Various
Saturno 2000 (2lp)
'LA REBAJADA DE LOS SONIDEROS 1962-1983' - The first ever compilation dedicated to the history of the sonidero movement. Rebajada in Spanish means "to reduce, to lower". It's basically Mexican sonideros (sound-system operators) slowing down the beat of a cumbia to create a much more tangible music to dance to. The sonidero who brought Peruvian and Ecuadorian music to Mexico was the legendary Pablo Perea from Sonido Arco-Iris, and although his fingerprints are all over the compilation 'Saturno 2000,' this selection of songs in rebajada is exclusive to DJ Lengua, who compiled this album. With the exception of a few classics from Polibio Mayorga and La Sampuesana -the queen of all rebajadas- most of these songs were probably never performed as such before, let alone released. Rebajada started with two families of brothers -the Pereas and the Ortegas- who travelled all over Latin America and returned to Mexico with heavy loads of records which they would sell to the various sonideros always on the lookout for new tunes. Colombian beats especially seemed to fit almost perfectly with the Mexican dance steps - but they were just a bit too fast. As a result some sonideros began experimenting with equipment, and Marco Antonio Cedillo of Sonido Imperial created a revolutionary pitching system that could slow records down to an extent other players could only dream about. And so rebajada was born... or so we thought. At the same time in north of the country, in Monterrey, sonidero Gabriel Dueñez almost got electrocuted by a short circuit that nearly set his record player on fire. As a result the platter started spinning in slow motion for the rest of the party, turning Cumbia into a different affair altogether. The youngsters went crazy for it and started harassing the sonidero with requests to record cassettes for them. Reluctant at first, Dueñez finally began recording a series of pirated cassettes called 'Rebajada' which included mainly Colombian cumbia and porro in slow-mo exclusively. Those tapes took the city by storm and turned rebajada into a celebrated and defiant movement of the youth. Of course it would not be a Mexican urban legend if it didn't include dramaturgical elements, and so for nearly 30 years, until this day and probably for ever, both cities have been arguing and claiming ownership the creation of rebajada for themselves. But sonidera Joyce Musicolor, who never has time for such trivial arguments, got straight to the point: "Rebajada, and the equipment to perform it, is from here [Mexico City] but it was Monterrey that popularised it." Double LP pressed on 140g virgin vinyl comes with a full color 12-pages booklet. TRACKS: 01. Los Dinners - Sampuesana 02. Junior Y Su Equipo - La Borrachita 03. Manzanita - Paga La Cuenta Sinverguenza 04. Hugo Blanco Y Su Arpa Viajera - Infinito 05. Manzanita Y Su Conjunto - El Jardinero 06. Los Feos - Feito Parrandero 07. Junior Y Su Equipo - Bien Bailadito 08. Los Santos - Saturno 2000 09. Lucho Gavilanes - La Danza Del Mono 10. Conjunto Típico Contreras - Capricho Egipcio 11. Los Gatos Blancos - El Chacarero 12. Los Atomos De Paramonga - Pa' Oriente Me Voy 13. Junior Y Su Equipo - Alegrate 14. Grupo Celeste - Todo Lo Tengo De Ti Menos Tu Amor 15. Los Ecos - La Fuga Del Bandido