Description

LAST BASTION RECORDS presents MONICA ROCHA THE CHICANO EP For LB05, debuting on vinyl and this three track EP, we have the Chicano Soul /Brown eyed Soul/low-rider sound of Monica Rocha plus her fabulous duet with Malik Malo! Limited to 300 with picture sleeve – there will be no repress. Available now direct from Detour Records Originally pioneered by artists from San Antonio, Texas Chicano Soul (a fusion of Mexican-American and Black musical cultures) has always had an enthusiastic audience among Latino /Hispanic communities throughout the southwestern United States. These are slow jams from the moment when doo-wop morphed into soul. Mostly pleading and woebegone, theyre wrenching and transcendent in the way the best soul music always has been. Theres now a new Californian movement of low-rider oldies music and resurgence in the Chicano Soul sound today with Monica and Malik. The EP opens with Hello stranger produced and arranged by Edward E-Dub Rios. Monica dueting with Malik and delivering their trademark Chicano magic on a track originally released by Barbara Lewis as a soul 45 in 1963. It was written by Barbara herself a few years earlier. Continuing on the A side is ,The One Who Really Loves You again infused with that Chicano /low-rider style, E-Dubs production with Monicas vocals transforming this Smokey Robinson penned 1962 Mary Wells soul classic to stunning effect. Tonight Is The Night on the flip has Monica with a sultry and evocative mid tempo recording reimagining Betty Wrights 1974 sophisticated, smooth and polished studio production synonymous with that formative disco era. Its stripped away and taken back a decade. Tantalising Lo-fi perfection with vocal intensity against a snare drum backbeat and in doing so, creating a soundtrack for evenings of low-rider music and gatherings of 50s vintage cars under the California sun. FEATURES Hello Stranger Tonight is the night (shorter version) The one that really loves you