For the follow up to our first volume of International Sad Hits, in 2006 we asked our friend Ibon Errazkin, a great Spanish musician and DJ, to help us gather sad hits from the Iberian Peninsula. He responded with a fantastic compilation including some favorites we knew (Vainica Doble, Maria del Mar Bonet, José Afonso) and others we didn't but found immediately fascinating (Mikel Laboa, Sérgio Godinho, Sisa).
Unfortunately, we ran into rights problems. First, the Portuguese said flat out no to any license proposals. So Ibon reworked the tracklist, limiting it to the four Spanish artists. This second version was a delight to listen to - it maintained an emphasis on linguistic variety (Basque, Catalan, Mallorquí, Spanish), and allowed for more tracks from each artist.
Alas, we ran into further rights trouble - some of these Spanish artists' recordings belonged to major labels and even when we found people willing in spirit to license the tracks, they invariably lacked the authority to execute a contract. We chased after those mythical authorities, and never found them. By the end of 2008, both Ibon and we were exhausted with the legal roundabout and the project was shelved.
But times have since changed for music, in the oddest ways. Now all these tracks - even those with the most elusive rights - are up on YouTube.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Following are Ibon's original tracklists and notes for both versions, with YouTube playlist links. Enjoy!
International Sad Hits, Volume Two: The Iberian Peninsula (version one)
