This week in the PAM Club, the London-based Venezuelan Miguel Colmenares represents the Colectivo Futuro, a cultural platform, and the label Olindo Records for a cutting-edge Afro-Venezuelan set that ranges from 1980s picks to today’s music.
Olindo Records released the excellent Raúl Monsalve y los Forajidos album in 2020, in which ancestral rhythms mingled with jazz, funk and Afrobeat. This was demonstrative of a cornerstone of their vision: to focus on new music from Venezuela, especially its jazz and Afro-electronic iterations. Launched via the Colectivo Futuro platform, which brings together music and visual arts, Olindo also saw the birth of the sub-label Música Infinita this year, which was also dedicated to reissues. Its co-founder Miguel Colmenares, DJ and record collector for more than 15 years, is our guest today and gives us a glimpse into his soulful DJ sets with groove stimulated by his Caribbean roots.
“For this mix, I wanted to present a selection of older Afro-Venezuelan records, mainly from the 80s, mixed with more contemporary stuff from the 90s and up to the present day. This mix of periods was an important element for me because I wanted to show how Afro-Venezuelan music is still alive and thriving thanks to a host of musicians living both in the country and abroad. I also wanted to show the more traditional sounds of the legendary Un Solo Pueblo, Vasallos Del Sol and Grupo Madera alongside new artists who are fusing traditional music with other sounds and cultures, such as Orestes Gomez or Raúl Monsalve y los Forajidos.”
Tracklist :
1. Field recording – El aguacate (décima) [Laffer]
2. Cumbé – Ciudad gris [Not on label]
3. Raúl Monsalve y los Forajidos – La mariposa ft. Lya Bonilla (sangueo) [Olindo Records]
4. Grupo Madera – Saca la bandera (sangueo) / La playa (golpe) [Korta Record’s]
5. Pinton con ñema – De Barlovento [Somos]
6. Un Solo Pueblo – Rajuñao / Ají (tonada de quitiplás) [Promus]
7. Un dos tres y fuera – Tambor a toda costa [Discomoda]
8. Huracán de Fuego – Bomba que bomba [Nube Negra Records]
9. Son de Chuao – La cochina [PAN Records]
10. Betsayda Machado y la Parranda El Clavo – La situación [Olindo Records]
11. Grupo Vera – La pava [Not on label]
12. Raúl Monsalve y los Forajidos – La carcajá [Self-released]
13. Orestes Gomez – Golpe Plaza [Self-released]
14. Afrocódigos – Homenaje ft. Luzmira Zerpa & Francisco Pacheco [Self-released]
15. McKlopedia & Orestes Gomez – Agua [Self-released]
16. Vasallos del Sol – Tambor de Tarmas [Fundación Bigott]
17. Villagers of Curiepe – Tonadas de quitiplás [PAN Records]
18. Field recording – Cantos de sirena [Ocora]
Find Olindo’s discography.
