Trouble

I've never met them but Munich's Schlachthofbronx seem like they are genuinely a bit nuts. The press shot above is one of the less conventional photos I've seen in a while. This is their heavy new remix of bashment queen Timberlee.



Timberlee - Gunny Gunny (schlachthofbronx rmx)

They were also kind enough to send us some lyrics:

"bullet in your belly, make you piss your baggy"

Charming.

Get it soon on their new ep out on On The Brink recordings. Catch them playing very good music at their club HypieHypie in Munich.

Get more AlpineBounce at Boima's post.

Vamanos @ Audio Poverty 7th Feb

Berlin, I'm Coming For You!


Catch me playing on Saturday night at Haus der Kulturen der Welte

Part of Audio Poverty

Also appearing are..

DJ/Rupture

and

Awesome Tapes From Africa.
and many more..

Its should be good. and loud.

Check out the Audio Poverty blog.

Outta Cordoba

Its Frikstailers! who make Argentoelectrobailecumbiafunk and are part of the ZZK crew. They've been on our radar for a while but now they're dropping their official Baile Frik EP on Scottish label Revolt Into Style.

Here is the lead track off the EP. Pretty mental as far as it goes!

Frikstailers - Baile Frik (Original mix)



Get the EP now as a download

Or vinyl is available at Juno

Kwasa Up The House

Wayne just sent me this hammer of a tune by Skeat who's from Botswana. Its got one of those instantly wicked African good vibes hooks that sticks in your head for days. Just what you need for January. Look out for an album and video dropping later this year on the Ruffridims label.

Skeat - Dumelang


Ruffriddims have a Blog too.

¡Viva Bolivia! No Politico...

But I've been wanting to post this for Bolivia:

El Humahuaqueño


This is King Africa, who is Argentine, but it's a great party track whose rhythm at least references the Andes.

I'm a gringo who admires Evo from a distance. I understand there are those who dislike him in his own country and those who support him fully. They have clashed violently in recent times. The decidedly split opinion of the gente allá is an interesting contrast to the current state of mind of many of U.S. citizenry, but you can't ignore lurking frustration and violence that has surfaced in recent weeks here as well.

Indigenous youth in Bolivia are taking up the fight in their musical expression:


Here's to moving towards a peaceful revolution all across the Americas.

Pasame la Botella

Carnaval is round the corner, and while I haven't heard too much about goings on elsewhere, Panama has caught Hatian fever. I picked up a Hatian megamix in Panama City, and it seems that this year producers have picked up the Compa and Zouk as the sound du jour this Carnaval... day?

I also have to point out this post by Fabian over at the Africolombia blog. It's a great juxtaposition of Caribbean and African Francophone tunes that have been picked up by or influenced Dominicans and Colombians. It reminds me of my excitement for Coupe Decale being reflected in some Reggaeton a while back.

Here is Mach & Daddy, and Jr. Ranks with Agua y Guaro, a great Hatian influenced heater of a tune. I played it last week at the Baobab inauguration party and the folks were gettin' down!

Agua y Guaro (Water & Liquor)



Speaking of the inauguration, I didn't do an Obama post over here, so I thought I would share this great live juggling set at Coppershot Disco @ Blitz Tuesdayz (via Dancehall Mobi) during an Obama celebration last week. Enjoy!

Volcanics Mix Erupts!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to return to Nicaragua for a little trip. Bootleg Cd stalls lined the street and the sound of cumbia blasted out everywhere. The music in Central America is pretty special because it has a huge melting pot of influences from South America, the US and the Caribbean, so you get an awesome soundclash of amazing tropical sounds. A musical mash up isthmus as well as a geographical one.

Reggaeton, Cumbia, Bachata, Hip Hop, Dancehall and Merengue are still massive there but I kept hearing this new uptempo club sound which I guess is rowdy latino Booty Bass house. Hooolllly shit! After deciphering what the tracks actually are from the photocopied sleeves covered with naked chicas sitting on cars, I've put together a mix of some of my favourites. Also look out here soon for loads more stuff like Coast music, tropical cumbia from Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.

La Matraca has a special place in my heart. I heard it pounding full volume on a local bus one morning. Funny and heavy at the same time. I found it later in a market which was lucky as I don't think I could have left Nicaragua without it. Maybe its the new Chacarron? Los Arremangadorres agree!

Enough talk. Party time amigos. Crack open the rum.

(Re-upped)

Vamanos - Volcanics


El General - Digame Cual
Tito - Vengo Caliente
Dolmus - El Gatito
DJ Warner - Tra Tra (DJ Tony remix)
Nejo & Dalmata ft. Arcangel - Algo Musical
JR Ranks -Yo Se Lo Toco (Remix)
Los Guajiros - Veo Veo
DJ Saidd - Wasso Coolie Remix
Mr. V - Put Your Drink Down (Bob Sinclar Remix)
DJ Glenn - La Matraca (Remix)
Enrique Flores - Si Quieres
Ricky T ft. Mr Vegas -Pressure Boom (Remix)

Soot In Paris

Heavy Soot party action in Paris on the 29th.

BASS CON//FUSION with DJ Rupture, Maga Bo + BNegão, CIAfrica.

MASH IT UP MR.OBAMA

El General - Full Up A Class

Funkuro 1.0

Are Funkeiros making kuduro funk? Are my tired, bass battered ears deceiving me ?

Can anyone who speaks Portuguese tell me what he's singing about.

Pixadão - Passinho do Kuduro

EDIT: Soundsgood has upped the knowledege and a video in the comments. Check it out...

SOUTHERN THUNDER

London's 33rd Degree make next level, bowel shaking, white hot Dubstep.  Featuring members of the awesome Various Production crew.

Here is their new track Exclusive to us. Check the out the sample of the crazy old man gabbling on about cups of tea before a searing bassline drop from hell itself. 

33rd Degree - Controlled Demolition


and don't sleep on their new mix over at Get Darker.com...


33rd Degree presents... Efil4snosam

1. Various Production - The Knock
2. Unitz - The Drop
3. Rusko - Betamax
4. Magnetic Man - Ligma VIP
5. RUF - Walk the Walk
6. Jakes - Warp 9
7. Two oh One - Choke
8. Rogue Star and Reso - No Such Thing as Fate
9. Skream - Percression
10. TRG - Time is Now
11. Reso - Climbing the Walls
12. Buraka Som Systema - Kalemba (Reso remix)
13. The Bug feat Flowdan and Killa P - Ganja
14. Joker - Snake Eater
15. DZ - Stompa
16. Sukh Knight - Diesel not Petrol
17. Various Production - Wiley Dub
18. Various Production - Hater (remix)

Real Talk

in John Pilger's film,

The War on Democracy  that I mentioned last year. 

Its excellent and now online. 

When you have a spare hour and a half check it out below. 

 

Thanks to Latin America News Review for the link.

The Rai Life

This Saturday is another edition of The High Life party in San Francisco.

Boston Bouncer, BA Zizeker, Russian Mobster, DJ Refusenik will be our featured guest, playing some North African tunes for the dancing crew. Check out his Kold Krussian Mix via Mash It, which goes into Dubstep, Cumbia, and everything else territory, but starts out with N'Sel Fik, a Rai jam whose Drum and Bass version by Faudel was a monster of a tune that has had me lose myself in joy on many an occasion.

Faudel-N'Sel Fik

Donkin in the Caribbean

Ok I'm lying again. Its not quite. But its pretty much a Donk track till the amazing merengue comes in at 1:04. Stand up Dominicanas !!!

Pike - Electromerengue

Esau Mwamwaya in Malawi

Johan from Radioclit's new video for The Very Best. He says...

Esau Mwamwaya went back to Lelongwe, Malawi in October 2008 for the first time in 9 years. I came with him to play at the Lake Of Stars festival and to shoot this video and film his homecoming in general. We had a crazy response from local press, radio and tv. we rehearsed at Lucius Banda's famous 'Summit' venue for 3 days with local dancers. We went to see the live venue where Esau's music career started 'Village Lodge', and we hung out with Esau's family and their neighbours outside of Lelongwe. Most of the kids dancing in the video is Esau's brothers and all their neighbours kids. They all new all the words by the time we got there, very cute! We played Lake Of Stars festival, which argubly might be the best festival in the world. Ive been meaning to edit all the material since then but havnt had time. Now ive finally manged to sit down and do it and hopefully you'll like it and get a little bit of insight into what Esau Mwamwaya is up to in Malawi at the moment.

Synths del Sur

(Pic - Vamanos Flickr)

Reggaeton is taking new forms. Dramatic synths have been there for a while but now they're are sliding into more Trancedelic wave forms like Timbaland and Kanye's spacey hip pop style. Algo Musical was easily my favourite reggaeton track of last year and it was good to hear it played by lots of DJs in Nicaragua. Also produced by Flow Factory is this excellently sultry electro-reggaeton jam by Arcangel.

Arcangel - Pa Que La Pases Bien

And here is the video featuring Arcangel flying around the world enjoying the company of ladies in China, Colombia and Russia. Poor bloke.

Frisco to Wisco

(Image from the Marquette Tribune)

You don't really notice idiosyncrasies in the places you grow up until you leave and come back. I grew up in Milwaukee (yes it is Algonquin for "the good land.") I spent the holidays there this past week. Beer is big, sausages are big, Polka is big... kind of. We sang Polka songs at baseball games, 'long side Take me out to the Ballgame.



I went to a clubbing district in downtown to meet up with friends and all the buildings were in an old German style, including bars advertised as German Beer Halls, mixed in with trendy lounges with Italian names (not an homage to the city's Italian community a few miles away.) I went to my grandmother's house and learned the names of the towns where the ancestors on my mother's side immigrated from (in release of submission to the King of Prussia.) The German immigrants who came to Wisconsin in the late 19th and mid 20th century tried hard to erase their connections to their old world, but culture doesn't disappear. Sometimes it's just what you do that makes you who you are.

I got put on to Schlachthofbronx through the Masala crew not too long ago. This German crew is doing a great job updating their folk musical roots. It makes me hope that maybe some kid in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin will hear this and get inspired to make some crunked up Polka. The intro to this tune makes me feel like I'm at a Brewers game:

Landergschwister Isatalerghettoschuten


And speaking of crunked up Polka:

La Niña Fresa (Remix)


Banda-Juke-Cumbia courtesy Banda Zeta