One of my favorites: Sidestepper

We're changing the pace a little bit, and by no means it is due to my latitude. Although I speak often of electronic music, my musical palette is a lot more diverse than the events I cover in NY. Latin music has a special place in my heart and my playlists, Sidestepper is one band I discovered a few years back and at last I share them with you.

First - tune in to this playlist and we can start talking about them:

Sidestepper is British producer Richard Blair's brainchild upon spending 3 years in Bogota, Colombia back in 1992. Having helped produce and engineer music of Carlos Vives and Aterciopelados amongst others, Blair released Sidestepper's first debut EP Logozon in 1999 - the year it transformed from being a solo electronic project into a full live band. 2000 brought More Grip and 2003 brought 3am (In Beats We Trust). Fusing Latin roots with modern sounds, Sidestepper's energy is a sum of afro-cuban d&b, sometimes venturing into dub and reggae on a canvas of salsa romantica. I like their music, hope you enjoy it too...

Here's their video for my favorite song by them and also first encounter with Sidestepper, Deja:

A weekend envisioned

I'm back from a long weekend of music/art/sacred movement - which in festival terms this time translated into (as Tanyarica calls them:) dirty hippies dancing like crazed animals on a former field of bamboos with crocodiles lurking from the adjacent river. Organized by regular burners, the festival was full of an eclectic crowd of people, some i suspected to be part-time medieval warriors. It amazes me that some of these people just follow festivals around the world and of course multiply in time, as there were quite a few babies/kids who were running around in the mist of hash clouds we were collectively generating. AsKer Oz definitely has a doppelganger who was painting psychedelic pieces of art during the day, and selling them by night. There were numerous workshops from sustainable building with bamboo to unleashing the sacred warrior within (somehow I missed that one); I attended an African dance class with my friend Christine and it left us sore for the next 3 days when combined with surfing for multiple hours. The music in general was whatever, I thought Bluetech blew, neither Random Rab nor Imagika, David Starfire were my cup of tea - the highlight was the tico bands that I got a chance to listen to: Sonambulo Psicotropical (sonambulo means sleepwalking) and Lucho Calavera y La Canalle. Here are some pictures and videos from a great weekend:

 

Envision green and blue

Embarking on a weekend adventure on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in Dominical with a few friends tomorrow, Envision Costa Rica is where art, music and "sacred movement" will come together in this tropical paradise. The music is seemingly mostly dubstep, which is not really my cup of tea, but surrounded by luscious green forests, surfing by day, dancing by night, waking up to yoga and organic groceries is...

I had featured a Guy J remix of a favorite Bluetech track last month, it just so happens that Bluetech will be at Envision this weekend. Labeled as "one of the best ambient artists" by NYT, Bluetech is a dj/producer from Hawaii and if you like his downtempo beats, take a note - he's going to be playing at Pianos in New York City on March 18th. Listening to couple more of his tracks, it seems appropriate that he's playing this weekend:
Mysteriosa Flambeau by Bluetech

Profile: Maya Jane Coles

Maya Jane Coles's Louche podcast is on our playlist on this very day. She's a 23 year old British/Japanese producer from London, and has been producing some very nice tracks. What's with all these young musicians? They make me feel like a musical cougar, first Nico, now Maya...speaking of Nicolas Jaar, have you guys heard his new Space is Only Noise album? I liked it, but we'll save that review to another time. Back to MJC - first a few tracks for your taste, then hopefully you're convinced to ride her podcast in full length. I didn't include some of her newest tracks like Beat Faster and Play the Game, opted for older ones as I find them more original and like them better actually. Take note - she's coming on her US tour on April 13-24 so we should be able to catch her in NYC at some point. Enjoy...
Humming Bird by Maya Jane Coles


Maya Jane Coles mix for Louche