Mexico Mágico Cosmico

This re-release of a 1981 Mexican government-sponsored music project is a curiosity in many ways. It is an album that has almost as many titles as tracks: in addition to Mexico Mágico Cosmico, the cover boasts the Nahuatl-language Ipan In Xiktli Meztli and its Spanish equivalent, En El Ombligo De La Luna. The English translation, which the original artwork omits, is ‘In the Navel of the Moon’. Three of the four tracks are suites dedicated ‘to the cult of the sun’ while the fourth is the title-track (‘Ipan In Xiktli Meztli’, that is).

Brighton-based label Mr Bongo, known for Brazilian rarities and classic Latin reissues, may have discovered Luis Pérez (b. 1951) via his psychedelic rock. This related but very different material dates from research he undertook from 1971, exploring native Mexican music and instruments – especially wind and percussion – which he learned to play, blending them with synthesizers and electric guitars to produce a spacey, ethereal sound somewhere between Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd. It inspired many young Mexican musicians to explore ethno-jazz and ethno-rock ideas. For the rest of us, it's a cool, cosmic soundtrack for meditating, tripping out to or perhaps cooking peyote-filled tacos.