Recopilatorio - Sin Mapa (Polen Records, 2022)

La historia de Polen Records discurre paralela a la expansión internacional de la nueva música en Colombia. Mientras el país se convertía durante los últimos 15 años en una de las grandes potencias sonoras globales, el sello iba sumando lanzamientos clave para comprender el alcance de sonidos como la electro cumbia, la champeta, la escena alternativa tropical y andina, los nuevos ritmos afro del Pacífico…

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Luis F Alvarez
Savan

To be released this 1st of November, this EP was born from magical and psychedelic experience combining electric hypnotizing rhythms and Mururi (Uitoto) songs, creating a new sound that emerges from the mystical wisdom of the Colombian Amazon. It is a musical dialogue between producer and composer Miguel Navas known as Savan and ancestral grandfather Reinaldo Giagrekudo

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Luis F Alvarez
Artbo - Libro de Artista

Polen Records

Sobre el proyecto

Polen Records es uno de los sellos discográficos más influyentes en Colombia. Fue el primero en apostarle a bandas que hoy lideran la industria en el país como ChocQuibTown y Bomba Estéreo; así como a bandas pioneras de la movida alternativa nacional como Sidestepper, Pernett, Cero39, Mitú y Systema Solar.

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Luis F Alvarez
50 Greatest Latin Pop Songs

Bomba Estéreo, “Fuego” (2008)

Catapulting electro-cumbia into the future, “Fuego” is a trailblazing mix of EDM brilliance, psychedelic cumbia, and rap-reggae. The explosive indie-pop banger seemed likely to remain in the underground, but the fiery duo’s swagger was too hot to be kept as Colombia’s best secret. They are an unlikely crossover act that’s not only globalized their hybrid craft, but they’ve managed to mainstream without capitulating to the marketability of pop-urban rhythms.

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Luis F AlvarezComment
Meet the Colombian music powerhouses Vol​.​1

Thanks to all this great independent labels we have the opportunity to listen and get for free one of the best compilations this year with some of the most amazing bands from Colombia. Enjoy this great opportunity to learn about the new sounds of colombian music, This is the real deal and FREE!

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Luis F Alvarez
FIFA 2018 Soundtrack

FIFA 18 Soundtrack – Full list of all the official songs

It's almost time, and what better way to celebrate the imminent launch of FIFA 18 then having a listen to the soundtrack of the game here.

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Luis F Alvarez
10 años de Polen Records

La primera de la fila

Hace un poco más de una década, Felipe Álvarez producía jingles y sonidos audiovisuales en su estudio. En las noches, él y su socio empezaron a organizar ensayos creativos. A esas noches se les sumaron los días, los fines de semana, los ratos libres. A pesar del poco apoyo y la poca difusión, así fue como terminaron grabando a artistas como Mario Duarte, Humberto Pernett

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Luis F Alvarez
Polen Records 10 años: hay mucho que celebrar

¿Por qué este capítulo es tan importante en el libro de la historia musical de Colombia?

6 de Septiembre del 2017

En el 2006 a Felipe Álvarez se le metió en la cabeza la idea de tener un sello discográficoy con la complicidad de Lucas Guingue de Bajotierra, sacaron  Los Días adelante. Este se convirtió en el disco que inauguró el sello, la primera piedra de la que sería la casa de los nuevos sonidos colombianos, de esas mismas agrupaciones que hoy son colosales dentro y fuera del país. 

El nombre de Polen salió precisamente de esa utopía de viajar y dejar regado el nuevo sonido colombiano por el mundo.

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Luis F Alvarez
Colombia's Coolest Independent Record Labels

Polen Records has been home to some of the most famous names in modern Colombian music, both at home and abroad. Bomba Estereo, ChocQuibTown, Pernett, Cero39, Mitu, Mucho Indio, Systema Solar – all of these diverse artists have released music on Polen, and the label continues to be at the forefront of exciting new Colombian music, recently releasing El Leopardo, a pulsating collaboration between Dani Boom and Chongo de Colombia. This electrifying meeting between techno and the “mysterious desire of the jungle” suggests that there’s plenty more to come from Polen Records in the future.

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Luis F Alvarez
Polen Records: el sello visionario de la nueva música colombiana

Un homenaje a uno de los sellos independientes e insignia de la tierrita.

por Sebastián Narváez Núñez; ilustraciones por Dani Senior

07 Junio 2017, 11:28pm

Visionario y arriesgado quizá sean los calificativos que mejor describan la labor de Polen Records en la industria musical nacional. Un sello independiente que por más de diez años se ha establecido como uno de los referentes más fuertes de ese sonido al que muchos han bautizado como "la nueva música colombiana".

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Luis F AlvarezComment
El Leopardo: The New Release from Colombian Electronic Royalty

“Dani Boom” (Daniel Broderick) is a Colombian electronic legend, often credited with the explosion of the techno scene in 90s Bogotá. He now forms part of Colombian superstar group Systema Solar as producer, and is known for promoting a Colombian sound mixing traditional music with electronic beats. His latest project El Leopardo, has come out of contact with sounds all over the country, and the first offering was made in collaboration with Felipe Alvarez, founder of indie label Polen Records.

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Luis F Alvarez
Systema Solar Talks ‘Rumbera’ Success & Moving Away From Samples on New Album

The Colombian band Systema Solar pulled off a neat trick to call itself into existence, orchestrating its inception in front of a sizable crowd: when Vanessa Gocksch, a DJ in the not-yet-formed group, was invited to play at an Art Biennial in Medellín, she came back to the booker with a bold counter offer. “I told the promoter, ‘hey we’ve been thinking of creating a band, what if we create the band [for the festival]?'” she recalls. “He was like, ‘sure. I won’t tell anybody that you guys don’t exist yet.'”

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Luis F Alvarez
Systema Solar’s ‘Rumbo a Tierra’ Is a Bold Political Statement from Global Bass’s First Wave

With the release of their third album Rumbo a Tierra , digital folklorists Systema Solar are celebrating more than 10 years of exploring rhythms old and new with their boldest statement yet. Founded in 2006, the seven-piece sound system with members from all over Colombia and the world is one of Colombia’s most celebrated bands. Along with Bomba Estéreo , who formed around the same time, they helped pioneer Colombia’s distinct psychedelic electro-cumbia movement.

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Luis F Alvarez
Sonic Tomfoolery and Rhythmic Savvy From Systema Solar

By Jon Pareles

Grooves matter most on “Rumbo a Tierra,” by the Colombian collective Systema Solar, and they’re magnificent grooves. Systema Solar comes from Barranquilla, a major port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, and its music makes connections to the sound-system D.J. culture that extends across and around the Caribbean, to Colombian folk traditions, to all sorts of electronic transformations and to anything else the group decides to latch onto, from Jamaican dancehall to Moroccan trance music.

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Luis F Alvarez
Review Systema Solar – Rumbo A Tierra

Systema Solar have known how to prender la fiesta for some years now throughout Colombia, as well as touring worldwide with their first and second albums Systema Solar (2010) and La Revancha del Burro (2013).  Their newest offering Rumbo A Tierra promises to continue in the same vein, heavily inspired by picós, the massive, brightly decorated boom boxes used to start street parties along the Caribbean coast.

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Luis F Alvarez
Review: Systema Solar, 'Rumbo A Tierra'

Rumbo A Tierra sounds like an all-night pico party. Pico culture is based on the large, neon-designed sound systems used in Barranquilla parties, where producers mix music from zouk to vallenato. Embodying Colombia's proximity to both rural deserts and Caribbean culture, Rumbo A Tierra fuses styles and pushes the boundaries of Systema Solar's own sound.

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Luis F Alvarez
25 grandes discos nacionales

24. Somos Pacífico

Chocquibtown 2006

En abril de 2006 los cubanos de Orishas fueron teloneados por Chocquibtown. Casi nadie los conocía, y la sorpresa fue grande. El repertorio fue básicamente el de Somos Pacífico, su debut. A partir de ahí han sido imparables: han ganado un par de Grammys y tocado en todo el mundo; pero el punto de partida estuvo ahí —que nadie lo olvide— cuando nos gritaron en la cara que el Chocó también existe.

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Luis F Alvarez