Thanks to one super super blog (Bass Music blog) I discovered another super super blog (Cooliado) with some super music and thing. Grab the mix recommended on the Bass Music blog for the reasons stated, a really interesting mix of techno-minimal-house which drops into neo-cumbia and finishes with The Doors. It was mixed by Un Mono Azul who was amongst the winners of the Fauna remix competition held by ZZK Records.
The inclusion of Faithless, Ricardo Villalobos, Animal Collective, Fauna, Missy Elliot, Renaissance Man, Kraftwerk and The Rapture all in one mix should be enough to wet the appetite!
Karatekazulu?
The blog is full of good stuff and if you can wade through el español then there is a good read to be had and a some excellent music.
In their own words:
Congratulations for sniffing basslines. it's a good way to blow your mind. I wanna see you injecting yourself with harmony.Cheers
A "lost" weekend in Santa Fé has left me a little bit behind with the music so it is time to catch up. Still in Ecuador, which borders Colombia, I bought a disc of Colombian cumbias (I was unable to make it Colombia for a lack of time.) I somehow left Ecuador with music from anywhere but Ecuador!
I wanted to upload all of these tracks as they are just great! I have restrained myself however, and limited it to just three. In comparison to the aforementioned Bachata, this stuff is a breath of fresh air. Music to put you in a good mood, the perfect remedy for a grey, stormy Buenos Aires day. Furthermore the lyrics are great. I have already charted, briefly, the history of cumbia so I will leave it to Grant Dull from ZZK to refresh the memory: "Africa, Colombia, America."
Second track is by Gustavo "el loco" Quinteros and is called Baracunatana. Made famous by Colombian rock group,Aterciopelados (youtube) but Gustavo Quinteros seems to be quite a character and the song is about him not bringing a prostitute home with him (the one who got on the moto with that idiot!)
The final track is called Tabaco y Ron by RodolfoAicardi who is a big name in the history of música popular in Colombia. He sang all sorts of styles from ballads to cumbias to boleros, and alongside Gustavo Quinetero, (above) he spent time as a member of the legendary Los Hispanos group. He was even responsible for taking cumbia to the world, performing in Europe and Asia in the 80s and 90s. This song is, surprisngly, about tobaco and rum.
The previous post's post is has now been fufilled and the monstrous collection of Villa Diamante mash-ups are up and available for donwload from heeeere (or click the pic): Diamante Style.
"Un disco triple de mashups que recorre en mas de 40 tracks un impensable viaje musical donde las referencias culturales se ven alteradas, los géneros se mezclan para dar lugar a lo inaudito."
The Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires does a pretty good job when it comes to festivals. There is not a month that goes by without a big festival celebrating everything from independent cinema to modern art from dance to maths. This time around it is the second Ciudad Emergente Festival which has ran over the long weekend, ending today.
Held at the Centro Cultural Recoleta it brings together new, emerging bands, fashion designers graphic artists, street dancers and film makers. It has a very urban twist on it, two walls inside the Centro Cultural have been put in the hands of two teams of street artists, the dance is danza calleja (from the streets) and the art/cinema is mainly graphic or associated with music. All in all, however, a great opportunity to take a check on Argentina's apparently blossoming arts scene. What's more, it is completely free.
Macaco Bong(ey)
I managed to catch a couple of bands which I'd been meaning to see. First of Macaco Bong (pronounced Macaco Bongey), an instrumental rock trio from Brazil (ciudad de Buenos Aires emergente?) They played an intense set of at times post-rock, at times instrumental funk, at times pure rock. Three fantastic musicians playing with heart and soul. A Pagina 12 article (in Spanish) says they list: "Pantera and Dream Theater to Weather Report, Pat Metheny, Mogwai, Charlie Parker, Joe Satriani, Tom Jobim and Michael Jackson" as influences....
Just thought I would add the poster for it's design qualities.
Later I saw Imperio Diablo, who I had heard a lot of, seen a few videos etc. They are, more or less, a troop of Argentine travellers bringing the music of Bolivia and Peru to Argentina. A mix of cumbia, huayno, electronica, hip-hop and lots of dancing and shouting "heei!" The group play traditional instruments (charango, accordion, flute, pan-pipes, violin, rhythm n brass section) and are backed by a couple of laptops producing beats and overtly political samples. Throw in some Amerindian dancers and you have an entertaining spectacle. Though the bands members may have been to Bolivia's famous Oruro carnaval a few too many times, if it makes you dance, it's alllright!
Another month passes and it is time for another Rhythm 'n' Roots mix. This time inspiration came from the latest ZZK Compilation and includes four tracks from the album as well as a few other ZZK tracks from other releases and a whole host of great music drawn from my collection and new discoveries from scouring the internet. It has lots of rhythm and lots of roots for the arrival of summer in the northern hemisphere and winter down here in the southern.
I have been a big fan of DJ/Rupture ever since I heard his Gold Teeth Thief and Minesweeper Suite mixes/albums/creations. His blog is full of all sorts of random musical journeys and I hear his DJ sets aint bad. It seems he also wrote one of the best articles I have read on cumbia and more specifically, cumbia in Argentina (for an american, this man knows his cumbia.) It appeared in The Fader back in July/August 2008. Here is an extract:
The 2001 economic crisis saw the real value of the Argentine currency plummet by seventy-five percent. Folks with $100,000 in the bank suddenly had $25,000. The underclass hemorrhaged, rich turned poor. Who could stomach flowery love songs after that? This nasty reality slap boosted cumbia villera’s popularity to astronomical heights. “The villa is in a state of emergency,” says Lescano. “A kid dies in the villa and it doesn’t matter. You say ‘black’ not for the skin color but for the barrio you live in.” The lethal popularity of a cheap new drug called paco (like crack, but worse—few addicts survive past six months) has made edge living even more raw. But a bizarre umbilical connects freedom and neglect. Even though cumbia has maintained incredible popularity across South America for decades, its mala reputación meant that it never garnered much external interest. Cumbia kept growing, with nobody to answer to but its fans and followers.
Another trip out to ZZK and another excellent night with King Coya the invited guest DJing/showcasing his new album. He was joined by La Yegros providing live vocals. The multi-talented man behind King Coya is Gaby Kerpel who produces and DJ's cumbia electronica under King Coya, appears alongside Julian Gomez under the El Trip Selector pseudonym and produces/sings/composes under his own name.
I did a bit of research on Snr Kerpel and found some interesting trivia. He got into music production while working for two renowned theatre groups(La Organización Negra y De La Guarda) where he was in charge of producing the sounds and music for the experience. He is also the brother of Anibal Kerpel who, alongside Gustavo Santaolalla, has produced albums for some of the biggest names in Latin American music (Molotov, Café Tacuba, Juanes, Julieta Venegas, Árbol etc etc.) They also co-produced Gaby's album Carnabailito.
Gustavo Santaoalla
On a side note, Santaolalla is famed for his work on film soundtracks. He composed the soundtrack for Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Motorcycle Diaries (winning a BAFTA) and won two Oscars for Brokeback Mountain and Babel. Quite the mentor then?
Last night was a taster for Kerpel's new album Cumbiasde Villa Donde as King Coya and it sounded fantastic! Though I could count ZZK's releases on one hand (Chancha Via Circuito, Fauna, El Remolón, the compilations) judging on the quality of these, King Coya's forthcoming album is much anticipated!
In the meantime here is a King Coya Remix of Petrona Martinez's Un Nino Que Llora en los Montes de Maria. Save Petrona Martínez's story for another day!
Headed to Le Bar in the micro-centro last night for a mojito tranquilo and was delighted to discoverDoña María playing live. First I had heard of them but really enjoyed the show and the reaction of the audience was great. Mucha onda!
They have vocalists, a chap on turntables, double bass, percussion and guitar. A real mix of styles from Argentine folk to cumbia, electronica and beyond! A quick song and video here (pretty different styles):
After heading down to ZZK's weekly extravaganza last night I grabbed a copy of their latest compilation album; ZZK Sound Vol.2. I am currently giving it the first listen and have to say I am impressed, the sound is progressing, it is not just stuck on Cumbia with electronic beats. There are of course some great sounding electronic cumbia tracks such as Uproot Andy's Brooklyn Cumbia but it is far more diverse. Another snapshot of what is going on in the southern hemisphere.
The styles are all over the shop and a fine and intriguing shop, bit like an antique shop: full of stuff. There are tracks which passed me by and then there are tracks which grabbed me and said: LISTEN!!! Which is obvious given it's size (19 tracks - value for money or what!) Give it a listen on ZZK's webiste where you can download individual tracks. I also snapped up the previously mentioned Chancha Via Circuito album, also recommendedededed!
I have picked two examples here for your listening pleasure but there is MORE, much more. You can buy the album (MP3) from ZZK themselves here: ZZK Volume II and apparently Amazon (they are going up in the world!) Though it says 23rd June is the release date? Hmmm. Watch this space, or ZZKs.
Yesterday I made the lengthy trip out of the BuenosAires limits to Ituzaingó (great name - after the Battle of Ituzaingó) for the Inversa night. The linepup included Negro Moreno, OndaVaga, El Remolón, Leonchalon and DJ Raffa.
Negro Moreno spun mainly cumbia bootlegs mixing it all up, lot of US hi-hop (Wu-Tang, O.D.B. etc...) I guess he was warming the crowd up.
I think a lot of people came to see OndaVaga, a band on the up, and a lot of people were a little disappointed. They were plagued by technical issues (lack of monitors, instruments unamplified etc) and their sound never managed to fill the vast space of the venue. Despite this, they looked and acted the part. Five bearded chaps sharing vocals and instruments at every opportunity. A sea of harmonies and brass (amplified acoustica?) which could be categorized, appropriatley, as vagabond music. Will be good to see them again in a better venue (KONEX on Wednesday perhaps?)
Onda Vaga - Me Pega Fuerte:
After the VagaOnda of OndaVaga, another sluggish artist took to the stage, El Remolón (translating as the lazy one...) and blew me away.
He played a live set on his mac using a midi keyboard, microphone and percussion. A set of pure fire skewed kumbia. Randomly singing Manu Chao, sampling Madonna, improvising on his little keyboard and a nada k ver Calle 13 remix. This guy is pushing it forward and I can't wait to get hold of the B-sides from his smashin' Pibe Cosmo album. Listen to some previews here:
Leonchalon closed the night, a local reggae band, and they were...an above average local reggae band. The crowd got deep into. I left at 5:35am on a bewilderingly busy Sunday morning train back to Bs As just in bed just in time for sunrise.
I am stumped by this guy. I just don't get it but he is entertaining. The man is one of the following: a) some kind of underground, electronica artist exploring and experimenting with new directions. b) a flogger (still not sure what this flogger thing is all about...) taking himself way too seriously or c) a joke. Decide for yourself. Wikipedia comes to the rescue!
"La versión actual de este artículo o sección parece estar escrita a modo de publicidad."
Or not...I think that roughly translates as: he wrote his own wikipedia entry. So the artist known as Mäuss has 1 official website, 2 fotologs, a wikipedia entry and 6 myspaces! Man alive! The most prolific underground artist in Argentina?
He is the DJ. (Are these what you call floggers?)
El Beso
Finally I leave with a quote, a gem of 8-bit cumbia and Charlie Parker meets a drum machine:
Está inmerso en otro proyecto de experimentación con la música tropical, la electrónica y el minimal, bajo un proyecto de teknotrónika, al que denominó como Mäuss Y la sonora 8 bits. (Like Skwee meets cumbia on a mobile phone.) Integra paralelamente un trío de electronic jazz junto al flautista & saxofonista Martín Barcos y el bajista Santiago Olivera (dos de los músicos de jazz más talentosos de la Mesopotamia), con quienes hace versiones de Charlie Parker.
Seems everybody who is anybody in the US was at Coachella this weekend. Bastards. Another dizzy line-up which I think is just plain indulgent. Like easter. Interestingly however, there was quite the "latin" contingent reppin' (well...Mexico and Argentina...):
Also some other worldy sounds and rhythms such as Kuduro Kings, Buraka Som Sistema who Diplo seems to think are fairly mad and fairly decent (see his blog for some cochella crowd action) In other news, the seemingly pleasant D/J Rupture goes shopping for cumbia (this man gets EVERYWHERE!) Also check the nod to blogs and being into the latest "thing" + Cumbia! Caught red handed. Time to look for the next fashionably, underground yet exportable world music and blog about it before anyone else! (Apologies for the cynicism...I do truly dig innovation)
Another little recomendation from Bs As: Miss Bolivia! An MC thorwing shapes n words to some dancehall, hop-hip tropical, IDM argentine beats. Funk-key. You can download her EP/demo Vibracion legally from the wonderfully comprehensive archive.org
Catch her out live over the next month (the 29th of May is with aforementioned Kumbia Queers!):
In other news, Net-Lab is based in Brighton, I am not sure exactly what it is or how I found it but it looks great, here is the spiel:
Net-Lab:
Encourages legal free distribution and redistribution of music, via a Creative Commons license
Supports growth of small, independent artists Worldwide, particularly those creating leftfield electronica
Strengthens personal development and exploration of sound, particularly into the avant garde
Presents up-to-date information and reviews on live events and new releases from the worlds of Electronica, Indie, Rock, Dubstep, Electro, UK Grime and more
I am IN. Check out the releases for good shit, even an EP from BA's own dubstep man Daleduro. Also little chunks of info kind of blogish. Right on.
I may be late on this bandwagon but I just got my hands on some stuff by a group called Kumbia Queers, six chicas (5 Argentinas and 1 Mexicana.) They are all former punks turned Cumbieras (formerly called She Devils). In an interview they said "It is more punk to play cumbia than to play punk." Fair enough.
The album Kumbia Nena is daft, camp and a lot of fun. It is a collection of covers (Madonna, The Cure, Black Sabbath, Nancy Sinatra) and original tracks. My favourites so far are their great cover of the Ramones Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (La China es Cumbianchera) and Kumbia Zzzzombie. They have already shared stages with cumbia legends Pibes Chorros and Damas Gratis and it makes a nice change from the usual machismo/sexism awash in villera!
The fact I am posting this probably means I have too much time on my hands and am spending too much of that time staring at my laptop. The inspiration for this post is the twenty or so firefox tabs of blogs, myspaces, downloads, mixes and pure gold I have found on a recent trawl through the google ocean! After having lived in BA for five months and travelled a little in Latin America, (Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia..) I have become submerged in cumbia (more like it drowned in it; ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch!) Latin America's unifying soundtrack, a rhythm which came from Africa, travelled to Colombia and now floats in streets from Lima to Mexico City.
What has stoked my interest is the particular evolution of the sound in Buenos Aires. Before 2000 Argentine Cumbia was associated with a placid Romantic style. However, after 2001's economic crisis, a sub-genre appeared under the umbrella of Cumbia Villera (cumbia from the villas; the poorest areas of the city). Though criticised by many as a style which glorified drugs, violence and crime and held in contempt by the upper classes, it was a social phenomenon which grew directly out of the crisis, felt hardest by the poorest. The music is an expression of life in BA's slums much as Baile Funk was in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
Damas Gratis, pioneers of Villera sound.
Eight years on a new wave of artists influenced by Cumbia Villera and brought together by ZZK Records are experimenting with the sound and pushing it in a thousand directions: think cumbia remixes of Animal Collective, Clipse, minimal cumbia or even cumbia vs Peruvian Huayno! They are taking the rhythms of the street and making them global, bassy and funky. They also have awesome flyer designs:
Courtesy of the world-wide-web and the ease of travelling, mutant cumbia is escaping the continent and taking the underground, dance hungry world by storm. Helped by artists with world-wide appeal and "nuff-respect", (super-star-ghetto-bass crew: Diplo, D/J Rupture, Uproot Andy, Radioclit etc) the tracks are reaching ears in New York, Montreal, Norway and even London. ZZK are currently touring the US for the second time and set to play at this summers Coachella.
What you have to remember and what Grant Dull, the co-founder of ZZK explained is that independent record labels and distribution is near non-existent in Latin America, when compared to a city such as London or NY, for it's size BA is surprisingly musically homogeneous. Therefore the growth of the scene has been dependent on the Internet, networking, blogging, myspace, mashups and mixtapes. Luckily for them and us, the net-underground has latched onto it. I am latching on to them and adding my line to the web.
Here's how you get into it:
@ ZZK Records download their free mixtapes, scour the site for free MP3s, mashups etc, find something you like: buy it!
@ There is a world of music blogs which keep their fingers on the global pulse and have MP3s, mixes etc:
Look out for some updates, posts and new music on this blog! A mix is in the mix after the recent mix I did mixing up deepstep and techno (Download here!)
This blog was set up in Argentina after discovering a world of music and the wonders the internet can offer. It is run by myself, part time student, music lover and hispanophile.
Please get in touch if you anything to say or would like music which appears here to be removed: rjperkins1@gmail.com
Karatekazulu?
