Henry Stephen

Artist: Henry Stephen

LP: 7" single

Song: "O Quizas Simplemente Le Regale Una Rosa"
[ listen ]

A week ago today I was in Barcelona, Spain! Some good friends had been invited to house-sit for some good friends of theirs at their L'Auberge Espagnole for the entire month of August. They, in turn, invited me to make my first pilgrimage to Spain to spend a few weeks with them. The trip was absolutely fantastic! And you bet I visited a bunch of record stores while I was there. 

The first one I checked out, on the evening of my arrival, was Discos Edison's. It's located just a few blocks from where I was staying in El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona. Edison's is a long and narrow store with lots of bins and piles of discos, way more than I was able to dig through in the 90 minutes before they closed. But I did find a couple of keepers, including this lovely 1969 single from Venezuelan singer Henry Stephen, who was once a member of Los Impala. You can read about him here. The cover of my copy features some sort of printing error, where one of the colors ended up slightly askew, giving it a 3D-without-wearing-the-proper-glasses appeal. I came across more copies of this same single at other stores and they had printed correctly, but that just made me feel like my copy was somehow special and unique.

[ Discos Edison's — Barcelona, Spain ]

Hugo Blanco y su Conjunto

Artist: Hugo Blanco y su Conjunto

LP: Bailables No. 9: Agua Fresca
Song: "Agua Fresca"
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Song: "Oro Cochano"
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This isn't the first time I've posted music by Venezuelan harpie Hugo Blanco on my blog—see here and here—but it is the first time he's appeared on here since he died in the summer of 2015. RIP, Hugo Blanco. If anyone deserves to go on plucking and strumming their harp amongst the clouds for all eternity, it is you. Hugo released lots of Bailableses during his time here on Earth. "Agua Fresca," aka. "Bailables No. 9," came out in 1972. Find Hugo's full Palacio Records discography here.

The three things I'm going to remember most about Ithaca, NY and their local record store, Angry Mom Records, are these: 1.) Due to some big festival ("Apple Harvest" or something) there wasn't one single motel room available in the entire city the night I pulled into town—except one. And that one was listed at $77 on the internet, but the price was suddenly jacked up to $149 when I gave them a call on my quickly-dying cell phone. Why on earth would I spend $149 on a used bedroom when that same $149 could go toward the purchase of used Venezuelan disco-harp records instead? I slept in my car. 2.) There's no place I'd rather have coffee and breakfast after sleeping in my car than at The State Diner on State Street. 3.) Apple Harvest Fest is weird, and the people of Itlaca love donuts. They will line up for hours. For a donut. 

4.) People in Ithaca are simply wild about their local acapella choirs. 5.) It's hard to find a public restroom in Ithaca at night. 6.) Angry Mom Records has an amazing selection of records—especially in their 'World' and 'Soul-Funk-R&B' bins—and at really good prices too. I ended up buying 25 records here. 7.) The 'guy' employees at Angry Mom Records will not talk to customers. They aren't mean or anything, just mute. Questions are answered with a series of gestures or with actions instead of words. Upon inquiring if it would be alright for me to charge my cell phone somewhere in the store while I shopped, the guys took my cell phone and charger from me and plugged it in behind the counter...but without uttering a word. They were the friendliest, most accommodating store clerks with absolutely no customer service skills that I've ever met.

[ Hugo Blanco: September 25, 1940 — June 14, 2015 ]

[ Angry Mom Records — Ithaca, NY ]

Los Impalas

Artist: Los Impalas

LP: Regresan Los Impalas
Song: "Cada Vez Que Vienes a Mí"
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Song: "Todo Gira" 
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I swore I'd stay away from record stores when I was visiting my brother in Portland two weekends ago. But of course we all know how that goes. The first store I ended up at was Music Millennium. It's a super cool shop with lots of nooks and crannies, but they mainly sell CDs and new vinyl. I picked up the new David Bowie CD there.

[ Music Millennium — Portland, Oregon ]

Once I stopped pretending I wouldn't be going record shopping in Portland, I was eager to check out Crossroads Music, which, according to people on the Internet, held a collection of vinyl inventory supplied by more than 20 different dealers. I was not disappointed, it was sublime. This 1975 release by Los Impalas from Venezuela is one of the things I picked up there. I'm guessing it's a retrospective collection, since, according to their Wikipedia entry, Los Impalas were active from 1959 to 1970. Plus, from looking at the cover, I'm pretty sure bands weren't still wearing duds like these and recording Beatles covers in 1975, not even in Venezuela. But who cares. It's good stuff. You can read more about Los Impalas and listen to some of their other songs on the Barraezo website here.

 [ Los Impalas de Venezuela ]

 [ Los Impalas de USA ]

[ Crossroads Music de Portland, Oregon ]

Renato Salani y Su Conjunto

Artist: Renato Salani y Su Conjunto

LP: Una Noche Asi...En El Hipocampo

Song: "In Ginocchio Da Te (De Rodillas Ante Ti)"

[ listen ]

Here's a little something from yet another terrific LP by Renato Salani of Caracas, Venezuela—this time he's backed by his conjunto instead of his cuarteto, and that's his brother Julio Salani again on vocals. I looked up "Hipocampo" to find out where I'd be spending the evening—seems we're hanging with Renato in a swanky '60s Caracas nightclub called "El Hipocampo," or "The Seahorse" in English.

Hugo Blanco y su Conjunto

Artist: Hugo Blanco y su Conjunto

LP: "Mas" Ritmo con Hugo Blanco

Song: "Suky"

[ listen ]

Here's some heavenly harp music (plus organ!) from talented Venezuelan musician Hugo Blanco and his Conjunto. Born in Caracas in 1940, Hugo received only two months of musical education, yet when he was 18 years old in 1958, he composed one of Venezuela's most internationally famous songs, "Moliendo Café." Not only that, but in the 1960s, he founded Venezuela's first ska group, Las Cuatro Monedas. You can read more about Hugo Blanco in Spanish here and here, and go here to read less about him in English. Click here to listen to Hugo's harp rendition of "Moliendo Café."

Hugo Blanco et sa Harpo Indienne

Artist: Hugo Blanco et sa Harpo Indienne

LP: 7" single

Song: "Moliendo Café"

[ listen ]

Though this 7" EP was pressed in France, these four lovely tunes from Venezuelan composer and harpist Hugo Blanco were originally recorded for Pallacio Records in Caracas. "Moliendo Café" means grinding coffee, which is what I'm about to do right now, only my grinder is electric. Though it doesn't have quite the same zing without percussion, there's a lovely harp duet performance video of "Moliendo Café" (most of it, anyway) included here:

Harp players on YouTube:

[ "Moliendo Café" ]

Renato Salani y Su Cuarteto

 Artist: Renato Salani y Su Cuarteto

LP: En El Hipocampo

Song: "Et Maintenant"

[ listen ]

Song: "Tus Mentiras"

[ listen ]

Here are a couple numbers from the 1963 "En El Hipocampo" LP by Venezuelan pianist Renato Salani and his quartet. That's Julio Salani on lead vocals for "Et Maintenant" and José Rivero handles lead vocal duties for "Tus Mentiras." You can read a little about Renato Salani and Su Cuarteto in Spanish and listen to the other tracks on this terrific record on the El Melomano Incurable website here.

 

 

 

 

Los Cardinales Del Exito

Artist: Los Cardenales Del Exito

LP: Volando Va La Gaita
Song: "Regreso Venancio"
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Song: "Tucacas"
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Here are two tracks from one of the neatest albums I've found in the past few months. Venezuela's Los Cardenales Del Exito are like the South American Adam & the Ants! The album features four or five different vocalists on various tracks, but the songs featured here are both sung by Germán Avila.