The “Caliventura EP”, out on March 15th , features remixes by Cut Chemist, J Boogie, Jeremy Sole, Daedelus and DJ Day

The “Caliventura EP”, out on March 15th , sees US based producers
Cut Chemist, J Boogie, Jeremy Sole, Daedelus and DJ Day giving
the remix treatment to a handful of tracks from Quantic and His
Combo Bárbaro’s immensely acclaimed ‘Tradition In Transition’
album. The EP also features an alternative, previously unreleased
version of the album track, “Albela”.

This essential EP comes in a full color picture sleeve featuring a
photograph taken in Colombia by the celebrated LA-based
photographer B+ (Mochilla), who has become a key contributor to the
Quantic aesthetic in recent years, and whose critically acclaimed body
of work includes the famous shot for DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’.
Inside the beautiful sleeve, you’ll also find an exclusive download card
with all five vinyl tracks available on mp3, plus five bonus goodies.
‘Tradition In Transition’, released in Summer 2009, was the inaugural
LP from the newly created Combo Bárbaro, a band of unsurpassed
international talent formed by Will ‘Quantic’ Holland to bring life to his
new musical vision. Heralding more of a progression in sound than an
outright change of direction, with his Combo Bárbaro, Quantic (who
had already released more than ten albums and sold in excess of
100,000 records) set about mining the lesser-tapped musical sources
from the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa and fusing those
rediscovered psychedelic, experimental and rhythmically rich sounds of
the past with deep funk and soul elements and folkloric vocal styles.
The album release immediately garnered a huge amount of acclaim, with
positive reviews and features appearing in magazines across the genres
and around the world, including Q, Mojo, The Independent, XLR8R,
Notion, iDJ, Songlines, DJ Mag and more. The band have toured the
UK, US and Europe to rapturous responses, delivering a scintillating live
display, and Summer 2010 saw them perform at Glastonbury festival,
featuring on BBC TV’s main coverage of the festival. Quantic also
appeared on radio shows including KCRW, NPR, Nemone (BBC
6Music) and the 6Mix, with live band sessions for Craig Charles (BBC
6Music), Mark Lamarr (BBC Radio 2) and Gilles Peterson (BBC
Radio 1). In this period, the ever-prolific producer also revealed the
second album from his dub-reggae influenced Flowering Inferno
moniker, the highly praised ‘Dog With A Rope’, which came out in July
2010.

MIAMI BASED Mr. Pauer DEBUTS HIS ALBUM OF “ELECTROPICAL” BEATS FROM CUMBIA TO ELECTRO, DUB TO FUNK, INTO ONE COHESIVE SIGNATURE SOUND

[soundcloud width=”100%” height=”225″ params=”g=1″ url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/129396″]Mr. Pauer – Soundtrack – Release date: February 15, 2011 by Mr Pauer

Mr. Pauer (Toto Gonzalez) is a globetrotting DJ/Producer and remixer born in the Caribbean city of Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, who is now based in the sunshine funk of Miami, FL. Ever since Mr. Pauer moved to Miami over 18 years ago, he has helped the city develop a burgeoning scene of international music through his long-running DJ residencies, and the Fabrika brand (http://www.fabrikalink.com).

Mr. Pauer’s musical influences are as diverse as rock, electro, new wave, house, tropical and cumbia, which runs the gamut; creating a dynamic musical explosion in his production and live sets. His debut release, Soundtrack (out February 15th) is a collection of songs that are loosely defined as “Electropical” beats. The production value is aimed at inviting you to dance, despite cultural backgrounds; very typical of his

DJ sets and crowds. “Living back in Venezuela I grew up listening to Anglo and Spanish rock, my mother used to listen to boleros, my dad to traditional Venezuelan music, my older brothers to American 80’s pop, and to socialize I had to learn how to dance salsa and merengue. Magically after years, I connected dots unconsciously creating an array of sounds that identify with the culture I grew up with,” says Mr. Pauer. There’s no wonder that the Miami New Times called him, “…perhaps the most international of all Miami DJs.”

A Hawk and A Hacksaw seeks to create and document an ecstatic sound much like the village bands of old, with the communal aspect of folk tradition and musicianship the key factors.

A Hawk and A Hacksaw have found themselves performing in places and situations straight out of a Jonathan Safran Foer novel:  deep in the Romanian hinterland,  recording with Fanfare Ciocarlia; on the streets of Amsterdam and out on the Jaffa road, performing to both Hassids and Palestinians; in a sculptor’s tree house outside of Budapest; and at a Jewish wedding in Pittsburgh with a young boy staring transfixed at the band, tears streaming down his face.

The desert mountains of New Mexico seem an unlikely home for a band that specializes in its own blend of music from the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, and Romania. But as the new album CERVANTINE (L. M. Dupli-cation; March 8, 2011) reveals, there is more to the connection than the untrained eye can see. On the title track, the group explores the mariachi influence on Romany brass that flourished thanks to the Latin American soap operas popular across Eastern Europe. “Europeans inspired Mexican brass and now Mexican brass inspired Europeans,” says band founder, accordionist, and percussionist Jeremy Barnes. “In New Mexico, we grew up hearing all this brass music, hearing mariachis.”

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/19725802]

There is something connecting what may seem like distant points on the map: The Balkans and New Mexico, thanks to an odd tie Barnes and band mate and violinist Heather Trost felt on their travels. “Northern New Mexico is a beautiful ecosystem of cultural clashes and mixings, that really remind us of the Balkans and Transylvania,” says Trost. “There are very few ‘cultural climates’ like this in the world, and I think it’s something we try to reflect in our songs.”

In an effort to inspire cooperation in an age of divisiveness Chicago’s prolific street artist (originator of “Go Tell Mama, I’m For Obama”) Ray Noland has released a print titled, “THE FUTURE IS…”. This print imagines America, not as it is but as it could be (without the Sarah Palins cashing in on hate). The fifty multi-colored states are reconstructed into the universal symbol of love — the heart. Ivy, which gets its symbolism of connections and friendships because of its propensity to interweave in growth, pierces through the country instead of an arrow. More info. here

Featuring tunes from Ursula Rucker, Cheikh Lo, Afrocubism, Tommy Guerrero, Empresarios, Ballaké Sissoko, Chandrika, Smadar Levi and more. […]

New Releases

Amadou & Mariam “The Remixes”

Malian duo Amadou & Mariam released a 13-track digital album of remixes on January 11, 2011, exclusively on iTunes. The Remixes collection features favorite singles from their best-selling albums Welcome to Mali and Dimanche à Bamako, along with several new versions, and some previously unreleased mixes, from across their catalog reworked by what Pitchfork calls a “wonderfully random” group of collaborators. Highlights include new versions of the single “Sabali” by Miike Snow and French techno maestro Vitalic; and “Afrika” revisited by Bob Sinclar.

Among the African contributions to the compilation are the township remix of “Ce N’est Pas Bon” by South Africa’s DJ Aero, and a reworking of “Masiteladi” by Mali’s Mo DJ. Two New York bootlegs also make their way onto the album with rising star Theophilus London’s mix of “Sabali” and DJ Sabo’s “Artistiya.” Classics include 2005’s Afrikanz on Marz mix of “Coulibaly” by Ashley Beedle and a version by Akon.

Several tracks from Amadou & Mariam’s back catalog are featured, including “Je Pense à Toi,” from their 1999 album Sou Ni Tilé, the track that first brought the duo to Manu Chao’s attention, and which is reworked here by DJ Alix. To purchase Amadou & Mariam’s Remixes from iTunes, click here.

Amalia “Art Slave”

Besides winning the prestigious CMW award and being nominated by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Amalia has already performed and shared her electromagnetic pull with the likes of Dr. Lonnie Smith, Maceo Parker, Jazzanova, Saul Williams, Cinematic Orchestra and many more. A unique voice and mind that transcends this space and time, Amalia has also been the secret weapon of numerous underground producers including AD Bourke, Atjazz & Son Of Kick, who all deliver the bonus remixes for this release.