Fachada's debut full-length "Mundos Secretos" is an album of groove-heavy experimentalism from the diasporic streets of Washington DC. The music is a wildly hybridized meld of instrumental afro-noir, jazz-funk, and neo-psychedelia.

Fachada is the musical persona of autodidact, visionary artist Rob Smith. Immersed in the sounds of the local 70s radio stations, Fachada was under the influence of funk, R&B, jazz, hip hop, and the city’s most recognizable trademark sound of Go-go music. By the late 70s and early 80s Fachada found himself at the center of DC’s punk scene with the norms-shattering Bad Brains and the emergence of a vibrant DIY music scene that’s now recognized internationally for its influence. Fachada is the sonic intersection of the best of DC. Going to shows, drumming in bands, and being an artist in this milieu puts Fachada’s conception at the ground zero of the city’s zeitgeist in the mid 80s. Fachada’s artistic journey is measured by literally “being there.” A chance discovery of a stack of discarded Brazilian records at the city dump one day proved to be another seminal influence, offering him a fortuitous portal to a “secret world” of rhythm and sound. Even though he did not understand Portuguese and the vast array of styles and rhythms, he began an immersive process of teaching himself to articulate the music he was growing to love.

Through decades of articulation and emulation, “Mundos Secretos” is the culmination and collection of humble interpretations, personal innovations, and late night recording sessions with select collaborators who move and groove in the margins of the DC underground arts scene. Mundos Secretos is the DIY remnant of an obscure and exotic vision that celebrates a love affair with Brazilian music, progressive jazz, and unfiltered free expression. Mundos Secretos is infused with 70s-era MPB (Música popular brasileira), jazz and the organic sounds and rhythms of Brazil. Tastefully placed sprinkles of synthesizers, keyboards, and electric guitar weave themselves through a mosaic of grooves focused by funk and the sounds of Brazil, swung with influences from across the African diaspora, pushing them all through a mighty cool psych-styled filter.

Fachada - Mundos Secretos

Recorded in 2006 and never officially released, this EP was engineered by the legendary Jon Fausty of Fania Records and includes three original salsa classics: Madrugador, Orgullo, and Tu No Sabes. This limited edition 10-inch also features bonus track Bionic Boogaloo - another classic Bio Ritmo rework, this time featuring Oliver Nelson's theme for The Six Million Dollar Man 70's television series. The captivating cover art is by singer/composer Rei Alvarez who meshes his two favorite folk cultures together in one: the Samurai Vejigante. Full-color jacket with"Japanese-Style" obi strip ties the whole package together. All killer and no filler from Bio Ritmo – easily one of the hardest, heaviest leaders on the current worldwide 'salsa dura' scene! Comes with Bio Ritmo 30-year anniversary sticker and Electric Cowbell sticker!

Salsa System

Bio Ritmo - Salsa System

Debuting on Electric Cowbell Records, comes the first full-length release from Tokyo’s “of Tropique!”  A marvelous album full of wonderful and eclectic tropical-infused instrumental tunes. Teppei Kondo’s spirited vintage clarinet often takes centerstage, propelled by a pulsating rhythm section that includes guest spots from guitarist Rolando Bruno and percussionist Mutsumi Kobayashi from Japan’s premier neo-Cumbia group, Minyo Crusaders. The sound of the album is impossible to describe in words, it is lovely throughout, and has a playful, exotic vibe that echoes old cartoon and spaghetti Western soundtracks with a particular Afro-Caribbean flair. “Buster Goes West” is a fearless album filled with lots of turns and twists and a special magic like an imagined voyage through tropical islands where each shoreline reveals a zany new discovery that will leave you wonderstruck.

Bandcamp

Buster Goes West

Cidade da Selva - Fachada

DOWNTEMPO ELECTRO LATINO FROM AUSTRALIA VIA IBERO-AMERICA

A guiding compass through the spirit and heartbeat of Ibero-American folklore, guided by a resolute electronic essence from the roots of electro that fearlessly transcends conventional boundaries.

Aracan is a duo comprised of producer Carlos Arango and clarinetist Sebastian Cañas, both Colombian born based in Sydney - Australia. 

“Shadows of Perception” seamlessly weaves together Argentinian Zamba guitars, Colombian folkloric rhythms, electronic influences with unrestricted artistic expression. The electro-acoustic canvas is adorned with vibrant Clarinets, Latin percussion, Venezuelan harp, Andean flutes, and various elements from the Ibero-American heritage, creating an evocative portrait of cultural identity thriving within the realms of the electronic music scene. The album boldly emerges with the escalating opener, "Giara," enticing the listener on a sonic journey across twelve tracks. From the Colombian Pacific-inspired "Cocorobė" with its captivating Colombian “Arruyos” (lullabies), to the flamenco-infused synth opus "Caló," and the climactic chanting finale of "El Camino," each composition flirts and teases with its own distinct allure based on one Ibero-American genre.

 “Shadows of perception" carry a psychedelic and sensual allure, veiled in a subtle melancholic undertone. Every emotion feels hazy yet euphoric, every sound intimately personal, and every movement imbued with political undertones. With the seasoned finesse of a veteran ensemble, ARACAN masterfully challenges the conventions of traditional Electronic music, offering a soft-focused counter-narrative that captivates effortlessly. It serves as a guiding compass through the spirit and heartbeat of Ibero- American folklore, underscored by a defiant spirit. It highlights how we carry the rhythms and traditions into a night brimming with endless possibilities. With a sense of profound resilience, this album becomes a roadmap leading us towards the uncharted territories of our collective heritage.

Aracan - Shadows of Perception

From NO BS! Brass new full-length LP 'RVA All Day'-probably one of the most inspired 'Thrillers' you'll ever hear! You need brass balls to take on some classic MJ and beyond a shadow of a doubt NO BS! Brass has what it takes! 

New Orleans-inspired Kung Fu blast of brass & drums founded by Reggie Pace (Bon Iver, Fight the Big Bull) f/who's-who of Richmond NC players. SPIN calls "a hot, irrepressible blast of brass and canyon like grooves".   

'RVA All Day' is a celebration of the thriving jazz and R&B scene that birthed the band. A mix of 11 mostly-instrumental originals and instantly recognizable covers written and/or arranged by Pace, 'RVA All Day' is all about movement. "I thought it was weird that jazz decided it didn’t care if people danced anymore," says Pace, whose spirited arrangements of pop classics like "Thriller" (featured on the record), "Take On Me," and even Rush's "Tom Sawyer" never fail to whip the audience into a frenzy. "I wanted to make something that would appeal to people who want to dance."

The members of Richmond's No BS! Brass Band have performed with some of the biggest names in indie music—from Bon Iver and Megafaun to Feist and Sharon Van Etten—along with jazz, R&B, and reggae greats like Gladys Knight, Ozomatli, and the Wailers. But something magical happens when the 11 players step to center stage for a New Orleans-inspired Kung Fu blast of brass and drums. They've captured that magic on record for 'RVA All Day.' Check out album opener "RVA All Day," which SPIN calls "a hot, irrepressible blast of brass and canyon like grooves" here: http://shorefi.re/13fgM2u
Founded by trombonist Reggie Pace (Bon Iver, Fight the Big Bull) and drummer Lance Koehler, No BS! Brass Band has quickly cemented itself as a Richmond institution. The band's boundless energy and joyous stage presence have made their live performances legendary.


NO BS! Brass Band on the Web:
http://www.nobsbrass.com
https://www.facebook.com/nobsbrass
https://twitter.com/nobsbrass
http://www.youtube.com/user/NOBSBRASS

 


NO BS! Brass - Thriller

Baharulogía (Solo Moderna Remix)

Mexico City’s producer-by way of Washington DC-G-Flux-explores his love for what he calls "space cumbia" on this 7” for Electric Cowbell Records. Side A features the vocal stylings of Guadalajara-based duo Los Master Plus who are considered the new kings of cumbiatrónica. Side B features Mexico's "La Reina del Palenke" duo Afrodita on the track “Meneito" along with the cumbia-surf guitar stylings of Peruvian chicha guitar legend Jose Luis Carballo.

 Born and raised in Mexico City, Gustavo Naranjo didn't become space cumbia producer G-Flux until he relocated to the United States. It was the year 2008 and electronic, sample-based cumbia was the new cool thing happening all over the continent. Through the internet Gustavo first contacted with what was going on in his hometown's nu-cumbia underground and soon enough up-and-coming artists starting requesting his services as a remixer/producer. Thus, “El Ciclón Del Caribe” was born, a collaboration with DF's cult cumbia duo Afrodita that would end up becoming one of the biggest hits of the genre, and the first track Gustavo signed as G-Flux.

 	G-Flux was new to cumbia, not not to music production. Since he moved to Washington, DC over a decade ago, to study music production he had been involved in several projects, such as Pascha and Antifaz, focusing on down-tempo and lounge, jazzy electronica (Antifaz's music was featured on Law and Order and national TV Commercials for McDonalds, Nintendo and an upcoming episode of Dexter). Choosing cumbia was a political statement in itself, even if the lyrics aren't combative," explains Gustavo, "because of the place that cumbia has in Latin America as the music of the working classes. It's the most democratic of all genres." 

 	After the success of “El Ciclón Del Caribe," G-Flux kept busy doing remixes and releasing his own productions of digital compilations and through blogs, earning considerable internet exposure. Fans started demanding a G-Flux album, a proper official release.  G-Sound includes guest appearances by Mexico's Los Master Plus and Afrodita, Canada's Boogat, DC's Empresarios, and Peruvian chicha guitar legend Jose Luis Carballo, among others. 

Para más información: spacecumbia@live.com

"Meneito" G-Flux feat Afrodita + Jose Luis Carballo

05 Pearl

04 The Ballad Of Esmeralda

03 Great Booga

02 Buster Goes East

01 Le Guerro

Since 1997 the Éthiopiques series has made Ethiopian music a hipster obsession, exposing jazz heads and rockists to the jazzy funkiness that emanated from East Africa in the ’60s and ’70s. (Never heard of the collection? You may have heard songs from Volume 4—there are now 28 volumes in total—in Jim Jarmusch’s 2005 film Broken Flowers.)  Feedel Band features saxophonist Moges Habte, who was born in Addis Ababa, and can be heard performing the funky James Brown Band-influenced cut “Muziqawi Silt” on Éthiopiques’ Volume 13 with his ’70s group The Walias Band. The group is currently working with DC-based producer Thomas Gobena-known for his work as the bass player in Gogol Bordello and his production of another Globalfest wonder-Debo Band-on a new full-length for Electric Cowbell Records. Feedel Band’s sound can best be described as a  merging of ’60s R&B and jazz with traditional Ethiopian songcraft.

Feedel is by deﬁnition, the Amharic word for letter or alphabet. In all languages we learn to  read one letter at a time, and from those letters we form words. Feedel Band is taking Ethiopian music and Jazz, and blending it into a simmering stew of musical genre’s, textures and feeling. They are creating and in some cases re-creating the musical language of what has been called EthioJazz. The members of Feedel Band are acclaimed musicians in their own right. Individually, and as part of a larger group they’ve all performed with numerous well known musicians and artists. Since the bands inception, the reception that Feedel has received has been extraordinary. At FestAfrica 2011, the audience was enamored with their warm and engaging style. While their music is inspired by the sounds of legendary Ethiopian bands like Walias, Ibex and Roha Band. Feedel Band also composes and performs their own original music.

Ethiopian Ocean (Ye Ethiopia Baher)

Ancient Sufi Invocations and Forgotten Songs from Aleppo is a beautiful album of sacred chanting and haunting melodies-a collection of ULTRA rare SUFI recordings captured in SYRIA months before civil war erupted. It was recorded by Jason Hamacher in the courtyard of a 500-year-old-house in Aleppo, one of the world's oldest cities.  In 2009 in Aleppo, Syria, A small group of Sufi musicians band together to preserve the nearly forgotten melodies, songs, and poems unique to the ancient city. In 2010 Jason Hamacher was in Aleppo to document the ancient prayers, hallowed rituals, and sacred spaces of Syria's religious minorities.  Hamacher heard about a secretive group of Sufi musicians that practiced “the old traditions.”  Intrigued by the mysterious description, Hamacher sought an introduction to the group through a mutual friend & became the first Westerner to hear  NAWA preform. NAWA performed in public a handful of times before Syria erupted into civil war. The group’s displaced members are now scattered throughout Europe and the Middle East. 12” Vinyl Record + download card  & bonus material (180-gram black vinyl w/ full color labels & metallic gatefold jacket Limited to 400)

Mowashah Al Refku Be Maftoon

Fasel Al Jalal

Mowashah Dhabya Wadi Al Naqah

Mowashah Habbatha Al Dugah

Fasel Al Sawi & Fasel Kesmet Al Sawi

Fresh tropical heat via Puerto Rico. Pure salsa prepared by the fine chefs at Orquesta El Macabeo. New 7" drops April 1, 2014.

Orquesta El Macabeo - Macacoa

Turks

Red Hot Blues

Adrian And Gabriel

Edmond O'Brien

Concerned Murderers

Jack Nicholson

Square

Merle Oberon

Heat Music

MILK Live at Rockets 1986

From the forthcoming full-length "Forever Is A Long Time" from Baltimore's Joe Keyes & The Late Bloomer Band. Record release party at Tropicalia in DC on Saturday, Sept 6.

Joe Keyes is equal parts front man, poet and band conductor. The Freehold, NJ, native found his orchestra in late 2009 in The Late Bloomer Band, a concoction of Baltimore-area musicians. The band takes audiences back to the days of Miles Davis and early P-Funk, when big bands were lead by strong forces of individuals. The band’s brand of live improvisation and musical sophistication presents a different experience at every show.

While Keyes draws inspiration from musical mentors Gil Scott-Heron, George Clinton, Joe Bowie and Sun Ra, The Late Bloomer Band brings a modern interpretation to funk, jazz, rock and a variety of other genres.

The Late Bloomer Band’s members, in their mid-20s, help keep 54-year-old Keyes young and come from locally established bands.
Having grown together musically, the band’s polished tightness has landed collaborations with George Clinton and members of Parliament/Funkadelic.
Also live shows featuring original Fishbone members Angelo “Dr. Madd Vibe” Moore and Norwood Fisher.

Stinkbug In My Brownie - Joe Keyes & The Late Bloomer Band

Recordaçāo

A Junçāo

A Busca

Onde Eles Estāo

Um Olhar Dentro De Vocé

Giara

Fogata Al Mar

Diez Dias

Cocorobé

Entre Rios

Out of My Brain

Sex Face

Pudgy

Alex Pasternak (Lemonade, ZZK) rebajada remix of Los Destellos from Roots of Chicha ll (Barbes Records).

LA PASTORCITA (REBAJADA POR ALEX PASTERNAK)

Exclusive download of Time Is Fire's "100 Pieces (Victor Rice Dub Version 3)."

Victor Rice (a.k.a. Vikkly) has a dub style distinct from that of early dub pioneers such as King Tubby and Augustus Pablo. While he employs many of the standard delay, echo, and reverb effects, he works with much faster-paced rhythms, often recorded in a straight ska style, rather than the traditional roots reggae rhythms found in Jamaican dub. In 2002, Rice moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he has continued to produce recordings for various styles of musicians.

Time Is Fire is a music group from Washington DC. The band indirectly originates from the DC punk scene by influence and residence but explodes the signature sound of the nation's capital with a high-energy mix of Afro-disco, Mid Eastern-psychedelia and spaced-out dub. Produced and recorded by Fugazi/Rites of Spring drummer Brendan Canty, Time is Fire's debut and self-titled EP transcends mainstream influences and incorporates strong global and experimental-fusion elements into their often psychedelic and funk-inflected music. A static blast of experimental radio from an imaginary country.

Matthew Perrone - Guitars
Kamyar Arsani - Voice
Ashish Vyas - Bass
Jim Thomson - Drums & Percussion

"100 Pieces" written and arranged by Time Is Fire
Lyrics by Kamyar Arsani
Recorded, Engineered, and Mixed by Brendan Canty
in Washington, DC, 2015
Produced by Brendan Canty and Time Is Fire.
Dub mix by Victor Rice
Mastered by Tim Donovan.

©2016 Electric Cowbell Records
Published by Newtown Creek Jams (BMI)

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TimeIsTheFire
Bandcamp: electriccowbellrecords.bandca...

© all rights reserved


Time Is Fire - 100 Pieces (Victor Rice Dub Version 3)

Alex Pasternak (Lemonade, ZZK) remix of "Silbando" by Los Riberenos from Roots of Chicha ll on Barbes Records.

El SILBANDO (REBAJADA POR ALEX PASTERNAK)

Drunken Foreigner Band plays an idiosyncratic electrified version of the Akha and Lam Lao musics of Thailand and Laos. As their name indicates in its provocatively self-deprecating way, the band could be viewed as yet another bunch of exotica-obsessed white males blindly pillaging a little known indigenous musical treasure. But far from being the work of post-colonial bandits, the band's passionate tribute is based on mostly vocal music learned from cassette tapes gathered by keyboardist Dave Kadden on trips to Southeast Asia. Comprising members of Sunwatchers, Invisible Circle and other experimental Brooklyn outfits, their debut LP will be available January 12th, 2018 on Electric Cowbell Records.

Farang Mao

Chicago's finest brass-tastic 30-piece marching band gets a groove-over from the UK's Stockport bred drummer, producer and DJ extraordinare JON KENNEDY (Tru Thoughts Recordings, UK-based Grand Central Records and U.S. based Organik Recordings).
This remix was entirely unique in that it had over 20 tracks of brass!  "My usual stance is to find a hook and concentrate it and fatten a track with a break and bass line. There were so many hooks!" The results are amazing! Is there such a genre as down-tempo brass band? Available on 45RPM 7" vinyl August 21, 2012.

Electric Cowbell

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks