VA - Selección Magnética, 1982/1996 (2020)

ate 20th Century outsider music from the outskirts of Buenos Aires featuring Alan Courtis, Pablo Reche, Quum and many more artists from the Argentinian underground.

"Setting out as an archaeological excavation, literally exhuming material which has been under the surface for decades this special compilation features work by established and under the radar artists that helped setting the now fertile Argentinian underground.

From most of the artists featured here only two, UnoxUno and Alfredo Pérez have been released locally on small cd-r editions whilst Quum only appeared on a South American retrospective – the remaining material was never made available anywhere until now (not on YouTube nor hipster blogs, nothing).

All tracks were directly digitalised from the original cassettes masters (half of them never released either). The emphasis being to maintain the original sound quality as it was produced at the time (hence the cassette format). The compilation also showcases a broad spectrum style of music that was done at a specific time with very primitive gear – not by choice but because of the obvious economic restrictions of accessing sophisticated equipment forced these musicians on the DIY road. Domestic tape recorders making cassette loops, broken record players, toy keyboards and the noisy ‘fingers on circuitry’ long before Nicolas Collins championed it on Hand-made electronic music.

Whilst some artists actually had access to professional synths and drum machines (Unoxuno, Quum, Jaime Genovart), they still lacked of standard recording equipment. A crucial document then showing how their unique approach to music making influenced the forthcoming experimental scene of South America making these artists influential cult figures of the underground."