Bruno, Rolando Y El Grupo Arevalo / Of Tropique
Of Tropique / Rolando Bruno y El Grupo Arevalo - Split
Electric Cowbell
***We are excited to release a fresh, new tropical Latin beat split single by our favorite Argentine group Rolando Bruno y el Grupo Arevalo with their brothers from another mother in Tokyo, of Tropique! It’s also a special label collaboration between Electric Cowbell and a new Japanese imprint called Pepei Records. Worlds truly do collide in the best of ways sometimes! The first side features “Sabadabadá” by Rolando and Grupo Arevalo that’s driven by the propulsion of cowbell and percussion up front in the mix with great use of psychedelic fuzz guitar and vintage keyboards resounding underneath Rolando’s vibrant vocals. Of Tropique fills out the flipside with the instrumental track “Fatman,” with their signature mind-bending mix of styles. Woodwinds are front and center with the clarinet playfully weaving around a funky wah-wah electric guitar rhythm. A super eclectic and well-rounded modern day organic fusion of tropical flavor, pulsating rhythms, and quirky musical sensibility make this the perfect soundtrack to exotic cartoons dancing around in your head.
7" $14.75
03/21/2025
***Aracan is a duo comprised of producer Carlos Arango and clarinetist Sebastian Cañas, both Colombian born and based in Sydney, Australia. Their debut album, Shadows of Perception, is 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. Shadows of Perception seamlessly weaves together Argentinian zamba guitars, Colombian folkloric rhythms, and various other genres with electronic influences, creating an 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. Shadows of Perception carries dubby, 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.
LP $32.50
02/07/2025
***There are a million stories in a naked city. Fachada tells 16 of these stories instrumentally on their second full-length album, Cidade Da Selva. After departing the secret world of Mundos Secretos. Fachada sets new tones on Cidade Da Selva, delving deeper into the Afro-Noir diaspora, re-interpreting soul, funk, Afrobeat, Brazilian (MPB), and deep jazz. Each tune is a vignette—all together examining and submerging into a journey of retrospection through multicultural and site-specific sounds, evoking visions and the spirit of a time and place in a mysterious jungle city on the margins of imagination and magic.
LP $23.65
11/03/2023
***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. Comes in clear resealable poly bag with Obi strip.
LP $23.65
02/03/2023
***Electric Cowbell is pleased to release FACHADA's debut Mundos Secretos. 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 and DC native, ROB SMITH. Mundos Secretos is all original music 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.
LP $18.85
01/21/2022
***ZEDASHE ENSEMBLE is a polyphonic vocal choir and dance group from the nation of Georgia. Directed by KETEVAN MINDORASHVILI, Zedashe is one of the few mixed (male and female) choirs in Georgia led by women. The ensemble was founded in the mid-1990s to preserve the polyphonic folk songs and chants, unique to Georgia, that were largely lost during the Communist era. These chants run through the heart of Georgia’s rich history, through Orthodox Christian liturgical services to the nation’s ancient pagan roots. Zedashe’s ninth album, Silver Sanctuary, brims over with 22 songs drawn from twelve different regions of Georgia. Ancient chants, ballads, wedding songs, work songs, medieval allegories, dance melodies, feast songs, instrumental melodies and more reflect decades of research and dedicated song collecting. While the choir’s powerhouse vocals and astute arrangements keep the music fresh for the 21st century.
CD $13.25
01/29/2021
***Washington DC’s TIME IS FIRE barrels into the future on their new album In Pieces, a blistering mix of rhythm, noise, and protest. The band’s debut full-length release captures the quintet's signature sound, which has been described as “Sufi punk,” “weird world,” and “dance punk,” but defies simplistic labels. Produced and recorded by BRENDAN CANTY (Rites of Spring, Fugazi, Messthetics), the album’s nine tracks build on Time Is Fire’s incendiary live shows, which have garnered praise from critics at NPR, the Washington Post and Washington City Paper. Beneath the record’s polyrhythmic beats and psychedelia is a potent message of resistance against authoritarian forces on the rise across the globe, from Tehran to DC. “Our mission as a band is to snap people out of their fear,” says KAMYAR ARSANI, the band’s Iranian born vocalist and lyricist. “The dance element is there to get people out of their seats and moving. And then the lyrics point toward new ways of thinking, feeling and changing our world.” Limited-edition 12" black vinyl in full-color jacket with shrink wrap and promo sticker, includes lyric sheet insert and download card.
LP $18.35
03/13/2020
***CSC FUNK BAND, a 10-piece supergroup featuring members of GWAR, THE USA IS A MONSTER, and TALIBAM!, deliver on their most ambitious undertaking yet with Above the Starrs, and all-instrumental homage to the seminal East Coast hip hop duo Gang Starrr, that consisted of MC Guru and DJ Premier. In the three years since their last full-length Funkincense, CSC's 10 band members have poured hundreds of hours of studio experimentation into this highly anticipated follow-up album, resurrected from the Fat Beats vaults and originally inspired by a live collaboration with rapper Masta Ace at a Guru tribute concert. Above the Starrs offers an instant rap-geek curio for anyone who likes hearing bands cross the bounds of sample-based and live hip hop instrumentation. Originally released and sold-out for RSD 2017, this reissue is pressed on vibrant translucent yellow vinyl.
LP $14.50
10/27/2017
***HEAVY BREATHING, from Washington DC, have essentially been around for fifteen years. The core trio: ERICK JACKSON, handling the axes, from bass to guitars; JEFF SCHMID, the drummer, who has now moved center stage; and AMANDA KLEINMAN, playing synths and organs, made 6 records as THE APES, with three different vocalists; they then solved their singer problems by changing their name to Heavy Breathing and using found sounds from the World Wide Web in lieu of the old, clichèd human singer. Airtight is their second record as Heavy Breathing, and their Black Sabbath-inflused riffrock is in a business funk suit with party calls coming from the Rhythm Machine, Erick's guitars galloping, Jeff's drums thumping four all over the floor, and Amanda's keys playing Jon-Lord-alongside-BernieWorrell. Recorded at home, built in the box, Erick's hard rock riffs are still the songwriting foundation; but a track like "Touch It" has the emotional R&B of the Commodores' "Night Shift." "Eazy" has a boogie beat, a head banging riff, Terry Riley keys, and resolves to power chords with a thudding kick on the One. On "Getting Down," the Rhythm Machine sings "Deny!", juxtaposed with "Dance, dance, getting down," making the choice yours: Boogie with this record; or reject convention, authority, and dogma, and get down and boogie with this record. Edition of 300 copies.
LP $17.75
11/13/2015
***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 REGGIE PACE (BON IVER, FIGHT THE BIG BULL), 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.
LP $14.00
07/23/2013