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Ritmo Fantasía: Balearic Spanish Synth-Pop, Boogie and House (1982-1992) (Soundway)
Venezuelan DJ Trujillo has dug deep to unearth some seriously smooth Iberian bangers for Ritmo Fantasia – and has come up with some absolute gems in the process. There’s the ersatz Art of Noise of Marengo’s Puente De Esperanza. The rave stabs that drive Rebelde Silueta by Nsue. Then Fernando Girão and Divorcio makes [checks Google Translate] matrimonial separation never sound so funky. Even the slightly naff rap of Arabian by Scan Man has a charm.
However, the highlight of Ritmo Fantasia is Cuélebre’s Costa Verde: a slap bass-powered boogie down that finishes abruptly like an intro to some long-forgotten game show on ITV. It is the most 80s thing I’ve ever heard and one of the best things I’ve heard this year.
This compilation’s focus on the forgotten sounds of a country that’s rarely in the pop vanguard feels like a companion piece to the Pacific Breeze compilations, which captured the online resurgence and revaluation of Japanese City Pop. Ritmo Fantasía is just as vital as those releases.
words SAM EASTERBROOK