Elkar Vinyl, CD & Tape 6 Items

Pello Joxepe is in the bar, but this time he's moving his hips to the sound of Curtis Mayfield's Superfly funk-soul groove. These are the kind of psychedelic visions created by this esoteric "Akelarre Sorta", an unparalleled gem. The African-American saxophonist, pianist and composer William S. Fischer, who worked in the 1950s with stars of the stature of Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, Joe Zawinul and Roberta Flack, in 1972 made an album of catchy, funky versions of popular tunes. And that's it, as simple as it is mysterious and surprising. Little more has ever been known about this recording or about the reasons behind William's visit to the Basque Country. So here it is, ready to attract a new audience to join the cult following it has gradually built up over nearly 50 years.

Ainhoa, daughter of Manex and Amanda, will embark on her journey of initiation in the mid-80s. In our country, when we talk about the 80s, how quickly words, images and a certain atmosphere come to everyone's mind (even to those of us who were born almost twenty years later). And between words, images and atmosphere, something else, pieces of a puzzle that would later help us to take a picture of the era, among other things: sounds, melodies, songs. Music, after all. Every step Ainhoa takes will be followed by a melody. The music will be, also in this case, the common thread to stitch together the different parts of the story. Needless to say, knowing the director of the film, it was foreseeable that the music would be in the foreground or very close to it. A collection of songs that will also put us out of our village. Perhaps it is more difficult for us to connect with languages and forms of music that touch us further away and to represent only with them the streets of Afghanistan or Lebanon in the 80s, for example. Most people will listen to these songs from an etic perspective, until we come to think that the last three songs are the same and the alarm of that perspective goes off. Redskins tell us about power from the UK and The Pogues combine traditional Irish melodies with Turkish flair. We will travel through Lebanon with the sweet melodies of Soapkills and Taniah Saleh, friends of Muguruza during his months in Beirut. The fundamentalists silenced the voices of the Afghans Bakht Zamina and Khan Qarabaghi, ending their lives, but as long as a people sings, you know, death is far away. The first sounds of Qarabaghi's singing brought to my mind the melodies of the bard of Itzaltzu. How far away but how close at the same time. We will approach Palestinian folklore accompanied by the voice of Amal Murkus and we will smell the streets of the south of France with the Marseille band Massilia Sound System, the sound system that performed in Pamplona in 1992 alongside Negu Gorriak. And we w...

Music produced in the 70’s in the Basque Country got trapped between two earth shattering artistic currents; Ez Dok Amairu in the 60s and Basque Radical Rock in the 80’s, and unfortunately, most of the lovely discs and tunes created at that magical time have been pushed to a remote (and sometimes even despised) corner of our collective memory. 60’s and 80’s music currents are almost opposite, and both work as magnetic poles with a very strong power of attraction, and maybe also as a burden for any of the later artistic currents. 60’s generation of artists searched within their rich and ancient cultural roots to acknowledge and update them, in proud, hopeful and unforgettable folk songs. The 80’s one on the other hand, worked in a flammable environment in constant social and political conflict and found in punk the perfect way to express their anger and weariness for so many unfulfilled promises and the lack of opportunities into short, noisy, direct and corrosive songs, technically sparse but full of energy and expressive power. Most of the “classic” names engraved in our memory come from one or the other like Benito Lertxundi, Mikel Laboa, Lourdes Iriondo and Xabier Lete or Kortatu, Hertzainak, Zarama, Las vulpes, Eskorbuto or Cicatriz. 70’s generation and their music works somehow as the “missing link” (“katebegia” in Basque) between the two. They loved folky tunes and don’t forget their ancient roots, but they also look outside for inspiration and experimentation. Just as the 80’s boys and girls found punk the 70’s guys found a completely different sonic and aesthetic landscape in the works of Grateful Dead, Fairport Convention, King Crimson, Soft Machine, Gong,… and worked closely with keen souls in other neighboring regions such as Maquina!, Pau Riba or Sisa in Catalonia or Smash and Triana in Andalusia. This resulted in more abstract and poetic lyrical content, much longer psych-folk-prog-jazz tunes, full of complex instrumental passages and mesmerizing structures of sheer ambition and masterful execution in many cases. But, most important of all, they found a voice of their own, rich, unique, and fascinating, and that’s what makes them so valuable to us. Not only to us, but also to lots of vinyl collectors and crate-diggers around the world, who have in many cases paid fortunes for some of the original editions of LPs that are the source of tunes in this compilation. Mikel Unzurrunzaga Schmitz aka DJ Makala, Dj and producer of worldwide scope and wisdom, noticed this fact first and decided to pay homage to these wonderful tunes through this masterful and dedicated selection for your pleasure and as an open invitation to dig deeper into your adventures in the dark and hidden side of Basque popular music. The album Katebegiak, now published by Elkar, contains 13 tunes on double LP gatefold edition from Haizea, Izukaitz, William S. Fischer, Magdalena, Enbor, Itoiz, Koska, Itziar, Errobi, Lisker, Amaia Zubiria & Pascal Gaigne, Gontzal Mendibil & Taldea and Urria, and the CD-Book edition adds an extra bonus track by the great unknown artist Juan Arkotxa. Along with this compilation, and as a sample of the era, we reissued two more little gems of which we have included a track on the compilation.

Amaia Zubiria, the incredible female vocal part of Basque folk-prog legends Haizea, has an extensive discography worth checking. Here’s the first ever vinyl reissue of her 1985 folk album joined by guitarist Pascal Gaigne.

"Brigadistak Sound System" (Esan Ozenki Records 1999) is the title of Fermin Muguruza's first solo album. Now, on the 20th Anniversary of its publication, we present you a carefully edited double vinyl, format in which it was not originally edited.The album was recorded for more than 6 months in different studios around the world: Rome, Carracas, Los Angeles, Azkarate_And groups like Todos Tus Muertos, Manu Chao, Desorden Público and many others participated in these recordings.The album ended with a remix by Mad Professor and in this edition we have added another remix, work by Xabi Pery.180 gr vinyl, gatefold sleeve.

The multidisciplinary project led by Fermin Muguruza has created different artefacts; comics, films, music, exhibitions... continues to bring together creators around the Black is Beltza universe. Now it is Ainhoa, the protagonist of the second release, who presents us with this maxi of 4 tracks. Side A opens with El Gran Silencio, from Monterey (Mexico) with their cumbia-vallenato-norteño punk and the collaboration of Fermin himself and closes with Joseba Irazoki's apotheosis version of the mythical "Sarri, Sarri, Kriston martxa dabil". The rappers La Basu (Basque Country) + Wöyza (Galicia) + TESA (Valencia) in 3 voices and 3 languages claiming their power with the song "Rap is Beltza" open the B-side, and "Bizitza triste eta ederra", a song that appeared on the album "Ustelkeria" (1996) by Negu Gorriak with the voice and guitar of Iñigo Muguruza, now and after his death and with a strong hip hop rhythm, it becomes a meeting between the two brothers, Fermin and Iñigo, closing this great jewel released on vinyl at 33 RPM, and with spectacular art, the work of Mr. Zé from Valladolid.