This year marks the 21st anniversary of eclectic world music infused label Luaka Bop. Founded by Talking Heads creator David Byrne as a vehicle for his popular Brazilian pop compilations, Luaka Bop has become a pinnacle of world music success. To celebrate this anniversary they’ve released a retrospective complilation featuring many of their famed artists titled Twenty First Century Twenty First Year.
In 1990 Luaka Bop’s Brazilian compilations had brought in enough attention that Byrne decided to hire Icon Records’ Yale Evelev to run his budding label. The pair launched the label into the previously unexposed world of Cuban music, and began signing individual artists from all over, starting with Tom Zè and including such greats as Zap Mama, Cornershop, Os Mutantes, Susana Baca, Jim White and Geggy Tah.
Originally a part of Byrne’s broader deal with Warner Bros. Records, Luaka Bop also passed through the hands of Virgin Records and V2 before becoming it’s own entity officially in 2007. How fitting that as these major labels merge and crumble Luaka Bop continues to blaze new paths and bring us eclectic sounds from around the globe.
“I believe the artists on Luaka Bop are completely in touch with exactly what is happening in the world today. The world is gloriously impure, and yet each of their mixtures has its own strong flavor and sense of itself as unique. There is no danger, from our folks, of an impending global mush, of a cultural watering down.” — David Byrne
“Now 21 years and many distribution deals later the indie music world has moved more towards what Luaka Bop does. So what a great time in the early part of the 21st Century to celebrate the 21 years of this label.” — Tom Zè
Jorge Ben
“Ponta de lança africano – Umbabarauma” (mp3)
Moussa Doumbia “Keleya” (mp3)
from “Twenty First Century Twenty First Year”
(Luaka Bop)
Buy at Napster
More On This Album
Màrcio Local
“Soul Do Samba” (mp3)
from “Màrcio Local Says Don Day Don Dree Don Don”
(Luaka Bop)
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Jim White
“Crash Into the Sun” (mp3)
from “Transnormal Skiperoo”
(Luaka Bop)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Amazon MP3
Yonlu
“The Boy and the Tiger” (mp3)
from “A Society in Which No Tear Is Shed…”
(Luaka Bop)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Stream from Rhapsody
Here’s a fun little widget explaining the Luaka Bop story:
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Tags: BBC, Cornershop, David Byrne, Geggy Tah, Jim White, Luaka Bop, Màrcio Local, Os Mutantes, Promonet, Susana Baca, Tom Zè, Yale Evelev, Yonlu, Zap Mama
