Bresh Umore Marea

This is a collection called “Tidbeats”. Its title means “music bars” but it reads also as tidbits. It contains, in fact, original unreleased tracks from the likes of Stelvio Cipriani, Francesco De Masi, Piero Umiliani, Gianni Ferrio, Giorgio Gaslini, Riz Ortolani, Armando Trovajoli, Piero Piccioni and many other great masters of the Italian soundtracks.

Album released in 1974 in Spain with a collection of hits from the orchestra of the British musician and conductor George Edward 'Ted Heath' (London, 1902-69). The album selected items from their original recordings on published in England. Heath, who was always looking for innovative musical ideas, sought for the 12 issues published here, arranged by John Keating, the marriage of the band with a string section achieved a splendid result.

The debut from Manu Chao, the former leader of French world-punks Lo Mano Negra, leaned heavily on Latin America for its inspiration, but this time around he's obviously been spending time–at least in his head–in the Caribbean. Reggae rhythms abound, and the opener "Merry Blues" features some wonderfully wonky Jamaican-style brass, while "Promiscuity" takes its cue from Trinidadian calypso. Of course, this being Chao, there are plenty of playful touches–from ringing cell phones to speeded-up vocals–and inevitably there are the Latin influences throughout to remind you of what remains close to his heart ("La Primavera" in particular is a standout).

La Contra Ola is the fascinating 1st ever survey of Spanish electronic music during the post-punk and synth wave phenomenon which swept subterranean US and European scenes circa 1980-1986.