Tag Archive | "clubbing"

Tremor: Shaking Up the Argentine Music Scene


If you’ve slithered your way through tango steps, acquainted yourself with the canon of rock nacional, head-bobbed to digital cumbia and whistled along with folklóre Argentino and are left wondering what Argentine music has yet to show you, then you’re due for a dose of Tremor. This three piece band’s inventive sound blends cutting edge electronic composition and sound manipulation with traditional folkloric influences. Acoustic instruments such as the charango, ronroco, bombo legüero, flutes and violin are spliced together with chunky rhythms that bump into each other, pile up and are topped off with glitchy electronic ambience.

Photo by Brian Funk
The opening sequence of the musical and visual presentation of Tremor.

Tremor’s unique sound is the product of composer Leonardo Martinelli’s restless explorations of different musical expressions. As a teenager Martinelli attended the Manuel de Falla Conservatory in Buenos Aires, where he studied various styles of guitar, percussion and folkloric music. After graduating he proceeded to delve deeper into theories of composition with the accomplished classical and jazz composer Marcelo Katz, who Martinelli describes as “my master, my yoda”.

Before his formal training had yet begun, Martinelli had already started experimenting with various electronic instruments and recording processes. He had become fed up with the fickle stylistic leanings of his teenage bands, and was drawn to the opportunity of playing and recording on his own using synthesizers and samplers. The immense creative potential provided by the electronics became a central element of Martinelli’s artistry. He explains, “that’s what Tremor is about, it’s about using technology to make a collage.”

Photo by Brian Funk
Band leader Leo Martinelli experiments with musical compositions from recordings of many different instruments including even household objects.

Martinelli has utilised some highly unorthodox ingredients in his collages. He has recorded and then manipulated sounds produced by electronic printers, silverware, wine glasses filled to various levels, coins, furniture, cake pans, ping pong balls, telephone tones and many more. He is quick to point out that these sounds are not added just for novelty’s sake, but that he arranges the sounds to form genuine musical elements or patterns: “I think the difference between noise and music is that music has a logical pattern, or discourse; so when I use those kinds of sounds I try to make them say something interesting.”

For example, in the track ‘Surco’ the humming of an old printer slides along on top of the rhythm and propels the track forward. In ‘Dedalo’ the differing tings of wine glasses form a melody that heightens the piece’s crescendo.

These two tracks were assembled from a massive sound bank that Martinelli compiled  before recording his first Tremor album, entitled ‘Landing’, recorded in his small home studio, and released independently in 2004.

He expanded on this recording technique to create the innovative ‘Defecto Primario: Suite Para Esencias Instrumentales’, which won first prize and a grant from the F Arts Awards, organised by the Artistic Experimentation Lab and Faena Group. In creating ‘Defecto Primario’, Martinelli followed strict self-imposed limitations. Each track of the ensemble was created using a single instrument or tool. Martinelli amassed separate sound banks consisting of all the melody and rhythm-related sounds that he could muster from each instrument, and then cut and pasted the fragments together.

‘Particulas Elementales’ stacks up various “vocal emissions” to create a bouncy and slick track. Martinelli told me that while he enjoys playing live – “I feel a ton of adrenaline when composing” – and these tracks ooze with the kind of enthusiasm for the studio expected from a musical mad scientist. He warns the sonically conservative, “the project is a bit crazy, you probably don’t want to listen to it while having dinner.”

Photo by Brian Funk
All three members of Tremor come together for a Quena flute jam.

Martinelli’s experimental musings have led him to projects in other art forms as well. In 2005 Martinelli collaborated with a friend on the play, ‘The Theatre Machine’, which competed at the Plateaux Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. There were no actors in the ‘The Theatre Machine’. Instead, it featured a gaggle of contraptions on the stage being triggered by a computer: lighting effects, videos flashing on and off, assorted objects descending from the ceiling, the raising of an inflatable doll and mouse traps being triggered by golf balls – just to name a few.

He has also worked with film. He was in charge of the musical arrangements for a short dance-related film called ‘Interio.Baño.Noche’, which won first prize at the 2004 Latin American Dance Video Festival in the artistic creation category.

Of his many artistic engagements Martinelli says, “I’m very curious and I also get bored really easily.”

However, for the last few years his focus has been firmly set on transforming Tremor into a  successful live band. ‘Landing’ received wide critical acclaim and the exposure drastically altered the course of the project. After seeing Martinelli interviewed on television, percussionist Camilo Carabajal contacted him by email. Carabajal was enthusiastic about the two collaborating, though he wasn’t quite sure what they should work on.

Photo by Brian Funk
The back screen visuals silhouette the three members who make up Tremor.

Martinelli performed at a few shows with Carabajal’s band, more of a rock outfit, and the two began jamming and experimenting at the sound checks. They decided to record a three track EP. Laughing heartily, Martinelli recalls asking Carabajal, “hey, so what’s up, are you waiting for an invitation to work on Tremor?” Carbajal responded jokingly, “What? That invitation already happened!”

Two months later the two met keyboard and melodica player Gerardo Farez and Tremor took on its current manifestation. The three began reworking the tracks from ‘Landing’  and creating new compositions for their performances.

The emotive power of Tremor’s music, slightly obscured by the electronics on the albums, comes crashing through during their performances. Carabajal primarily plays the bombo legüero, a massive bass drum which is played standing up. He bobs and weaves over the drum like it’s a boxing opponent, delivering thundering blows and precise, nimble rim shots. Farez switches between an assortment of keyboards and the melodica, threading sinuous melodies through the tracks and sweeping the crowd along on discursive excursions. Martinelli mostly alternates between a keyboard, electric guitar and charango (a small stringed instrument in the lute family), usually swapping mid-song to initiate a dramatic change of mood.

The tracks become more expansive and intense when performed live, often venturing into sections of highly charged tension and eeriness. This intensity is augmented by the psychedelic imagery projected behind the band by video artist ‘Matapixels’, who has created a series of images and videos that accompany each track.

Photo by Brian Funk
Group leader Leo Martinelli plays the bombo legüero alongside percussionist Camilo Carabajal.

The three artists recorded the second tremor album, ‘Viajante’, as a group. While Martinelli still composes most all of the music, he says that his band mates play a vital role in the process: “their essences are there in the production.” Clearly informed by Martinelli’s composition training, ‘Viajante’ masterfully transitions between different moods from subtle, melancholic introspection to fierce, thumping outbursts.

Turning the Tremor project into a performing band led to collaboration with the local music collective Zizek Urban Beats Club. Martinelli describes the collective as a fertile ground for sharing musical ideas and influences, which has also helped to develop Tremor’s sound. Involvement with Zizek has also led to both US and European tours.

Along with further touring in the coming months, Martinelli is currently making the music for a documentary film, working on tracks for the third Zizek compilation album and recording  both a Tremor remix collection and third studio album. He promises me that, of course, the sound is transforming. This is exciting news for all of us who appreciate music being pushed into brave new territory.

Both Tremor albums, ‘Landing’ and ‘Viajante’, can be purchased and downloaded from itunes and Amazon. The new remix album, ‘Para Armar’, will be released in June, and the third studio album should be out by early next year.

The next scheduled Tremor show will take place on 6th June as part of the Ciudad Emergente Festival, Sala Villa Villa.

For more information please visit: www.tremormusic.com and www.myspace.com/thesoundoftremor

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‘Clásica Y Bailable’ – A Musical Melting Pot


It’s Saturday night and you don’t know what you want to do. You haven’t had enough drinks to go for a big cheesy night on the tiles, you’re not feeling the heaving reggaeton and Palermo is starting to blur into a haze of early morning bar encounters. If you find yourself in this little pickle, hop in a cab to Abasto for ‘Clásica Y Bailable’.

The night is hosted by local radio station FM La Tribu 88.7 at Uniclub. Uniclub is a short distance away from the usual big nightspots, but this area is increasingly becoming more popular for people looking for something that isn’t your usual potter around Palermo or San Telmo. As such, the nights they have also offer something a little alternative.

‘Clásica Y Bailable’ features a five-piece band playing drums, keyboards, guitar, cello and clarinet and when they say Clásica, they mean Clásica, in every sense. The drummer keeps the crowd jumping, whilst the musicians throw down their own mixes of anything from The Police to Michael Jackson to Mozart – yes, the classical and the classics. There was even a Bach’s B Minor Suite (the one that everyone had on their Nokia telephones at the beginning of the Noughties) played out over a reggae beat and a dance version of the Super Mario Brother’s theme tune. A dash of klezmer kept the crowd kicking its feet up through the night.

When the band takes a break, the sound system takes over, keeping everyone dancing with some more traditional salsa music and cumbia beats, with some balkan tunes thrown in. If you’ve got your mojo going, you can keep dancing all night. Otherwise, take a break to grab a drink from the bar. Uniclub is on three levels, so there is plenty of space to sit and relax with the eclectic crowd of twenty and thirty-somethings.

So if you want to shake your thing, but want something more than pure thumping beats, head to ‘Clásica Y Bailable’ on a Saturday. You can groove to any style you want and the live band provides enough variety that you can watch with a drink, like you would at a gig. Don’t be fooled by the idea of a stuffy live orchestra – this one will rock your musical world. They will take the music of your childhood and sex it up. They will make you shake to the music of the school disco. And that’s before the bass clarinet comes out.

‘Clásica Y Bailable’ is on every Saturday from 11pm at Uniclub, Guardia Vieja 3360. Entry costs $15. See www.uniclub.com.ar or www.fmlatribu.com for more details.

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The Hype About Hype


Photo Courtesy of Hype

Hype by name and hyped by nature, there are guaranteed queues outside Kika at its popular Tuesday night party. By a comparatively early 2am, expect to see hordes of North American girls in glittery frocks and high heels elbowing their way to the front of the queue in a less than ladylike fashion. Inside, their outfits are justified, as Kika is a glamorous venue, the polished entrance-way impressive at first glance with its fashionable neon strip lighting and dangling glitter-balls.

Despite all the aesthetic effort on display outside the club however, the actual dancefloor in which Hype takes place is Kika’s back room. It’s small and resembles the standard black box club format. The night also offers slightly grittier musical fare than Kika’s usual preference for style over substance. Hip-hop, rock, electro, drum and bass and dubstep are the genres on its extensive musical menu. The range of international popular music is eclectic but nothing groundbreaking, instead it treads the fine line between underground and commercial. It is accessibly cool – neither impenetrably experimental nor monotonously mainstream.

Hype offers a carefully orchestrated line-up, which always follows the same basic template, interspersed with the odd guest appearance. Indie from midnight until 1.30am is followed by Argentine DJ Fabrizio Ruiz spinning hip-hop from 1.30 until 3, with 2.45 until 3.15 reserved for guest DJs. 3.30-4 is electro-house straight from the vaults of English founder Matthew Ashley’s musical collection and 4.30 until 5 features another English turn from Simon Taylor for a drum and bass set.

On the night I attended, an uninspiring hip-hop set featured an intensive dirty south session which seemed to drive the US clubbers wild. For the uninitiated, unfortunately, the relentless selection of a very culture-specific form of music fell largely on deaf ears. All was forgiven however when the pace picked up around 3.30 as the electro DJ took to the decks and spun eminently danceable tunes until well into the morning, managing to keep the club packed despite its Tuesday night slot.

Photo Courtesy of Hype

It might end late but Hype has a relatively early start by Argentine standards, with the party kicking off at midnight. It’s not necessary to bide your time until 3am, as is the case for the majority of weekend boliches. Nevertheless this is still Buenos Aires so don’t expect anyone to be there at its opening hour. Entrance is cheap, especially if you mention The Argentina Independent or sign up to the guestlist on Facebook, in which case it’s free until 1.30. Afterwards a mere $20 includes a mixed drink. Inside, the bar offers happy hour prices until 1am, with drinks remaining affordable throughout the night.

Foreigners constitute approximately 80% of the crowd, according to events promoter Ivan Carrasco’s estimation. Indeed, promotion is specifically targeted at tourists, travellers and expats, with English-language publications, hostels and gringo-friendly businesses their first port of call. The idea is to offer a space in which foreigners can catch up with the tunes they miss from home. As Ivan explains, “most Argentines don’t really like the music.” The night has been going from strength to strength since its launch at Kika in March, and Ivan considers it to be “a new concept” occupying a place all to itself in Buenos Aires’ diverse musical landscape.

Don’t come expecting whatever your perceptions of what constitutes an authentic Argentine experience to be fulfilled, Club Kika wears its cosmopolitan atmosphere proudly on its sleeve. It purveys a very Western brand of cool designed to appeal to trend-conscious Europeans and North Americans, as well as Argentines with their fingers on the pulse of global culture. Nevertheless, if it’s a young international crowd, respectably priced bar and a good selection of party tunes which deviate from the reggaeton/80s template so inexplicably favoured by Buenos Aires’ club scene that you’re looking for, then Hype is worth the hype.

For more information, check out Hype’s website: www.hype-ba.com

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Žižek: Cumbia for the Middle Classes


 

Photo by Daniel Estrada

Naming a night after a Slovenian sociologist, philosopher and social critic, who has the beard to match, married an Argentine and found himself splashed across the pages of ‘Caras’ is perhaps suitable for a party like Žižek. Like Slavoj Žižek, the night that takes place every Thursday at Niceto Club, Palermo, confounds its public by refusing to stick to one fluid ideology.

Wading through the hordes of surprisingly stationary electronica fans at Niceto to get to ‘Lado B’ (which must mean ‘backroom’ in Spanish because the place is tiny), you may be greeted with the now familiar rhythms of reggaeton and cumbia. But hold the phone, continue a little further and it sounds like someone dropping English-speaking rhymes in a decidedly urban manner.

The ‘mash-up’ is the stand out extract of the Žižek creed; utilising the music of one genre with the vocals of another. The environment certainly puts out some positive vibes and makes a refreshing change from your average night in Buenos Aires. It’s a beautiful thing to get in, go to the bar for a drink, then dance to some cumbia beats with hip-hop vocals, or a reggaeton track with bashment toasting laid over the top.

The crowd’s made up of hip young types who enjoy their cumbia, but perhaps aren’t up for a late night jaunt to Once. Rubbing shoulders are b-boys dressed head-to-toe in New Era and Nike, nice girls who may scowl at you for daring to walk anywhere near them, gringos out on the lash in Palermo, and average folks who are just having a chilled night out. The night features resident DJs Villa Diamante, Nim and G-Love, and VJ Lucas DM alongside a wide variety of specially invited guests every week (the internationally renowned Diplo, whose production styles helped launch MIA onto the map, DJed Žižek’s 1st anniversary bash last year).

However, in many ways it is the tools with which Žižek operates that sets its limits. Lado B of Niceto is a small place and the overwhelming popularity of the night makes it difficult to dance, let alone move around. It is bizarre considering the electronica night taking place in the main room is less popular and features about as much dancing as ten year olds at a school disco. Then again, one Saturday a month they do remedy this by having Super Žižek perform a takeover on Lado A.

 

Photo by Daniel Estrada

The difficult juggling of various genres leads to some haphazard mixing at times (and woe betide you if you show up to DJ with a laptop) but overall the range of selectas is good. As much as I’ve tried to enjoy reggaeton and cumbia, it’s difficult to stay awake to the exact same riddim for hours on end. ‘Mashing it up’ provides a cute distraction, but eventually there comes a time to send this one-trick pony to the knacker’s yard. However the sheer variety in DJs, and the organisers’ competence in attracting them, means you might have a bad experience one week and a blast the next.

Check the potential DJs beforehand, go on the right night and it could be excellent. Get there early and not only will you get in for cheaper, but you’ll be able to enjoy yourself a bit without being pressed against a wall.

Žižek takes place every Thursday at Niceto Club, Niceto Vega, Palermo, starting at 11pm. It’s $10 for chicas and $15 for chicos until 1am, after which it’s $30 for all. There’s a 2×1 guestlist until 1am, check www.whatsupbuenosaires.com/zizek

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