EL POLEN "Fuera
del la Ciudad"
(Outside of the City)
Following
hot on the heels of our sold out mini-LP sleeve edition of
Peruvian group El Polen’s "Cholo" album (Lion 7655),
together with Peruvian label Repsychled Records, we bring
you the band's second album, "Fuera del la Ciudad" (Outside
of the City) (1973). El Polen was an artistic group, a group
of hippies living in a community and expressing themselves
in all levels of art, exchanging ideas, experiences and influences.
After recording the "Cholo" album, the members of El Polen
made a trip to Cuzco. There they lived in a commune in the
Urubamba Valley. It was the perfect place at the perfect time,
surrounded by greenery, with a magnificent sky free from pollution,
and healthy food—a place full of peace and energy. Upon
their return to Lima, El Polen recorded this album, reveling
in their experience "outside of the city," and trying to bring
those experiences to life on the album. The record kicks off
with strange voices and violins, incidental hypnotic rhythms
in an Andean folklore pattern; the lyrics speak of indigenous
field rituals and respect for the land where they live. There
are water and wind sounds, drums and panflutes. The themes
of this album are unique and all created by the band, with
the exception of "A las orillas del vilcanota" (On the banks
of the Vilcanota) and ‘Valicha,’ which are (respectively)
traditional Peruvian folk and Creole songs, arranged for this
album by El Polen. The album includes a lengthy and impressive
track, almost 14 minutes long, where the sounds of harps and
violins are more than majestic, even including a choir of
nuns who sing the theme; much of the rest of the track is
an experimental improvisation leading to a fiesta patronal
(party native to the highlands of the country). The album
closes with an experimental rain song. This hand-numbered,
limited mini-LP sleeve edition also includes two bonus tracks:
"Ahijada de la luna" (God-daughter of the Moon" composed by
Juan Luis Pereira, and performed by Grammy Award winner, and
current Peruvian Minister of Culture, Susana Baca (one of
her first recordings); the disc ends with a rare verson of
‘Valicha’ (a track from "Cholo") which appeared
on a compilation LP called "Rock Concert" in 1973. This edition
includes a replica poster for an El Polen concert from 13
February 1972 (?) and a sepia photo taken from the original
negative. A genuine psychedelic Hippie record—a strange
record with a very trancey feel throughout. Carefully remastered
from the original master tapes and released in this limited
edition of 400 copies, available exclusively worldwide from
Lion Productions.
Track List: 1. Concordancia (7:28)
2. Mi cueva (4:15)
3. A las orillas del Vilcanota (4:04)
4. El hijo del Sol (13:35)
5. La puna (3:49).
Bonus tracks:
6. "Ahijada de la luna"
7. ‘Valicha’
Catalogue number: LION 7659 (hand numbered edition of 400
copies)
UPC: 778578765927
SOLD OUT