Familia, this is Cumbia Round Up No 20 brought to you by Andrés Digital and this is very special Round Up because I’m very happy to present the new Album by the fantastic Sonoido Desconocido II Pioneers de la Cumbia Electronica from Mexico DF.
Sonido Desconocido are Diego Ibañez (Electronics) and Karen Ruiz (Voz) and mixing up romantic Melodies with Tropical Rhythms.
We’ve done a lil Interview with Diego and Karen.
-Hey Diego, tell me something about Sonido Desconocido 2, where do you come from, who are you ?
Sonido Desconocido 2 is sort of an homage to popular music, to anonymous attempts to express stories, sounds, ideas and feelings about what´s going on, it´s a game that plays with the value of impersonal expression. We are a Mexico city based duo (Diego Ibáñez and Karen Ruiz) that focuses mainly on electrocumbia and tropical romantic music. The project started many years ago in a common attempt with Afrodita, Sonido Changorama, Grupo Chambelán, Kongatron and others, to make new music that would mix popular with electronic music. This is how the collective “La Super Cumbia Futurista” started.
-So you come with your brand new Album “Trópico Quasar”. This is your second Album and you needed 5 years to make it, seems a long time and sounds after hard work. Tell me something bout the making off ?
“Trópico Quasar” is formally our 1st official album, it contains material from past net releases, although those were kind of primitive versions and works-in-progress. In addition, this debut LP also contains some recent works, it´s like a selective collection of what has happened to SD2 to this date, but with a higher level of production and mastering. This revision of some past tracks is a way of saying: -this is how those tracks should sound, here´s the final version.
Check the Promomix presenting 6 Tunes from the forthcoming Album “Tropico Quasar” (Juglar – Cuesta del ñero – Guaratcha – Desvelo – Lixiviados – Dulce Nostalgia)
[audio:http://www.radikalsunflowers.de/TropicalBass/MonthlyCumbiaRoundUpNo20-TropicalBass.mp3 |titles= Monthly Cumbia RoundUp #20 |artists=Sonido desconocido II]
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-There will also be a Give-Away-EP on the Netlabel Caballito. What will we find on this one ?
When we saw that the LP was almost finished. We came up with the idea to contact friends from different parts of the world that were working with similar music styles and invited them to make a SD2 remix. The EP became a tribute to our friends as well as a promotion reference for our soon to be released LP. It will contain mixes from Bigote, Gflux, Amantes del Futuro, cero39, Cadereira, La Furia con Lujuria Sonidera, Los mancos del ritmo, and maybe there will be a couple of surprises…
-Your mission is Cumbia electronica. How do you compose/workout your songs ?
Our method involves many processes, but it´s quite free and varied. Some times we begin just putting some ideas on paper, other times we start with just a sound we like or a particular loop, and from there we make some base rhythms, work on some harmonies, vocal lines or lyrics. Occasionally Karen and I make the lyrics together after a musical idea is completed, other times she writes lyrics and vocal lines by herself. We can say it´s a happy random collaboration.
-Cumbia started as folkloric Dance in Colombia and now Nu-Cumbia seems like a own Music Genre gone international. Where do you see Cumbia in 10 years.
I suppose I see it as a portal to lots of popular and traditional genres mixed with electronica and new media, although right now it has already opened several possibilities of mixing styles, thus combining diverse musical and technological resources.
-I heard some critics from traditional Cumbiamberos that the modern Cumbia thing has nothing to do with Cumbia and sometimes it’s really hard to find the Cumbia when you listening to all the new stuff. What does a Song need to make it Cumbia, is it only the percussion, is it the style, the Instruments, the Sound ?
That´s an interesting question, what makes Cumbia… I think Cumbia formally is like an open source code, it can change its shape but keeping some of its aspects; musically speaking, it´s a very gentle, malleable form of music, it can blend with almost every music and it´s also an excellent carrier whether instrumental or melodic. The discussion about Cumbia authenticity ahead of new Cumbia forms is almost a particularity of this genre since its beginning. It´s changing form, diversification and migration are basic components of the source code.
-So after the making of the new Album, what are the future plans for Sonido Desconoocido 2.
For now, we will focus mainly on promoting “Trópico Quasar”, and very soon the Caballito remixes EP, after that, maybe some touring. We are working on new songs, new videos, ideas for the show, and bending Cumbia into new rhythms. We are already thinking on a 2nd album and focusing on different aspects of live performance and costume interactivity. Lots of things are on their way.
– Diego, Karen thanx for this Interview. The Remix EP will be available via Caballito. Where will the Album be available ?
We are releasing it independently. At the moment it is available through a pre-sale collective funding platform called Fondeadora which is very similar to the US version of “Kickstarter”. However in a month or so it will be physically available in some stores in Mexico city, and gradually in diverse international spots as well as in known online stores. We´ve already released a single and a couple of remixes. We are planning to release another single in the next couple of days.
So tropical Bass got a Sweety for you – shure you all know Muppets Show Drummer The Animal gettin wild singing the Manahmanah Theme – you want to have Sonido Desconocidos Cumbia Version ??
[audio:http://www.radikalsunflowers.de/TropicalBass/SD2-MANAMANA-HYPER-MIX.mp3 |titles= Manahmanh |artists=Sonido desconocido II]
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Niños y Nenas tune in again every second Sunday of the Month. Planeta Unido, Cumbiambero/as Mundial. Sincerly yours Andrés Digtal.
