A performance-oriented Latin dance band from Venezuela heavily indebted to funk and disco (with a dash of acid jazz), Los Amigos Invisibles made a big splash in their homeland in 1995 with their debut album, A Typical and Autoctonal Venezuelan Dance Band, which featured odd Japanese animé-style artwork. Band members Julio Briceño (vocals), José Luis Pardo (guitar, songwriting), Armando Figueredo (keyboards), Mauricio Arcas (raps), José Rafael Torres (bass), and Juan Manuel Roura (drums) supported their growing reputation with a series of underground dance parties at the mostly deserted clubs of Caracas. However, financial difficulties led the group to move to New York in 1997. They signed with David Byrne's Luaka Bop imprint and released their American debut, The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera, in 1998. Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey into Space was release two years later.
About Los Amigos...
“They are a sublime live band, an organic force
that can move a crowd.” - Washington Post
“Blending original roots with big-city beats...
The boys do groove.” - All Music Guide
“Combining their love of disco and funk with
their reverence for old-fashioned Latin dances
like the mambo and bossa-nova, the sextet
took the lounge genre to a new level of tongue-
in-cheek enjoyment through their expertly
executed jams and sexually fixated lyrics." - New York Post
