No Nos Dejamos Afeitar (“We Will Not Be Shaved”) by Dick El Demasiado aka Dick Verdult is considered the first album of “Experimental Cumbia”, also known as “Lunatic Cumbias”. It has never been issued on vinyl before. Blending lo-fi 2-beat rhythms with raw electro-rock, No Nos Dejamos Afeitar emerged as a cult release, sparking a rebellious wave of experimental cumbia that echoed across generations.Verdult was born in the Netherlands but grew up a citizen of the world, moving around through more than twenty countries, including Guatemala, Argentina, Japan, France, Spain...the list goes on. He studied film at the University of France during the agitated late ’60s and also in San Francisco with Georges Kuchar in the early ’80s. He is a sculptor, writer, multimedia artist and musician. Around 2000-2001, he began experimenting with cumbia. It started with chopping up tracks on his MPC sampler, and soon after, Verdult moved on to producing his own music and writing lyrics in Spanish. Recorded in the Netherlands, the No Nos Dejamos Afeitar CD was first released in Argentina,where he subsequently started to disorient audiences there and around the world performing with his band Los Exagerados. His song “Mecha Flan” was performed on Argentina Sports TV Channel for an audience of over 30 millions viewers in South America back when the CD was released, helping to cement his popularity in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. A documentary directed by Luuk Bouwman, Dick Verdult – It Is True But Not Here, came out in 2017 and...
LP $29.00
08/08/2025
The first two albums by Cuzcos combined into one release. Cuzcos was an Argentinian duo that, with just bass and drums, recorded three albums exploring nihilism and anger in a powerful way. Despite the darkness of their lyrics, their rhythm is irresistible. Natalia Gonzalia is an exceptional drummer who has never taken lessons but has nothing to envy of Jaki Liebezeit of the German band Can. Think The Birthday Party meets Can. Cristiano Monga was the founder of the noise trio Modelle Nude, with whom he delivered some of the most intense performances ever seen in the Argentinian underground scene. Monga currently resides in Berlin, where his new project, EYES GONE, merges noise, drone, and abrasive electronica. "A post-punk drum and bass driven nightmare of rites from hell on earth, that in spite of the despair keeps the listener dancing."
LP $27.00
02/21/2025
Calar Music is proud to present the long-awaited vinyl reissue of Los Corrosivos’ Estudios De Casos, the Argentinian absolute cult post-punk album of 1987. Recorded live at Parakultural by Daniel Melero for his legendary cassette label, Catalogo Incierto, it captures the essence of post-dictatorship Buenos Aires through the experience of a group of college students from Lomas De Zamora and Banfield, a time capsule one can’t afford to lose! Remastered by Jorge Morales, officially on vinyl for the first time in thirty-seven years. Released by Calar Music with the support of original band members Walter Fellini and Jorge Morales. For fans of Bauhaus, Killing Joke, Todos Tus Muertos, and the Dark Entries label. “I’m standing in front of a group. In a basement in the San Telmo neighborhood. I’m 14 years old. The group is motionless, like columns. The singer, tall and bearded, stares upwards, not moving a muscle. The bassist, also tall and still, looks at the audience like a predator. The guitarist, shorter, is the only one moving, but not much. He smiles. This is Los Corrosivos at Parakultural. It’s 1987.” —Tomás Nochteff (Dios, Mueran Humanos)
LP $29.00
12/20/2024
***"For the first time on vinyl, Melingo's 2000 album Ufa! takes listeners on a captivating journey through the gritty streets of Buenos Aires. The album captures the essence of the urban landscape and the stories of an array of characters, including Jack The Ripper, Count Dracula, dealers, hustlers, trans love, and much more. Ufa! delves much deeper than its predecessor, Tangos Bajos, as it solidifies Melingo's collaboration with tango lyricists Luís Alposta and Enrique Cadícamo across ten tracks. Melingo's partnership with the iconic tango poet Enrique Cadícamo becomes profoundly significant when he sets to music Cadícamo's poem 'Siga Cochero,' written at the age of 19 in 1929. This particular composition gains newfound relevance and preservation thanks to Melingo's intimate collaboration with Don Enrique. The album also features renditions of beloved songs such as the Uruguayan Alfredo Zitarrosa's 'El Violin De Becho,' a chamamé, 'Las Flores Del Paraguay,' and the enchanting lullaby 'Sin Luna,' all exquisitely mastered by Myles Boisen."
LP $27.00
08/09/2024
***On Infinite Possible Futures, Bay Area psych-pop savant Mayya has gifted contemporary reality a deeply engrossing, mind-bending fantastical journey of a record. Deftly balancing jangly sparkle and fuzz-blast hooks, the record trundles along magically on licorice-whip dream-pop rails. Lacing together the freeform Jazzbo excursions and magical mystery psychedelia is Mayya’s heavy-lidded, pastel warble of a voice. Embracing Lo-Fi as a tonal palette (with levels balanced by the masterful Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Infinite Possible Futures is one of the rare records that leaves the listener blissed out and grinning; wrapped in a warm glow, full-hearted, and just a touch disoriented. Mayya was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and grew up in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. Inspired by anyone who is unapologetically themselves, she aspires to create a positive environment through her melodic, energetic music. Once she’d written the bones of the songs for Infinite Possible Future, she turned as always to her close- knit crew of compatriots to record; guitarist Spencer Owings (Juicebumps), bassist Jason Cirimele (Dust Collector, Indianna Hale) drummer Sam Jones (Mae Powell, Mild Universe), saxophonist Edan Mor, and violinist Sivan Lioncub (Everyone Is Dirty). The record was tracked and co-produced by Chris Daddio at Donut Time Audio in Oakland, CA, and mixed and mastered by Greg Saunier (Deerhoof). Fittingly, Infinite Possible Futures is a record that explores the eternal, internal struggle of being a good friend; both to oneself and to others. “There are infinite possible futures, as well as infinite possible presents” explains Mayya....
LP $27.00
08/21/2023
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Many things have been said about REYNOLS over the past 30 years but altogether seem not yet enough to poroperly describe the unclassifiable Argentine group formed by MIGUEL TOMASIN, ROBERTO CONLAZO and ANLA COURTIS. Now Calar Music is proud to present Peloto Cabras Mulusa Olve, an album appeared at the very end of the XXth Century bringing a vivid sonic portrait of one of the wildest periods of the band. After a whole year playing Monday-to-Friday as house band of a Medical TV show broadcasted on Argentine’s National Channel [ATC], the group recorded these remarkable tracks back in 1999 at their own Ornitivo Studios in Buenos Aires. Based on a trio line-up, with Tomasín’s verbal laboratory in all its glory plus his chunky drums and a playful pair of sharp guitars jumping electrically all around, the band reached an intense trademark distorted sound. Recorded in a complete analogue mood—due to magnetic tape’s magic—and without overdubs of any kind, this music remains as a milestone of a savage era. Raw, powerful, vital, oneiric and beyond description, this obscure gem was originally released as a 1999 ultra-limited tape, which sold-out that same year. This LP brings the album to the new century carefully remastered by VYLES BOISEN (who worked with artists such as: Fred Frith, MX-80 Sound, Daevid Allen, Malcolm Mooney, Anthony Braxton or David Lynch) and also expanded with two unreleased tracks from those epic sessions. Decades before appearing on the cover of The Wire Magazine, receiving the...
LP $27.00
03/31/2023
***fpodbpod’s album The Girls is a refreshing balance of fun pop with psychedelic garage rock songs, and as well a slower melodic tracks. Lead singer-songwriter Sean Olmstead is a superb multi-instrumentalist, with a quirky sensibility and melodic voice. A California native, Olmstead is also known for his contributions to Indianna Hale the beloved Bay Area band The Blank Tapes, Asategui and Sugar Candy Mountain. From the soothing, dream-like title track “The Girls,” to the catchy chorus based “If I Forget To”—this album captures a versatile and fascinating artist at the start of a sure to be promising career. Some songs may put you in a hypnotized daze, but others snap you right back out of it and get you tapping your feet and considering the lyrics. On the downbeat “A Friend,” Olmstead sings of accepting the death of a close friend, and on the rollicking “If I Forget To”, he explains to a former love that he only neglects them because: “it’s just that I can’t stand to think about the love we knew". He has some fun on songs such as “Mama Fell Asleep” and “Hey, Nate” which show his jam band and garage rock singing style, respectively.
LP $27.00
12/09/2022
***BACK IN STOCK!!! MELINGO's Tangos Bajos is a milestone in Argentina's young generation in tango music. When Melingo moved back to Buenos Aires in 1997 after a decade in Europe, he turned to tango. He recorded an album that became an instant classic, first in Buenos Aires and then in Spain, UK and France—where they call him "Le Tom Waits du Tango". Using minimal resources: bandoneon, double bass and nylon string guitar, Melingo creates the foundation for his stories—a landscape of losers, desperados, hustlers, drug addicts and killers. The style is raw—a direct influence of he "Guardia Vieja" (Old Guard), but it's updated with arrangements that flirt with elements of ambient dub. First-time vinyl pressing of 500 copies worldwide. "Tangos Bajos resignified the lunfardo (Argentinan slang) twice. Musically, from the rescue of brothel tango. In the lyrics, the presence of a bastard language that permeated both the new tango and the genres that stood out at the fierce end of the 20th century in Argentina, such as the cumbia villera: Pablo Lescano (Damas Gratis) is a self-confessed fan of this album."—José Bellas
LP $27.00
12/09/2022
***Bahía Blanca is a mid-size city in the southern extreme of the Buenos Aires province that has a pretty active cultural life but rarely gets noticed by the rest of the country; as a result of this, we almost never hear about bands coming from there achieving international recognition. Siete Rayos might end up changing that. All the four members did some time playing in the hostile Argentina’s capital underground scene as members of different bands until they decided to relocate back to their hometown and form a band there, where they belonged. It was then that they were noticed by Calar Music, a San Francisco-based boutique record label that releases vinyl exclusively, and their music reached the international arena skipping the mandatory step of succeeding first in Buenos Aires. Even though Siete Rayos didn’t formally exist until 2011, their musicians claim to have been brought up in the pre-Internet era, when the traffic of cultural influences happened in a slower, more organic way, with the hand-to-hand passing of the few bootlegged tapes that would reach their town as the main way to find out about new music. That, they say, influenced them more than any particular band or scene. However, their gloomy, almost claustrophobic sound commands references proto-punk giants like Velvet Underground and The Stooges and some of the ’80s avant-garde.
LP $19.00
12/09/2022
***Described as “slow, hypnotic folk and/or loud, trance-inducing art-rock” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Annie Girl and the Flight’s intense, almost psychedelic live performances have been making a mark on the San Francisco rock scene. Four-song EP.
12" $19.00
03/25/2022
***ANNIE GIRL AND THE FLIGHT's intense, psychedelic live performances of “crushing high-voltage lullabies” (The Bay Bridged) have made a mark on the San Francisco rock scene, where they’ve been featured as one of the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Artists On The Rise, DoTheBay.com’s Bae of the Week, and Deli Magazine’s Artist of the Month. From their self-titled hypnotic folk debut, which was MOJO Magazine’s album of the month, the band evolved into a louder, faster art rock incarnation punctuated by garage rhythms. For its marriage of memorable guitar riffs and dreamy vocals, their EP Bodies was chosen as one of SF Weekly’s Top Bay Area Albums of 2015. The same year, Annie Girl and The Flight were hand picked by Laura Jane Grace to support punk legends Against Me! on a 28-city North American tour.
LP $9.75
03/25/2022
***As a guitarist and drummer, JOSH POLLOCK has run the voodoo down with the likes of John Cale, Gong, Van Dyke Parks, Jandek, Acid Mothers Temple, Tatsuya Yoshida, White Hills, Kevin Ayers, Citay, Bruce Ackley, Gary Floyd, and Flea, amongst others. As DJ FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION, he runs down the same voodoo, but with turntables and samplers instead of guitars and drums. Christian Marclay meets DJ Shadow is the best soundbite that springs to mind, buuuuut there's probably a better one. Ishmagrad, on Calar Music, is DJ Female Convict Scorpion's 16th album. Certainly not a mid-70s Pink Floyd album by any means, but perhaps a dream a mid-70s Pink Floyd album would have if albums fell asleep and had dreams. Heavy without being HEAVY, psychedelic without being "psychedelic", and off in a huge cinemascope field all by itself. Vinyl-only, edition of 225 copies.
LP $9.75
03/25/2022
***GABO FERRO was an Argentinean musician, poet, historian and university professor. He was known in the Buenos Aires underground scene as the frontman of PORCO, an experimental / hardcore band the recorded two albums in the late '90s., leaving the group in 1997. Ferro spent the next seven years studying and teaching 19th century Argentinean history and publishing a series of acclaimed books on the subject. In 2005 he reappeared in the music scene with Canciones que un hombre no deberia cantar, a collection of twelve acoustic songs recorded in one afternoon. The record was named one of the best albums of 2005 by publications like Rolling Stone and Inrockuptibles. Gabo Ferro died of cancer October 8, 2020 in Buenos Aires.
LP $27.00
03/25/2022
***Sebastián Wesman, a composer and performer born 1980 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Currently living in Estonia. His two earliest works Antes del Olvido (2001) and Invento (2006) were recorded and produced independently in Argentina under the artist name Isabelasnacho. Since 2008 his creative work continues in Estonia, giving solo violin concerts in different places like galleries, museums, libraries, churches and concert halls.
LP $27.00
03/25/2022
***At a Boxing Day concert in San Francisco some years back, composer DAVE MIHALY and his spirit jazz ensemble, the SHIMMERING LEAVES, did a number of thematic pieces dedicated to well known, and not so well known, prize fighters. Boxing Day seemed a perfect day to honor some of Mihaly’s favorite boxers. The piece dedicated to Muhammad Ali was particularly energetic that evening and after the performance the members of the ensemble talked about Ali and discovered that they all had an affinity for the man. Mihaly immediately began re-working the material to present a sonic narrative arc of Ali’s life and a month later debuted Light in the Ring, the Ali Suite during an engagement at San Francisco’s Elbo Room. The brilliant performance of the suite that evening inspired a member of the audience to suggest that the band record it as an album. The seed was planted. The suite had legs. Dave Mihaly, best known for his drum and percussion work with JOLIE HOLLAND and SF improvisational collective MUSHROOM, has long been recognized as one of San Francisco’s premier musical collaborators, educators, and multi-instrumentalists.
LP $19.00
03/25/2022
***BACK IN STOCK - NOW ON BLUE VINYL!!! Note new price. Suárez, an essential band in the Argentine underground scene of the 1990s, will have their seminal 1994 album titled Hora de no ver on vinyl for the first time. More than 25 years after it was first released on CD, US-based label Calar Music embarked on making the dream of making this piece of history on vinyl a reality. The digital material was analog processed by Myles Boisen at Headless Buddha Mastering Lab in Oakland, California, while the cut was made with DMM technology and pressed at 140 grams in two color options: black or light blue. "Hora De No Ver opened the minds of many and in some way defined part of the DYI movement in Buenos Aires," say the label, who dedicated this edition to the living memory of Rosario Bléfari. “Despite their low-fi nature and apparent carelessness, the group is known to have crafted their sound in the rehearsal room, through months of obsessive searching. In Argentina they are considered the Sonic Youth of Buenos Aires, especially for their first two albums."
LP $35.75
03/25/2022
***“In the beginning there was the idea of creating a mixture of the music from Kraftwerk and Sun Ra Arkestra”, grins Kalle Kalima and Jimi Tenor specifies: “I wanted to do something like free jazz, Kalle something with sequencers and electronics." At first it seems like a role reversal. If you associate Jimi Tenor with very different, but always more pop and funk oriented projects, while Kalle Kalima has so far been noticed primarily as a lateral thinking jazz guitarist. But Tenor is not only a concept artist, accomplished keyboardist, singer and Afrobeat lover, but also a saxophonist and flutist. “All tenor saxophonists are probably at least secretly inspired by Coltrane,” speculates Jimi Tenor, “and I also love the style and compositions of Pharoah Sanders. In addition, Sun Ra has been one of my passions since the early nineties. Ultimately, however, I think that James White and Fela Kuti had the greatest influence on my saxophone playing. I'm more interested in vibe than technology." The originally targeted counterpoint to free improvisations, i.e. the clear sound architecture of Kraftwerk, shifted towards herb and psychedelic rock during the studio sessions. "We worked very intuitively and recorded many parts of the pieces live," says Kalle Kalima. "Sometimes we just started playing and I turned on the tape machine," confirms Jimi Tenor, "Kalle's approach is certainly a bit more technical and intellectual than mine, which creates a nice tension." Electronic passages now seem rather playful, sometimes the spirit seems to be Holger Czukay's Can...
LP $27.00
03/25/2022
***A post-punk drum and bass driven nightmare of rites from hell on earth, that in spite of the despair keeps the listener dancing. Features the Bueno Aires duo's first two releases—Cuzcos (2011) and El Trifuno Del Fracaso (2015). Includes insert with lyrics in Spanish and English. Released on the San Francisco / Buenos Aires label Calar Music.
LP $27.00
03/25/2022
***BACK IN STOCK!!! "The first three minutes of DIOS' album speak louder than most bands in their entire career. 'No se' describes the Buenos Aires suburbs in a handful of precise and poetic phrases. The album unravels content like someone who empties a machine gun during 19 unclassifiable, urgent songs that 20 years later remain valid, or perhaps now make more sense than ever (for example, in the song 'Los Campesinos,' the group unites to shout 'the information, cause of everything, viruses seduce the blood'). Dios was the rare birth of Argentine rock of the '90s, a group that seemed to come from Mars because it did not fit into any international rock paradigm, much less local, but at the same time it was deeply and unmistakably Buenos Aires. With their original formation—bass and drums, without guitar, unpublished for the time, they invented a sound that descended from post-punk but instead of replicating it, they picked up the idea of experimentation + rawness and advanced on unknown territories based on obstinacy, minimalism, poetry , a lot of imagination and a lot of personality. Recorded in 1998 and released in 2001, the group broke up shortly after releasing it and the album slowly grew in the underground imaginary, with word of mouth, reaching new generations and secretly becoming a cult classic throughout Latin America. Released on the San Francisco / Buenos Aires label Calar Music.
2XLP $35.00
03/25/2022