REVERED label World Circuit has taken a dive into the halls of its back catalogue and has announced vinyl pressings for two albums that will surely please fans of the global sound everywhere.
The first of the two reissues is to be Various artists – Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2, an exploration of the rhythms of Latin America compiled by the label’s own Nick Gold. This is actually out now on deluxe 180-gramme, limited edition, red and blue vinyl.
The second album follows in exactly a month, and will be Ali Farka Touré’s revered 1984 breakthrough album Red, out on vinyl for the first time since its original release. ‘
Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2, which was released yesterday, explores a style synonymous with Colombia filling dance floors and captivating a new generation. The collection brings together some of the greatest recordings made by Colombia’s legendary record label, Discos Fuentes, between 1954 and 1988. In fact, why not pop down to the bottom of the page there, where we’ve embedded a new animation for Pedro Laza Y Sus Pelayeros “Cumbia Del Monte”.
Discos Fuentes was founded in Cartagena in 1934 by visionaryAntonio Lopez Fuentes. It was the first important record label in the country and grew into a company of immense significance for Colombian music, responsible for thousands of hits and scores of legendary singers and musicians over six decades.
This collection presents 30 of these three-minute-masterpieces, showcasing the gamut of styles that make up the distinctive and irresistible cumbia sound; a sound typified by a loping 2/4 gait and a pulsing rocksteady bassline, overlaid with heavy rural percussion, brass, accordion, clarinet, electric guitar and vocals.
Ali Farka Toure’s breakthrough set, Red, has been summated as “the Sun sessions of Malian guitar music”. Back on vinyl for the first time in 37 years, it sees the guitarist team up with percussionist Hama Sankare. They travelled throughout northern Mali, refining a collection of new songs. In one afternoon, Radio Mali house engineer Boubacar Traore captured eight superb performances on two microphones: two voices so close it was thought they were double-tracked, one guitar and Hama’s calabash percussion.
The album was released self-titled with no sleeve notes, just an enigmatic group photo on the cover. It became known as the ‘Red’ album due to the colour of its original sleeve. Vinyl and cassette copies of ‘Red’ began to circulate in West Africa, as well as making their way to Ry Cooder in the US and to specialist journalists and DJs in the UK and France. The album was popular in Mali and the Tuareg refugee camps in Libya, where it became an influence on the musicians who came together as Tinariwen.
You can order Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2 here, and Ali Farka Touré’s Red here.
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