Space Echo: Mystery Behind the Cosmic Sound

by Various Artists

Double vinyl LP pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve. Analog Africa presents a compilation of dancefloor grooves from Cabo Verde, revealing the mystery behind the island's cosmic synth sound. Located 350 miles off the coast of Western Africa, Cabo Verde (or Cape Verde) is an island country that was first incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal in 1951 before later attaining independence in 1975. This collection captures a vital musical period during the late '70s and early '80s when the introduction of synthesizers facilitated the modernization of local rhythms such as Mornas, Coladeras and the highly-danceable music style called Funan , which had been banned by the Portuguese colonial rulers until 1975 due to it's sensuality. In the spring of 1968 a cargo ship containing instruments made by many of the leading companies in the field of electronic music - including Rhodes, Moog, Farfisa, Hammond and Korg - set out for Rio de Janeiro, where the Exposi‡ao Mundial Do Son Eletr“nico Exhibition was going to be held. The expo was the first of it's kind, where companies were eager to present their newest synthesizers and other gadgets to a growing and promising South American market, spearheaded by Brazil and Colombia. However, the ship with the goods mysteriously disappeared from the radar on the same day it set sail. One can only imagine the surprise of the villagers of Cacha‡o, on the Sao Nicolau island of Cabo Verde, when a few months later they woke up and found a ship stranded in their fields 8 km from any coastline. Mystery permeated the event. Cosmic particles were said to have been discovered on the boat, where the bow of the ship showed traces of extreme heat similar to traces found on meteors. A team of welders arrived to open the containers. Hundreds of boxes contained keyboards and other instruments they had never seen before: and all useless in an area devoid of electricity. The goods were temporarily stored in the local church and the women of the village had insisted a solution be found before Sunday mass. It is said that charismatic anti-colonial leader Am¡lcar Cabral had ordered the instruments to be distributed equally in places that had access to electricity, which placed them mainly in schools. This distribution was the best thing that could have happened - keyboards found fertile grounds in the hands of curious children, who picked up the ready-to-use instruments. The children who came into contact with the instruments found on the ship were said to have inherited prodigious capabilities in understanding music and learning the instruments. One of them was the musical genius Paulino Vieira, who by the end of the '70s would become the country's most important music arranger. Eight out of the fifteen songs presented in this compilation were recorded with the backing of the band Voz de Cabo Verde, led by Paulino Vieira, the mastermind behind the creation and promulgation of what is known today as "The Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde." Tracks by Abel Lima, Antonio Dos Santos, Elisio Vieira, Americo Brito, Os Apolos, Joao Cirilo, Tchiss Lopes, Quirino Do Canto, Pedrinho, Fany Havest, Bana, Jos‚ Casimiro, Dionisio Maioand Ant¢nio Sanches.