Ernie's El Dorado Pt 22 - Uruguay

We're nearly done now folks. Part 22 of 23 and we've arrived in Uruguay. There will be dancing in the streets of Fray Bentos tonight.

Back in the mid 1960s when the meat processing industry there was still thriving and not just a UNESCO protected memory no group was more likely to get the locals dancing than Los Shakers. They may have been a tiny bit influenced by the Beatles as this album cover and the title track of their 1966 English language LP  demonstrate.

In 1965 the ruling National Council of Government decreed that the Uruguayan Beatles would only be permitted to exist if there was also a Uruguayan Rolling Stones. The job was given to Los Mockers, who had a decent go at it judging by this track from their 1966 debut album. Some listings give the Spanish title "Que Vida" even though it is performed in English. 

As was the case across Latin America, psychedelia came along a few years later and with it a greater willingness on the part of bands to incorporate local influences in their sound. One example is La Logia Sarabanda who seem to have released just one album and one single in 1973. Never mind the width, feel the quality.

Four years in 1977 later we got the first sighting of Mariana Ingold, a composer, instrumentalist and singer who has championed and produced recordings of the music of the indigenous people of Uruguay alongside her own music. I would recommend the 1999 compilation album "Fue Ayer" as a good place to start. Its where I found this track, originally released in 1994 on the album "Candombe En El Tiempo" which Mariana made with Osvaldo Fattoruso. Both are among a number of her albums available on Bandcamp on a 'name your own price' basis.

Martin Buscaglia is another polymath and frenetic collaborator. His range of styles is much broader than Mariana's, who I don't think has yet gone through a disco phase, and perhaps the closest point of comparison would be Brazilian tropicalia. Today's selection is from his 2006 album "El Evangelio Según mi Jardinero", but remix enthusiasts may also want to check out the reworkings by Boogie Corporation.

One of the better known Uruguayan artists in international hipster circles in recent years is Juan Wauters. Juan left Uruguay for NYC with his family in 2002 when he was 17, formed a band called The Beets and then started his solo career. Juan only returned to Uruguay to perform for the first time in 2017 but since doing so has very much reconnected with his roots, writing more often in Spanish and recording with fellow musicians from Uruguay and other parts of Latin America. This track is from his 2021 album "Real Life Situations".

Our penultimate selection brings us bang up to date with Pasajeros del Malaysia Airlines, presumably alluding to the mysterious disappearance of Flight 370 in 2014. They describe their style as "finest Trojanism, hardcore punx heart" and there is a fair amount of skanking involved, including on this single from last year.

I was originally going to include a different track by Los Pasajeros and local dub dudes DubTricomas in the MAR slot today but in the end I ruled it out on a technicality. Fear not, however, it will be making a delayed appearance here on Friday along with other dub dudery. 

Instead you are getting something from a brand new compilation on the fine Argentinian label FM Del Rock Musick Arg. The album was issued in early August with the self-explanatory title "Reggae Riddim Compilado Vol 4 - Uruguay". I have chosen the contribution from Kinga Roots, a performer so bouncy and boisterous that local reggae promoters have been told their licences may be withdrawn if they fail to tie their Kinga Roots down.  

"Break It All" - Los Shakers

"What A Life" - Los Mockers

"Cajon De Castanas" - La Logia Sarabanda

"Despeinando El Plata" - Mariana Ingold

"Cerebro, Orgasmo, Envidia & Sofía" - Martin Buscaglia

"Carmina Pensa" - Juan Wauters

"Anti Yuta" - Pasajeros del Malaysia Airlines

"Entrando En Accion" - Kinga Roots