How does the founder of an independent music label – whose very survival depends on album sales – justify creating a project highlighting, even praising piracy ? During the 1980s, a group of music dealers and record collectors from Mexico City joined forces to create a series of illegally manufactured vinyl records containing rare and highly-sought hits from Perú, Ecuador, Colombia and beyond. These bootleg compilations – known as “pirata” – were pressed during graveyard shift on recycled vinyl in editions of no more than 500. The anonymous manufacturers may not have realised it at the time but they were helping to consolidate and expand a love for tropical music and dance among the population of Mexico City and beyond. The records became a key element of the sonidero culture that was recently declared as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mexico City. The double-LP Super Disco Pirata compilation contains 23 tropical floor-fillers sourced from the finest and strangest pirata LPs and includes a large booklet containing extensive notes and photos.
