Announcing the onset of night, Driftmachine —a Berlin-based duo comprised of Andreas Gerth (Tied & Tickled Trio) and Florian Zimmer (Saroos)— have created Nocturnes, a psychoactive, dream-inducing stimulant of sorts: Evoking and maintaining a trancelike state, the duo’s six-part journey into the dark was originally inspired by reading The Rest Is Noise and listening to the music discussed in Alex Ross’ seminal book. The resulting soundscapes, written and recorded since 2012, redefine the lines between insomnia and slumber, between wraithlike dub grooves gone awry, the dancing flicker of a slack-joint bedside lamp, and eerie electronics.

Nocturnes is essentially comprised of six studies in precision: perfectly symmetrical structures that slowly spread their bass-heavy wings, sprawl like digital fungi, shift shape and – paradoxically – seem to drift and to obey the two captains at the helm. It’s an album of hypnotic and mesmerizing electronic landscapes based on various interlocked layers of rhythm. “Getting deeper into the world of modular systems introduced us to new ways of creating music,” they say, and it also allowed Gerth and Zimmer to redefine and rearrange styles and genres they generally feel drawn to – dub, riddims, anything with bass really –, so the heavy bass and percussive elements of Nocturnes don’t come in the colors you’d expect them to: Driftmachine’s palette stays true to the colors of night, a massive scale of gray.

With its meticulously displaced details and intricate harmony layers, Nocturnes also evokes the electronic avant-garde of the mid-70s, think Cluster during the band’s Zuckerzeit era. Nocturnes keeps the balance between intense, dramatic metrics and rather complex, modulated melodies. Also nodding to Krzysztof Komeda’s compositions (especially his score for Rosemary’s Baby) and the haunting, uncanny vibes of Raime, Nocturnes won’t let you sleep: “To us, the album sounds like staying awake the whole night; it unites all the different moods one might go through.”

All songs produced by Andreas Gerth and Florian Zimmer. Mastered by John Tejada.

Buy Vinyl or Digital

Driftmachine - Call Mr Moriba

Brigitte Fontaine et Areski Belkacem - Dans Ma Rue

John Zorn - Dance Exotique

Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban: "Mambo Sinuendo"

Giora Feidman - Happiness is a Nigun

Sensibilidad y fuerza. Vitalidad. Vanguardia. Sonido. Amazonía. De Ecuador para el mundo.

Mateo Kingman - Fuerza De Pantera

Priscilla Ermel - Corpo Do Vento (15:53)

AGRAM - 2017

1. La Convèrsa - Leon Còrdas 
2. Còblas - Leon Còrdas 
3. Lo Cant de la Tèrra - Lo Barrut 
4. Sacrifici - Lo Barrut 
5. L'Èrba d'agram - Joan Bodon 

Musica : Lo Barrut 

Réalisé avec beaucoup de charcuterie, accompagnée des bons vins du Domaine de la Croix St Julien. Sans conservateurs ni correcteurs vocaux.

Paru le 24 juin 2017 

Musique : Lo Barrut 
Textes : Leon Còrdas, Joan Bodon, Lo Barrut 
Enregistrement et mixage : Yoan Jauneaud 
Mastering : Adrien Sauvaget 
Illustration et graphisme : Julien Cordier

1. La Convèrsa

Vinyl/CD/Download/Stream: 

https://sonrompepera.lnk.to/batuco

Born and raised in the deep outskirts of Mexico City, the Gama brothers are keeping alive the rich legacy of marimba music running through their family with their latest project, Son Rompe Pera. While firmly rooted in the tradition of this historic instrument, their fresh take on the folk icon challenges its limits as never before, moving it into the garage/punk world of urban misfits and firmly planting it in the 21st century.

Originally performing alongside their father at local events as kids, they now find themselves at the forefront of the contemporary international cumbia scene with their sonic explorations of the classic marimba. Their absolutely unique blend comes from a typical youthful rebellion, when as teenagers they left behind their upbringing and began to play in various punk, rockabilly and ska bands. Now they’ve gone full circle with the return of the marimba on lead, and mixing all of their influences together with an energetic take on the popular instrument, giving it a new twist never before seen in Mexican folk music.

Formed in 2017, Son Rompe Pera broke onto the potent cumbia scene of today as the marimba duo of brothers Jesús Ángel and Allan Gama (Kacho and Mongo), who inherited this tradition from their father, Batuco. A marimba player by trade, he taught them to play and understand the marimba, which they first used to revive old folk songs for their friends, family, and passers-by on the street. They then incorporated it into the performance of popular Mexican cumbia songs, while spicing things up with an animated identity of their own, creating rhythms of an imaginary repertoire that grows, spreads, and connects the Americas with every passing year.

In their own words: “The basics of Son Rompe Pera have been developing since we were kids, and the music and streets are in our blood. We found the markets flooded with old, forgotten folk music, and so as kids we decided to carry the marimba with us and create this musical project from our own roots, mixing in rhythms which we thought would never be musical brothers, like cumbia, punk, and the sounds of our barrios and our everyday lives.”

Batuco

Son Rompe Pera - Ay David!

De su disco Somiatruites (Enunplisplasmusca - Boa 2011)

Albert Pla - Pascal Comelade - Todo Es Mentira

ateful