Words by Justin Turford
As any regulars of this blog will know, we LOVE music that sits between genres. The untamedness of artists who understand their own cultural heritage but rocket their creations outwards into new hard-to-define territories is the inspiration for how we DJ and what we collect as music fans, and this new and lovingly curated record rings that bell loud and clear.
Imagine delirious B-Movie synthesisers, hurtling Latino rhythms and a side salad of dub and you kind of get the gist of this totally popping new compilation by the acclaimed Mexican DJ and radio host Coco María. A perfect match for the Swiss genre-slashing label Bongo Joe, Coco’s second compilation for the label contains a couple of artists we’ve covered before on the site - Acid Coco, Alex Figueira (here with Lola’s Dice) - and showcases the psychedelic ‘tropical’ scene that has been bubbling to the boil since Colombia’s Eblis Álvarez threw his surrealistic Meridian Brothers project into the ring with his ‘Desesperanza’ album in 2012 . As it should be, Eblis appears here twice with the addictive psyche groove of Los Pirañas and the lunatic cumbia-punk of Chupame El Dedo (with its insane kazoo-sounding keyboard and wild top line percussion), both outfits exemplifying his unique combination of potent rhythmic mastery and absurd humour.
Los Pirañas
A globetrotting DJ and Amsterdam based these days, Coco has selected from across the diaspora for inclusions on her new collection and because of this pan-global outlook, the compilation isn’t a ‘pure’ Latin experience. The influence of many cultures bleeds into the music with the previously unknown producer Dip In The Dub’s ‘La Cumbia Del Sufi Que No Sabía Bailar’ - the standout example of this borderless fusion with its cumbia bassline and shakers melded to a Tuareg-sounding guitar, call-and-answer vocals and punky attitude. One could imagine Adrian Sherwood creating sound desk mayhem on this in the post-punk badlands of the 1980s.
The Israeli producer Raz Olsher bookends the comp nicely with two short tracks. First track ‘Pacific Dreams’ is a sweet introductory melody with wistful guitars and laidback percussion, a palette cleanser before the madness. ‘Vamonos Cocos’ is a fizzy closing vignette that harnesses the vibe of the whole record with its kalimbas, propulsive percussion and the ubiquitous wonky tropical synths that define much of this community’s sound.
Acid Coco
T&L faves Acid Coco contribute a brand new track to the compilation, their sparse electro-Colombian swagger stripped down even further with a pulsing synth bassline that adds a dancehall edge to their trademark future-vintage explorations.
The two tracks from French duo Guess What move from the sludgy and tripped out cumbia rebajada of ‘Children’s Favourite’ to the Afrobeat-influenced ‘Stickle Bricks’, a tune that sounds like a funky French library track with guest drums from Tony Allen.
Again from the Netherlands, Juan Hundred’s ‘Always Ready To Smoke’ is a good example of some of the music being created during that late 2000s ‘global bass’ scene. Tough but weirdo guacharaca rhythms programmed on the MPC and with an ear-splitting synth line, it’s not subtle and not meant to be - this is sound system music. Once more we see the bleeding edge of genre-blurring, where precise indigenous rhythms are squeezed, torn and reassembled into new shapes - a sound I have been exploring for a decade or so myself but as I can attest from audience reactions, an irresistible firework in the brain for the new listener!
Nestled right in the centre of the compilation is a lovely moment of calm and beauty. ‘Ronca (Carta Para Una Mija)’ by Las Mijas is a stunning and evocative song by the Colombian duo of La Muchacha and Briela Ojeda, who with just a guitar and their two beautiful interweaving vocals, manage to evade the rhythmic boisterous of much of the compilation, giving us instead a melodically rich anthem that will get you singing along whether you speak Spanish or not. (Check the joy in their performance below!).
The Madrid based Colombian/Venezuelan expats Candeleros take what seems like a simple (but wobbly) guitar melody and midtempo cumbia percussion groove on ‘El Bravo’ into an FX drenched second half, the instrumental song disappearing into a heat haze before returning to the source. Cheekily rebellious, it has that 70s Disco Fuentes ambience but subverts it very subtly.
Candeleros
Speaking of delicate subversion, the dreamy tropical indie pop of Iko Chérie’s ‘Lepidoptera’ is another of the more feminine moments on the record. An alter ego of the multi-faceted French musician Marie Merlet, Iko Chérie is her solo vision and it is charmingly odd. With its drum machine swing, delicious island guitars, heavily treated vocals and soothing otherness, ‘Lepidoptera’ is a daydream of a song.
Coco María herself makes an appearance on this record as guest vocalist for the Rotterdam based Lola’s Dice on ‘Sacúdete’ - an alternative version of the Javier Bohorquez penned song that was originally sung by Javier on the Alex Figueira produced original (with drums, bass and backing vocals by Alex as well). It works beautifully, Coco’s seductive voice coolly straddling the horror movie synths and punky-cumbia shuffle.
Lastly and in a sonic swerve from the rest of the collection is one of Coco’s favourite DJ weapons. ‘Off The Groove’ by the Dutch/Surinamese jazz flautist Ronald Snijders is a filthily funky mid-80s jazz-funk-boogie grinder with Stevie-style clavinet keys, slap bass and Ronald’s wild flute expression in a dance with the keyboardists. As the track progresses and the musicians let go, its inclusion completely makes sense, the fusion of styles a signpost to the cross-cultural synthesis we accept so readily now.
All in all, ‘Club Coco ¡AHORA! The Latin sound of now’ is pretty much perfect to my ears. A masterful curation from Coco María that offers the feral and the cultivated together, risk and experimentalism hand in hand with tradition, and with fun and joy in its heart. 10/10