Juan Formell & Los Van Van - Havana Si! [FLAC] TQMP

Juan Formell & Los Van Van - Havana Si!

2009



Juan Formell is probably the most influential  figure in Cuban contemporary music. From creating songo, a mix of son montuno, changui, jazz and funk, to leading the best salsa band in the world and laying, along with Irakere, the roots for timba. Juan Formell and Los Van Van changed the course of music and became an essential part of Cuban culture.



Here's an excellent introduction to this band and a chance to discover if you dig salsa. Enjoy!



Brought to you by TQMP

The Quality Music Project



Review



What to say about a band that have been slaying dancefloors and radio stations for four decades and who have been nicknamed the 'Rolling Stones of Latin Music'? Not much that hasn't already been said, clearly, though this collection of Los Van Van's leanest and meanest does manage to remind us of why this irrepressible Cuban super-group have such a glowing - and lengthy - legacy.



The first set (CD 1) features a slew of the band's hits from the 70s and 80s, starting with their 1974 Chirrin Chirran. When they released this record, the band - headed up by bassist/songwriter Juan Formell - were one of only two Cuban groups experimenting with such a racy blend of pop, funk, soul, rock, disco and native styles. (The other was Irakere).



Los Van Van called their style songo due to its mix of traditional son montuno and the percussive funk of Washington's Go-Go scene, and this first Disc is crammed with examples of their genre-blending approach, from the mercurial and muscular Dale Dos, the disco bleeps and slinky bassline of Que Palso Es Ese to the fantastic percussion-and-strings Anda, ven y muevete, (later recorded by Ruben Blades as Muevete).



Unlike much music from the 80s, many of the songs here have dated well. Even synth-heavy tunes like La Habana Si, Aqui El Que Baila Gana and Que Sorpresa! maintain a certain charm, mainly due to their provocative percussion and frequent melody and mood changes.



CD2 plucks tunes from the band's 1990s and 2000s output. Los Van Van underwent many changes during these last two decades, incorporating new personnel and embracing more modern styles like hip-hop, funk & reggae. These years also saw the broader success of the timba style, a Cuban form of salsa pioneered alongside Irakere and NG La Banda.



These changes can be discerned throughout Disc 2, particularly on tunes like Que Tiene Van Van, the punchy Esto Te Pine La Cabeza Mala, the super-slick Soy Todo and...well, the list goes on. There's hardly a bad or boring song here; and since the band have surely put out their fair share of formulaic music over the years, the beauty of Havana Si must lie precisely in its showcasing of only the very best of their bulging oeuvre.

-- http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/f825
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Track List



Disc 1

01- Chirrin chirran

02- Dale dos

03- Que palo es ese

04- El buena gente

05- Anda, ven y muevete

06- Sera que se acabo

07- La Habana si

08- Recaditos no

09- La titimania

10- Hoy se cumplen seis semanas

11- El negro no tiene na

12- Disco azucar

13- Aqui el que baila gana

14- Que sorpresa!



Disc 2

01- Que Tiene Van Van

02- De La Habana a Matanzas

03- Esto te pone la cabeza mala

04- Soy todo

05- Ni bombones ni caramelos

06- Regresamelo todo

07- Somos cubanos

08- Permiso que llego Van Van

09- La bomba soy yo

10- Timpop con Birdland

11- La buena

12- El montuno





Artwork and EAC log and CUE sheet included.



Audio format: FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)

http://flac.sourceforge.net/index.html
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Enjoy, seed and inhale!



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PastafariCubensis

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