Juno Recommends International: August 2022

Review: 'Girassol' has long been one of the hardest-to-find gems in Brazilian great Marcos Valle's vast catalogue of sun-drenched musical treats. It was initially recorded and released as a promo-only seven-inch, with copies being handed out to customers of a Brazilian supermarket chain. This, then, marks the track's first ever commercial release. In its' original form (side A), 'Girassol' is a lusciously short, soft-focus affair - a two-minute chunk of laidback, jazz-funk influenced South American boogie bliss with the kind of high production values that you'd expect from Valle during his successful post-disco period. As with the original 7", it comes backed with the slightly more elaborate 'Playback' instrumental mix, where gentle, eyes-closed saxophone solos come to the fore.

Review: Honest Jon's is back with another of those super stand compilations whose title alone is enough to prick the ears of any hardcore record collector. It delves deep into the world of Brazilian Dilson de Souza. He was a tropical jazz man who played leaves from the ficus tree - something people in China have been doing for 10000 years, apparently. With plenty of Afro influences, this is an album full of sunshine and chirpy electric organs and classical guitar. A single leaf is good for ten hours and Dilson used to play each end to get around eight tunes from each before he had to swap it. Amazing.

Review: Harold Orozco Rengifo was a driving force in the new wave of beat-driven rock and funk that swept through Colombia in the late 60s and early 70s, which took some influence from US and British rock and gave it an unmistakable injection of Latin flair. One of his most treasured projects is Harold Y Su Banda, responsible for one sole record of funky perfection in 1975. Evolucion is a digger's delight, featuring the kind of universal but also incredibly geo-specific grooves that add so much depth and breadth to a set. There's a good reason why this is considered one of the best records of the 1970s.

Review: Andy Grey is the music maestro behind this excellently compiled and high energy selection of alternative and modern Latin music. It is big on lovely rhythms and percussive sounds across 10 tunes that are as steamy and tropcial as they come. It all makes for a fun and versatile collection that brims with spontaneity and is as good to listen to as it is to dance to. Represented are Venezuelan Raul Monsalve and Los Forajidos, Mexican Pahua, Cuban Arema Arega, the Colombian proposals of Las Mijas y Lucio Feuillet and artists from the likes of Madrid, Paris and Berlin.