Various Artists – Viento Sur

Viento Sur is a sublime compilation of breezy classics from the southern shores of South America compiled by Argentine DJs and collectors Bárbara Salazar and Alejandro Cohen (dublab). A lot of Argentine music, like that of its neighbor Uruguay, has somehow evaded the ears of the global north. Though the capital of Buenos Aires is home to a thriving music industry and scores of notable musical movements, this record pulls specifically from the more experimental side of Litto Nebbia’s label Melopea Discos’ historic catalog. For many of the tracks, this is the first reissue.

The record opens with the ethereal track “Mandala Fiel” by Guillermo Cazenave, who founded Astral Music, the first Spanish new age music record label. The melodic synth that welcomes listeners into the song is inescapably entrancing, and recalls sounds from Angelo Badalamenti’s score for Twin Peaks.

“Sombras De Ecuador,” by Los Músicos Del Centro, is dance-floor ready, with a lush tropical flavor that several tracks on this record share. Another of those songs is “Pequeño Y Primitivo” by Alfombra Mágica which has a mellower mood that lends itself to home listening. All in all, this record is impossible not to love.