Adarce Vinyl, CD & Tape 5 Items

Adarce proudly presents the reissue of ‘Clásicos con Ritmo’ by Paco Ros. Originally released in 1978 on Discos Maller, still sounds as special and out of time as when it was released; a strange album that has become one of the most sought after jewels - and most hard to find - for lovers of Spanish Groove. 'Clásicos con Ritmo' offers a mix of sounds that range from a kind of analog pre-Balearic to something similar to Library Music, passing through a slow cadence groove based on sinuous layers of Hammond organ, Fender pianos, vibraphones and xylophones. During the 11 songs on the album, Paco Ros revisits his life trajectory through memories: his Valencian childhood in Godella, his professional beginnings in Madrid and his musical adventures as a backing band, his return to Valencia -where he would form 'Los 4 Ros, then simply the Ros - to finally take refuge in his Mallorcan retreat, cradled between Party Rooms, Hotel Discotheques and endless sunrises, moved as always by his infinite love for music.

We are true to the principles of the first "¡Naino!". Flamenco rumba fusion which in the hands of intrepid producers becomes Catalan Rumba under the influence of sounds coming from Cuba and Puerto Rico in the early 1960s, Rumba Pop under the umbrella of the British Invasion and American pop of the late 1960s, and Disco Rumba with the arrival funk and disco from the USA in the mid-1970s. Everything happens thanks to a flourishing record industry located mainly in Barcelona with labels such as Belter, Discophon or Vergara. After the death of the fascist, sanguinary dictator Paquito Franco in November 1975, the international record industry establishes in Madrid through major labels CBS, RCA, and a new fusion led by producer Jose Luis de Carlos and labeled as Gipsy Rock, Caño Roto or, in the Flamenco field, especially in couplets, Flamenco Pop. As Oriol Farràs pointed in the previous volume, rumba moved from tablaos to discotheques, understanding the concept of discotheque at that time with a slightly different meaning and less conditioned style-wise. The selection on offer here complements volume one. Starting with an A side packed with floor fillers, with Peret's "Chavi" as the top example of gypsy funk fusion under production of Josep María Bardagí and Josep "Rabbit Rumba" Cunill, and four examples of the answer to that sound as produced by Jose Luis de Carlos, showing the four cardinal points of this fusion success: Las Grecas, Los Chorbos, El Luis and Chango. De Carlos transforms the sound of Madrid's flamenco artists spicing it with soul, rock, glam, dub, funk, disco and gospel. These five opening tunes alone could feed a whole scholar course on the possibilities of rumba fusion and its incredible dance potential. Back to the record. There are not only examples of Afro-American flavored fusions. Progressive rock and Anglo-American psychedelia of the seventies are also influences represented here. They started a path that would later be known as "rock progresivo andalúz" (Andalusian progressive rock) with a crowded band scene and a hardcore hash impregnated following. But before reaching that point, here are some early efforts on side B. Synth-fueled rumba with Canterbury sound inspired electric guitars. A sound that, as it happened with rumba funk and flamenco pop, also had its moment of glory with the arrival of bands and solo artists such as Triana, Gualberto, Smash, Storm or Medina Azahara, or even the more blues-rock oriented Pata Negra.

Flamenco Pop. Just like any other label, it is born out of the need to define in two words a series of songs that share a same stimulus. The term was coined in the late sixties on the eponymous record released by Alfonso Santisteban (Madrid, 1943 - Málaga, 2013) & Rafael Ferro "Flamenco Pop" (Sintonía, 1969 / Música para un Guateque Sideral, 2018), an easy listening wonder with a bossa nova edge that takes flamenco elements and melodies to recreate sophisticated instrumental atmospheres. Santisteban had previously produced recordings for Bambino, Lola Flores, La Polaca or Chacho, and was a renowned soundtracks composer. His pop flamenco shows were more an environmental sound that a pop one, but the label "pop" used as a diminutive for "popular" sets a pace for imagination. Santisteban, Adolfo Waitzman (Argentina, 1930 - Madrid, 1998) and Augusto Algueró (Barcelona, 1934 - Torremolinos, 2011) were the triumvirate of arrangers / conductors / producers who defined the genre and took it to the charts of the era. Waitzman, who married stylish singer Encarnita Polo in 1969, took her wife to the top of the charts with the single "Paco, Paco" (rca, 1969) first, and with the LP "Encarnita Polo y Olé" (rca, 1971) two years later–an LP on which he mixed his love for The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with popular couplets (or "coplas" as we call them in Spain defining a whole genre) written by Quintero-León-Quiroga, Sevilla's very own answer to Holland-Dozier-Holland at that time. He had previously produced some beat and prog-rock outfits like Canarios, Pop-Tops or the legendary UK ex-pat band The End. Last but not least, Algueró, who married the explosive Carmen Sevilla in 1961, who had already attempted to mold his wife's flamenco talent on the "Flamenca Ye-Yé" 45 (Philips, 1965), was also a key character in the era thanks to his many soundtracks, among them the iconic "Tuset Street" (Philips, 1968).

The selection of this compilation has a bit of everything. A pack of exuberant "copla" singers presented as a folkloric mod squad: Carmen Sevilla, Encarnita Polo, Rosa Morena, Dolores Abril, Carmen Flores (Lola Flores' sister), Dolores Vargas "La Terremoto" and La Polaca. To name this line-up back in the seventies in front of a Spanish "macho" was an instant activation of his lust.

Pointing out this idea today is possibly a crime of female objectification. On prosecution we'll have Manolo Escobar, Juanito Valderrama, El Principe Gitano, El Noy, Moncho, Richart and Los Nevada. If someone had told me these names a few years ago I would have bet they all came from a typical sixties Spanish film by Mariano Ozores, but do this: drop the needle, close your eyes, hear their stories – no matter if you know the artist or not – and try to fit it in its time (the 1970s, Franco's Spain, grey colors, austerity), but above all do listen to the music. We should refund your money if at any point you think "wtf?". And if your imagination can't go that far, just look for the clips on the films mentioned below.

The third installment of our "Instrumental Gems" compilations is finally out, focused on discovering treasures of instrumental music recorded in Spain during the 60s and 70s. Those were years when a significant number of orchestras and dance ensembles proliferated in Spain, most of which barely managed to press their songs on vinyl, but if we look deeper into the catalog of small labels of the time or self-released singles, we find pieces of undoubted quality. Many did not have a commercial course since the orchestras used them basically on a promotional level to get concerts or generate copyright, and it is for this reason that they are so hard to find for collectors of the genre. Most authors opted for pasodoble, swing, groove and Spanish soul, being bossa nova a genre less used in their compositions. The purpose of this compilation is to highlight a hidden treasure among those wonderful EPs, instrumental jewels that drink from the simplicity of bossa, to flirt with hotter rhythms close to Latin jazz, an explosive mix hidden in the 14 cuts of the LP.

A Dream Team of folclóricas covering the wide spectrum of African-American influenced 1970s dance music spiced with flamenco. The hits of Isaac Hayes, Billy Preston or The Temptations in the charts showed the way to go. An almanac for 20th Century Rosalías headed by Lola Flores, Isabel Pantoja, Rocío Jurado and a bunch of female singers, copleras, cantaoras and rumberas. A black and white lysergic dream amidst post-Franco’s Spain. Stick your ears to the speakers. Here comes an emotional rollercoaster!