Esquivel - To Love Again (1957)
Update (June 10, 2008): It has just come to my attention that UK label él Records recently reissued this album on CD. Released under the title Mexico Days, this CD couples To Love Again with the first ever digital release of Esquivel's super-rare Mexican-only first LP, Las Tandas de Juan Garcia Esquivel. This is very exciting news! Consequently, I'm removing this share. If you're an Esquivel fan, then you really should buy this new release. I know I can't wait to get mine!
By the time RCA Victor issued pianist/arranger Juan García Esquivel's first American LP in 1957, he was already a popular star at home in Mexico with several releases. It was the rediscovery of Esquivel that helped kick off the full-blown renaissance that this peculiar brand of easy listening music received in the mid-90s. This music is most frequently labeled variously as Space Age Pop, Exotica or Lounge Music, depending on how expansive the artist umbrella for that category is.
Most critics dismiss this musical revival as being strictly for jaded hipsters looking for ironic music. Don't get me wrong, I think that often times the music is ironic. It takes the expectations of what popular easy listening music is supposed to be and gives them a twist. I enjoy it because it's immensely listenable: the compositions are classic, the instrumentation is lush, the arrangements are exciting and the stereo separation is wild. So do I like it just because it's "cool"? No. In fact, at its very foundation, could anything be more "uncool" than actively listening to easy listening music from the late-50s/early 60s? Well, maybe running a blog to that tries to spread the word on cool music you might have missed...
For his first American LP, RCA Victor compiled a collection of Mexican released tracks recorded during the period 1954 to 1956. In 1998, this was reissued on CD by RCA Spain under the dubious title Exploring New Sounds in Sonorama, sporting an equally fake retro 50s cover. I grabbed this 192kbps rip off Usenet a few months ago. This fun album is best enjoyed with the occasional glance at the original cover above.
Esquivel - To Love Again (1957)
1. To Love Again (2:50)
2. Port-Au-Prince (2:32)
3. Amor (3:12)
4. Moonlight Enchantment (2:49)
5. Nightingale (2:52)
6. Nocturnal (3:08)
7. Jungle Drums (Canto Karabali) (3:09)
8. Vereda Tropical (2:57)
9. Hornblowers Serenade (3:02)
10. Besame Mucho (2:56)
11. Siboney (3:03)
12. Nothing Ever Changes My Love for You (2:52)
8 comments:
Could you check with Megaupload? they say the Esquivel file is temporarily unavailable. Thanks.
hi bassooner, I get the same message some time from Megaupload. Just wait a while and it will be available! :)
Great music :) Grew up listening to this from my parents vinyl record collection. They dont make em like Jack Jones,Ray Coniff And The Singers,Tubby Boots etc anymore.
Thanks Kevin Sartori :)
Greetings Kevin,
Perhaps I'm just having a senior moment, but when I click "grab it," I'm taken to Megaupload, where I key in the provided 3-letter code. But when I click on download, nothing happens. What am I doing wrong? Terry
Once you enter the three letter code and click the download button, the screen will change and you'll see two columns, one says "premium" and the other "free." At the bottom of the free column, you'll see a gray button counting down from 45 seconds. After the countdown finishes, you'll see the countdown button change to say "free download." Click on the button to download the file!
The fact that they make you wait is kind of a pain, but you can't beat the price ;)
Hi. The link is missing.
Take a look at the "Update" note at the beginning of this post for an explanation of why I took it down.
Hello, im form MEXICO I like so much Esqyuivel´s music, i was trying to download this cd but i didn´t found the link, could you post it again please.
SALUDOS AMIGO y GRACIAS¡¡¡¡¡
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