Corona, born in Tijuana in 1970, was primarily known as a member of Mexico’s celebrated Nortec (“Norteño-Techno”) Collective before his first full-length, Martes, was released in 2002. His revolutionary work as Murcof saw him recontextualizing the work of his beloved European contemporary classical composers (including the likes of Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and Giya Kancheli) within minimal electronic structures. It’s a trick that others have tried to pull off, but none with Corona’s lightness of touch, or widespread appeal. The pieces here incorporate traditional instrumentation recorded especially for the album (including strings, piano and harp), working in tandem with his passion for new and unexplored rhythms.

Murcof’s first three albums have been reissued on vinyl to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of his seminal debut album, Martes. Out of print for many years, these albums have been hugely influential in the worlds of minimal and ambient electronic music in their use of modern classical instrumentation, and are significant landmarks in the history of The Leaf Label. Each of the reissues is presented in a new gatefold sleeve featuring updated artwork, with Remembranza and Cosmos featuring fully remastered audio, and Cosmos including a previously unreleased bonus track.

Remembranza followed Martes – an incredibly personal work produced in tribute to Corona’s mother, who passed away in 2005. It saw him move away from a sample based compositional approach, with Corona recording his friends and even turning his hand to playing orchestral instruments himself.

“Remembranza was pretty much completed before I moved with my wife and son to Barcelona back in the summer of 2005,” Corona explains. “We put trust in the album’s success, after Martes and Utopía we were feeling confident, so we decided to try our luck. I sold my gear – a Juno-106, Fender Rhodes, Korg Wavestation and a Moog Prodigy, backed-up all my projects and off we went with just a few pieces of luggage and a couple of hard drives.”

Corona worked closely with Alex Gámez on the remasters for Remembranza and Cosmos, which were then cut by legendary mastering engineer Stefan Betke in Berlin. “These new masters focus on preserving the dynamics of the music instead of achieving a certain loudness to compete with the rest of the music that’s out there,” Corona observes. “It gives them a slightly darker tone, taking a bit of that harsh edge of the previous versions while maintaining clarity.”

Limited edition double vinyl LP – BAY 47V

Black vinyl 2LP + DL (2022 remaster)- BAY 47VR

Limited edition laurel green vinyl 2LP + DL (2022 remaster) – BAY 47VRG

Limited edition correos red vinyl 2LP + DL (2022 remaster) (300 copies) – BAY 47VRN

CD – BAY 47CD

BAY 47E