Close your eyes and think “Latin music”. Chances are you thought about something tropical – salsa, maybe. Or maybe mariachi. But unusual sounds, sampling and outer-worldly equipment-born-and-bred music and noises, unlikely. That and so much more is coming at us thanks to the 5th Festival de Músical Electrónica Latina, known as the FMEL.
Here’s just a sampler of things to do thanks to the artists visiting us for the FMEL’s 5th edition:
… Dance!
DANIEL MALOSO
From Monterrey, DJ Producer Daniel Maloso specializes in super-danceable musical productions using toys, synthesizers, vocals and vocoders. Maloso participates with a renowned label “Cómeme”, founded by chilenos Matias Aguayo and Gary Pimiento, whose declaration as to the label’s focus is “House, street, sex, South America, friendship, swing, cumbia, magic, hip feeling, techno, kwaito, night, Africa, love, dance, trips, parties”…need we say more?
… Trance!
FAX
Ruben Tamayo, aka Fax, hails from Mexicali. An acclaimed graphic designer and accomplished guitarist, Tamayo left his instrument for computers, knobs and equipment only to come back to incorporate it in his latest recordings, creating what he calls “counterpoint” between the textures of the equipment and his guitar. His compositions are beautiful, elegant and ethereal, much like his designs and delicately reminiscent of the ethereal rock he once played in bands.
…Check the amazing noise!
ARCANGEL CONSTANTINI
From Mexico City, this avant-garde self-taught visual and sound artist is fascinated by a number of complex concepts, including how today’s technology filters our perceptions and our society. A meditator who believes the educational system should teach children to journal their dreams, his work touches upon bringing together ancestral energies, contemporary technological processes, recycling, hacking, and reflecting upon perceiving new realities.
…Bend some circuits!
YAIR LOPEZ
López, from Guadalajara, is a resident artist at the cutting edge CMMAS- Mexican Center for Music and Sonic Arts in Morelia. He brings to the FMEL a series of projects and workshops that include creating sound out of what he calls “error”, the art of manipulating or modifying an object (in the workshops he will offer, low-voltage toys or radios) by hacking its circuits to allow it to serve a new artistic purpose.
… And dance again!
METRIKA
The hallmark of Drummer DJ/Producer Diego Cevallos, aka Metrika productions is micro-sampling, the use of the smallest bit of his own collection of recordings to generate sample-driven music he calls tech-house – based upon electronica, geared to the dance floor like house, but warmer and more organic than pure techno.