Vinushika
Utterly infectious, yet also unclassifiable. A historical treasure of Colombia's picó culture, and also excellent music on its own right. Rafael Machuca was dedicated to making his own kind of music, and the unique sound of his production still stands out today.
Favorite track: Long Life Africa.
Includes unlimited streaming of La Locura de Machuca 1975-1980
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 7 days
Purchasable with gift card
€25EURor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of La Locura de Machuca 1975-1980
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 7 days
Purchasable with gift card
€16EURor more
Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
€10EUR or more
T-Shirt/Apparel
2-Color Screenprinted T-shirts
Made from Bamboo Viscose and Organic Cotton
The print doesn't feel "plasticky"
Fear Wear
For the ladies we recommend to order one size above your usual size since the shorts are smaller then average. So if you are S order M and so on.
Size-Info: T-Shirts Men measures can variate till 5%
S - Width (armpit-armpit): 48,5 cm Length: 68 cm
M - Width (armpit-armpit): 51 cm Length: 70 cm
L - Width (armpit-armpit): 54 cm Length: 72 cm
XL- Width (armpit-armpit): 60 cm. Length: 74 cm
Size-Info: T-Shirts Women measures can variate till 5%
S - Width (armpit-armpit): 47,5 cm Length: 66 cm
M - Width (armpit-armpit): 50 cm Length: 68 cm
L - Width (armpit-armpit): 52.5 cm Length: 70 cm
...more
La Locura de Machuca is the story of one man’s bizarre odyssey into Colombia’s coastal music underground, and the wild, hypnotic sounds he helped bring up to the surface.
One night in 1975, a successful tax lawyer named Rafael Machuca had his mind blown in Barranquilla’s ‘Plaza de los Musicos’. Overnight he went from a high ranking position in the Colombian revenue authority to visionary production guru of the newly formed record label that bore his name, Discos Machuca, and for the next six years he devoted his life to releasing some of the strangest, most experimental Afro Psychedelia Cumbia and Champeta ever produced.
The Colombian music industry was thriving in the mid-seventies, but while homegrown bolero and vallenato tunes were doing well on the charts, it was imported African records that were setting crowds on fire at the picos – the sound-systems that fuelled neighbourhood parties – and wherever those records were played there were always a handful of groups who were inspired to plug traditional Cumbia directly into the electric currents coming from across the Atlantic.
It was these obscure bands, who fused Colombian and African rhythms with the swirling organs and psychedelic guitars of underground rock, that fired Machuca’s imagination. While the label made its money releasing popular hits by legends such as Alejandro Durán and Aníbal Velásquez, that money was poured back into a unique run of experimental releases by fringe artists such as La Banda Africana, King Somalie, Conjunto Barbacoa, and Abelar- do Carbono, one of the godfathers of Champeta Criolla.
When Machuca couldn’t find groups to realise his particular vision, he simply created them himself. Drawing on a fearsome roster of musicians associated with the label, he assembled bands that lasted only as long as it took to record an album, and unleashed the results – complete with arrestingly unusual album covers – under a series of different names such as Samba Negra or El Grupo Folclórico. This unorthodox approach led his longtime recording engineer, Eduardo Dávila, to describe Machuca’s productions as the “B-Movies of Colombian music.”
The story of Doctor Machuca and his eccentric exploits tells of one of Colombia’s most atypical and peculiar record companies; a defining pillar of Afro-Caribbean psychedelia. His productions have come to represent the roots of Champeta and set the pedigree standards for Afro and Costeño avant-garde. The seventeen tracks on La Locura de Machuca, harvested from the darkest, strangest corners of the Discos Machuca catalogue, sound like little else recorded before or since.
credits
released October 16, 2020
Graphic Design : Kathrin Remest (Analog Africa)
Mastering : Michael Graves (Osiris Studios)
Lacquers : Frank Merritt (The Carvery)
Interview, Translation and Biography : Samy Ben Redjeb (Analog Africa), Lucas Silva (Palenque Records) & Diego Hernandez (Eck Echo)
Text Editing : Jesse Simon & Diego Hernandez
Special Thanks To : Humberto Castillo Rivera, Zenaida Salazar Rivera, Eduardo Davila, Carlos "4 Frias" Estrata, Mateo Rivano, Keith Slater, Paola Machuca Salazar, Randy Mulato Bantu, Shane Butron and Marilyn Martinez Serrano
supported by 91 fans who also own “La Locura de Machuca 1975-1980”
This LP is just wonderful, even if I don't understand a word of what is sung. But, this is also the magic of music: when it is good, it does not matter the nationality. It's universal! molenga10
Jimena Angel’s take on electronic folklore is rich & pulsing, with Afro-Latino dance rhythms supporting beautifully winding vocal melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 24, 2020