Various Artists - A La Altura: Visionary Mexican Music 1977-1999 - Volume 1 (2026)
BAND/ARTIST: Various Artists
- Title: A La Altura: Visionary Mexican Music 1977-1999 - Volume 1
- Year Of Release: 2026
- Label: Light In The Attic Records
- Genre: Experimental, Ambient, New Age
- Quality: FLAC 16-Bit/44.1 kHz; MP3 320 kbps
- Total Time: 01:00:40
- Total Size: 185; 346 mb
- WebSite: Album Preview
Mexican artists have sought to look beyond the stars for millennia: the Maya and Aztecs built cities as star maps, and that curiosity later fed sculptors, writers, painters and, above all, musicians, despite pressure from Spanish colonizers, the Mexican government’s censorship in the late 20th century, and today’s anti-Mexican rhetoric from Donald Trump.
In the 1970s–1990s, Mexican artists searched for a “Mexican musical root,” combining ideas from classical minimalism, ambient, new age, free improvisation and electro-acoustic composition with pre-Columbian instruments. The result is two Light in the Attic compilations, “A La Altura: Visionary Mexican Music,” featuring 25 artists. The title (“To The Height”) reflects a dual aim: raising consciousness by reaching for the stars and elevating the art form itself. The compilers, Mexican journalist, musician and DJ Carlos “Tropicaza” Icaza and dublab founder Mark “Frosty” McNeill, worked on it for nearly a decade together with Matt Sullivan of Light in the Attic; they began in earnest at the start of the pandemic, when introspective music and a reminder of mortality gave the project urgency. The goal is to place Luis Perez, Ana Ruiz, Antonio Zepeda and Jorge Reyes alongside Michael Rother, Terry Riley and Hiroshi Yoshimura, and to show that Mexican musicians were equal participants in a global dialogue rather than mere consumers of foreign music, and that bonds between musicians and listeners in the U.S. and Mexico outlast political animosity.
The roots of this music lie in El Tianguis Cultural del Chopo (El Chopo), a Mexico City flea market that opened in 1980, when the authorities were repressing counterculture. There local musicians discovered records from Crammed Discs, Rough Trade, 4AD and Wax Trax, while artists pushed to the margins built ad-hoc listening networks and released and traded their own records, a DIY practice that anticipated the internet’s model of distribution. The compilations include classically trained Ana Ruiz (whose free jazz combo Atrás del Cosmos toured with Don Cherry and Moki Cherry; her synthesizer piece is “Ananecia 12”), journalist Walter Schmidt with the piano experiment “L’Vampire,” Jorge Reyes, Antonio Zepeda and Luis Perez, who fused pre-Columbian instruments with electronics, the electro-acoustic experimenters Antonio Russek and Ariel Guzik, and once-obscure figures such as Xavier Zetina, F. Steel and Aristeo. Sonically diverse, all share a punk-like DIY spirit. The compilers deliberately avoided canonization and sequenced the tracks by feel, hinting that there is far more music like this.
Volume 1 (1977–1999) arrives on 2xLP and digital on October 30, 2026; Volume 2 (1980–1997) follows on November 27 on 2xLP and digital, plus a 2xCD edition with a 64-page hardcover book and four previously unreleased tracks. The single “Pirámide” by La Pirámide (a Mexico City band founded by bassist Jorge García Castil of Los Locos del Ritmo and Mister Loco) is out now on all streaming services; it comes from the band’s 1985 debut album, whose three parts form an aural pyramid. The vinyl was pressed at Optimal (standard black plus limited color editions: purple and pink for Volume 1, yellow and blue for Volume 2) with a 12-page booklet featuring Icaza’s liner notes and rare photos. The cover art is by Eduardo Terrazas (who co-designed the 1968 Mexico Olympics identity with Lance Wyman), remastering by John Baldwin, design by Darryl Norsen; merch (slipmat, t-shirt, blanket, tote bag) goes on sale October 30 at LightInTheAttic.net.
Tracklist:
1. Antonio Zepeda y Eugenio Toussaint - Viento De Lluvia
2. Jorge Reyes - Sazilakab
3. Tito - Anáhuac
4. Antonio Russek - La Trama de la Vida
5. Luis Perez - Suite Al Culto Solar - Ketzalkoatl Yauh Miktlan
6. Xavier Zetina - Bahía Azteca
7. La Piramide - Pirámide
8. Tribú - Cantar de la Dualidad (Ometekuikatl)
9. Arturo Meza - El Bordado Celeste de Mamá Felipa
10. Humberto Álvarez - Akoyalistli
11. Ronny - Último Encuentro
12. Aristeo - Ascenso
In the 1970s–1990s, Mexican artists searched for a “Mexican musical root,” combining ideas from classical minimalism, ambient, new age, free improvisation and electro-acoustic composition with pre-Columbian instruments. The result is two Light in the Attic compilations, “A La Altura: Visionary Mexican Music,” featuring 25 artists. The title (“To The Height”) reflects a dual aim: raising consciousness by reaching for the stars and elevating the art form itself. The compilers, Mexican journalist, musician and DJ Carlos “Tropicaza” Icaza and dublab founder Mark “Frosty” McNeill, worked on it for nearly a decade together with Matt Sullivan of Light in the Attic; they began in earnest at the start of the pandemic, when introspective music and a reminder of mortality gave the project urgency. The goal is to place Luis Perez, Ana Ruiz, Antonio Zepeda and Jorge Reyes alongside Michael Rother, Terry Riley and Hiroshi Yoshimura, and to show that Mexican musicians were equal participants in a global dialogue rather than mere consumers of foreign music, and that bonds between musicians and listeners in the U.S. and Mexico outlast political animosity.
The roots of this music lie in El Tianguis Cultural del Chopo (El Chopo), a Mexico City flea market that opened in 1980, when the authorities were repressing counterculture. There local musicians discovered records from Crammed Discs, Rough Trade, 4AD and Wax Trax, while artists pushed to the margins built ad-hoc listening networks and released and traded their own records, a DIY practice that anticipated the internet’s model of distribution. The compilations include classically trained Ana Ruiz (whose free jazz combo Atrás del Cosmos toured with Don Cherry and Moki Cherry; her synthesizer piece is “Ananecia 12”), journalist Walter Schmidt with the piano experiment “L’Vampire,” Jorge Reyes, Antonio Zepeda and Luis Perez, who fused pre-Columbian instruments with electronics, the electro-acoustic experimenters Antonio Russek and Ariel Guzik, and once-obscure figures such as Xavier Zetina, F. Steel and Aristeo. Sonically diverse, all share a punk-like DIY spirit. The compilers deliberately avoided canonization and sequenced the tracks by feel, hinting that there is far more music like this.
Volume 1 (1977–1999) arrives on 2xLP and digital on October 30, 2026; Volume 2 (1980–1997) follows on November 27 on 2xLP and digital, plus a 2xCD edition with a 64-page hardcover book and four previously unreleased tracks. The single “Pirámide” by La Pirámide (a Mexico City band founded by bassist Jorge García Castil of Los Locos del Ritmo and Mister Loco) is out now on all streaming services; it comes from the band’s 1985 debut album, whose three parts form an aural pyramid. The vinyl was pressed at Optimal (standard black plus limited color editions: purple and pink for Volume 1, yellow and blue for Volume 2) with a 12-page booklet featuring Icaza’s liner notes and rare photos. The cover art is by Eduardo Terrazas (who co-designed the 1968 Mexico Olympics identity with Lance Wyman), remastering by John Baldwin, design by Darryl Norsen; merch (slipmat, t-shirt, blanket, tote bag) goes on sale October 30 at LightInTheAttic.net.
Tracklist:
1. Antonio Zepeda y Eugenio Toussaint - Viento De Lluvia
2. Jorge Reyes - Sazilakab
3. Tito - Anáhuac
4. Antonio Russek - La Trama de la Vida
5. Luis Perez - Suite Al Culto Solar - Ketzalkoatl Yauh Miktlan
6. Xavier Zetina - Bahía Azteca
7. La Piramide - Pirámide
8. Tribú - Cantar de la Dualidad (Ometekuikatl)
9. Arturo Meza - El Bordado Celeste de Mamá Felipa
10. Humberto Álvarez - Akoyalistli
11. Ronny - Último Encuentro
12. Aristeo - Ascenso
| World | Ambient | New Age | FLAC / APE | Mp3
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