Silvia Infantas y Los Condores
14 Cueca del Payoso - Banda de Circo



Record 2:
01 Pregones Tradicionales - Jose Olegario Ramos
02 La Coquetona - Hipolito Jofre
03 La Nina Sin Creito - Manuel Lizana
04 Adios, Adios, Mundo Indino - Conjunto Millaray
05 Patitos en la Laguna - Silvia Infantas y los Baqueanos
06 Rio Rio - Los Huesos Quincheros
07 Sau Sau - Cuarteto Llaima
08 Mi Banderita Chilena - Silvia Infantas y los Baqueanos
09 El Aire - Ricardo Acevedo
10 El Negrito - Coro Chile Canta
11 Corazones Partidos - Los Dos Alicias
12 Camino Agreste - Los Huesos Quincheros
13 Taba La Pequena Un Dia - Conjunto Cuncumen
14 El Jote - Conjunto Cuncumen



Record 3:
01 Camino de Luna - Cuarteto Llaima
02 Te Juiste Pa Ronde - Los Huesos Quincheros
03 El Hachero - Conjunto Millaray
04 Mi Cutral - Coro Chile Canta
05 A Motu Yanei - Ricardo Acevedo
06 La Batalera - Silvia Infantas y los Baqueanos
07 El Pavo - Conjunto Millaray
08 Si Vas Para Chile - Silvia Infantas y Los Condores
09 Donde Habra Como Mi Cueca - Los Huesos Quincheros
10 El Guaton Loyola - Hermanos Lagos
11 La Viudita - Hermanas Parra
12 La Enaguita - Silvia Infantas y Los Condores
13 Atame Con Un Hilito - Conjunto Cuncumen
14 Tonadas de Manuel Rodriguez - Silvia Infantas y los Baqueanos

Los Guaraguao - Es Mi Viejo (1974)

When I was at university a couple of years ago there was a big debate between different members of the teaching staff over elements of Marxist theory. Which is the more pertinent element of the theory, exploitation or alienation? Some liked the work of Guy Debord and Walter Benjamin and the idea that capitalism creates a world of illusion, an enchanting wonderland of fashions and glittering trinkets which help separate us from our fellow human, whilst others thought this irrelevant in the face of the real exploitation of the world's poor for the benefit of the world's rich.

Of course the world is never so simple as such false dichotomies would suggest. The spectacle is necessary so that the exploitation can be perpetuated, and the spectacle must be brighter and more encompassing as the exploitation intensifies.

What does all this have to do with this week's charity shop musical 'bargain' you may ask. Well not much would be my answer, other than that this group of Venezualan musicians were part of the Nueva Cancion (new song) movement that swept Central and South America in the 1970s and '80s. Music was used as a form of immediate mass communication to express ideas that were in opposition to the views of the repressive, right wing regimes that were being installed and supported by the US government across the continent. This music expressed the feelings of the people, of the workers, and was considered dangerous enough to warrent repression in many South American countries, and many songwriters and musicians were harrassed, beaten and forced into exile.

Check out these great recordings from the 1983 Nicaraguan peace concerts for a good overview of the Nueva Cancion movement.

Tracklist:

01 Es Mi Viejo
02 Canto a mi Pueblo
03 Mi Canto
04 Cancion Por Il Fusil Y La Flor
05 Ay Que Si, Ay Que No
06 Algo Diario
07 Cristo al Servicio de Quien
08 Juventud Adelante
09 El Campesino
10 Eres Asi

Get it HERE.

April in Managua - The Central American Peace Concert 1983

I'm a bit upset that I won't be able to show my face at the G20 actions in London over the coming week, but I'm sending all my best wishes to all those who do attend. I do think its important to remember though, that this 21st century activisim is not a new phenomena. The struggle for an egalitarian society has been ongoing since...well, since hierarchies first emerged. These protests are a part of that history, and so is the music on today's post.

The album I'm posting today was picked up in my local YMCA charity shop a couple of months ago. I had no idea what it was at the time but it looked interesting so I paid my money and took my chance. It turns out that this is a fantastic recording of a historic concert that took place in the capital of Nicaragua in 1983. The concert was organised by the revolutionary Sandinista government at the time when the country was coming under more intense attacks from the US backed right wing Contra guerrillas. The concert, which featured a some of the biggest names in the Latin American 'nueva cancion' movement (Chico Barque, Mercedes Sosa, Silvio Rodriguez, Amparo Ochoa), was therefore a show of solidarity with the emancipatory desires of the Nicaraguan people, the heart and soul of a people in the midst of an intense struggle for change.

Documentary footage of the concert, complete with some great interviews with members of the crowd, can be viewed over here, in the meantime you can check this breathtaking performance by Argentinian singer, Mercedes Sosa:



I've posted the album as 4 separate mp3s rather than break it into individual tracks. I feel the concert is worth listening to as a whole.

You can download it HERE.

And here's the tracklist:

SIDE 1:
Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy - Yo Soy De Un Puebla Sencillo
Gabino Polmares & Amparo Ochoa - La Maldición De Mailinche
Luis Rico - El Salvador
Amparo Ochoa - Para Amar En Tiempo De Guerra
Amparo Ochoa - Quién Tiene La Voz

SIDE 2:
Ali Primera - El Sombrero Azul
Chico Buarque - O Que Será
Chico Buarque & Raymundo Fagner - Nao Existe Pecado...
Silverio Pérez & Quintento Puertoriqueno - Canción De Pueblo
Silvio Pérez & Quintento Puertoriqueno - Qué Bonita Bandera

SIDE 3:
Daniel Viglietti - Declaratión De Amor A Nicaragua
Daniel Viglietti - Canción Para Mi América
Adrián Goizueta & Grupo Experimental - Eugenia
Silvio Rodríguez - El Dulce Abismo
Silvio Rodríguez & Manguare - Canción Urgente Para Nicaragua

SIDE 4:
Carlos Mejía Godoy & Los De Palacagüina - Nicaragua Nicaraguita
Carlos Mejía Godoy & Los De Palacagüina - Chilotito Tierno
Carlos Mejía Godoy & Los De Palacagüina - No Passarán
Mercedes Sosa - Solo Le Pido A Dios
Mercedes Sosa - Cuanda Tenga La Tierra