Music To Set Everything On Fire

Description

After a brief period during which they recorded only a couple of 7-inch singles for the Orfeon label that had a very limited distribution, Mexican rockers Antorcha fully embraced a DIY approach to managing their own career. They had evolved into a heavy psychedelic rock group, with no metaphors and no compromises. Anarchists in a country that could barely utter the word without trembling. It was the final years of the 1960s. Their influences came from Iron Butterfly, Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Vanilla Fudge, and others. At times they also sounded like MC5, the Detroit band they already knew through their records and with whom they shared an anarchist and anti-establishment spirit. Through their original music, they challenged a scene crowded with cover bands. They recorded five self-produced EPs, sold exclusively at their live performances, passed from hand to hand as if each record were a clandestine act. While MC5 stirred the streets of Detroit alongside the White Panthers, Antorcha was doing much the same in a Mexico that preferred to look the other way. The band operated as a cooperative: agreements were reached collectively, and income was shared equally. Antorcha became a forgotten band in their own country, overlooked even by Mexican rock experts. Yet their legacy proved influential on an organizational level for later groups in the independent scene, which followed Antorcha's model of self-releasing and self-managing their work. This compilation brings together the best of their discography, collecting self-released 7-inch records originally issued between 1971 and 1976, along with material that never appeared on their EPs. Includes an insert featuring liner notes by Carlos Icaza "Tropicaza" and photographs of the band. Tracklist Side A 1. Nada 2. Cancion N"1 3. En El Jardin Del Eden Side B 1. Grass 2. Going Down 3. La Tierra 4. Crisalida Side C 1. Sodomaquina 2. Inconclusa 3. Mira Side D 1. Bracero 2. Intento 2 3. Quiero Vivir