Please Read This First!

The music albums I post here are free! I use Megaupload, a free online storage service. Installing their toolbar is not required! Here's what you need to do to download an album:

Click the DOWNLOAD link at the bottom of the post. This will launch the Megaupload page in a separate tab. There's a four letter code there that you have to type in to continue. This will take you to another page with a 45 second countdown. Once complete, the timer will turn into a big black button that says "Regular download". Click that button to download the album.

The albums I post here are stored as compressed RAR archives. WinZip and StuffIt can't open these RAR archives because they are password protected. For Windows, install 7-Zip; on Mac, install UnRarX. Both are freeware, spyware-free and are designed to extract files from password protected RAR archives. Once installed, open the RAR archive and you will be prompted for the password. Type in:

p-l-m.blogspot.com

Be sure to type the password exactly, with no extra spaces. If the password is wrong, the files may still extract, but they'll be corrupt and won't play! If you have any problems, feel free to email me and I'll do my best to help!



Friday, October 17, 2008

Esquivel - Latin-Esque (1962)

Latin-Esque was Esquivel's third and final collaboration with producer Neely Plumb and engineer John Norman. This was Esquivel's first and only foray into RCA's Stereo Action series. It was through an incredibly innovative system that they achieved complete stereo separation. The original liner notes do an excellent job of explaining the methods used:

"This album represents, to the best of our knowledge, the first time in the history of stereo recording in which absolute separation of channels has been achieved. To accomplish this, the orchestra was separated into two parts - half in Studio 1 and the other half in Studio 2, almost a city block down the long corridor of the RCA building in Hollywood. Through an intricate system of inter-communication by headphones, the musicians were able to hear each other and play together just as if they were all in the same room. The effects are startling, the arrangements are daring, and when an instrument moves from side to side it can literally be said that the motion is almost a block long! Five experimental sessions were held prior to the actual recording dates. At these sessions Esquivel and his producer and engineer tried endless different approaches to various percussion instruments with electronic effects applied to them. A careful book of notes was kept with the best and most convincing effects clearly marked, later to be applied to the actual arrangements by Esquivel himself. Space does not allow the details of the effects themselves, but in LATIN-ESQUE by Esquivel you are sure to hear sounds you have never heard before - sounds your eyes can follow."

Check out this wild music video for "You Belong to My Heart (Solamente una Vez)" that uses drawings done by Sharon Rutledge:



Check out this clip that combines visuals from Animaniacs with the sounds of "Mucha Muchacha":



Esquivel signed to Reprise Records, the Warner Bros. label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra, for his next album, 1962's More of Other Worlds, Other Sounds. He then took a five year break from producing studio albums to focus on his live stage show for the Las Vegas/Lake Tahoe circuit. He would eventually return to the studio for two final albums, 1967's The Genius of Esquivel and 1968 Esquivel!!

Latin-Esque was released on CD by BMG Music Spain in 2000.

Esquivel - Latin-Esque (1962)
1. La Raspa (1:50)
2. Adios, Mariquita Linda (3:14)
3. Jesusita en Chihuahua (2:20)
4. Cachito (Pedacito) (2:26)
5. Latin-Esque (3:04)
6. La Paloma (2:03)
7. Estrellita (2:30)
8. (Oyeme) Cachita (2:23)
9. Jungle Drums (Canto Karabali) (3:55)
10. Mucha Muchacha (2:17)
11. You Belong to My Heart (Solamente una Vez) (2:42)
12. Carioca (1:41)

54.32MB RAR archive
MP3: Variable bitrate (247.8kbps average)
Audiograbber 1.83.1 w/LAME 3.98.2 (--preset fast extreme)

DOWNLOAD
Password: p-l-m.blogspot.com

8 comments:

Chris said...

Thank for posting this album and the other Esquivel discs. Love this music.

SEO Services said...

Nice Post. Thanks for sharing this information with us.

Muddy said...

I've used megaupload with no problem today, except for this Esquivel post. I've tried it in Firefox, Chrome, and IE. I'm flummoxed. Any suggestions?

Muddy said...

Very strange.... the link is working fine today, for no apparent nor unapparent reason. Thanks for the Esquivel (and so many others).

Anonymous said...

Not working today. Please repost this great LP!

Estuardo said...

Haha very funny music, here in latin america it's like go to museum, I've just listen to that music in cartoons as you show. Nice blog.

Lucky said...

hi, kevin!

stumbled over a esquivel post @ the chicos topo blog, there might be something for you, too:
tinyurl.com/dy2g4u

just in case you've missed it!

cheers, lucky :)

Kevin Sartori said...

Thanks, Lucky! Yeah, that's pretty much everything! He's included in print stuff that you can still buy, which I won't post here, but, hey, different strokes...

I'm still planning on uploading rips of the last two Esquivel LPs. New rips direct from CD. I just have to stop being a slacker and get to it!