Liz Christine: “Green Eyes Girl”
January 3, 2013
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Rio de Janeiro’s Liz Christine approaches sampling with an innocent sensibility that hides a unique intuition for combining appealing sounds to become more than the sum of their parts. It’s that knack for listenability that makes it hard to distinguish much of her work as ambient per se. It’s extremely involving, even solicitous, in its ability to actively involve a listener in its strange webs of “winter music.” The track “Green Eyes Girl” comes to us from her latest release, Sweet Mellow Cat, a compilation of work culled from the past several years. Intangible household animals, soft mutters, and a show tune-y hook that comes and goes as it pleases provide the high points for this piece. Suggest taking the headphones off for this one and letting the sounds of your environment have at the loose structures Liz Christine has prepared for you.
Sweet Mellow Cat is now available from Flau Records
Written by Luke Carrell
Tags: Brazil, liz christine, rio de janeiro, sample, South America, sweet mellow cat
Reviews
Buenos Aires’ OLIWA recently released an album called Rituals, and from listening to his music, we can assume said ceremonies are a celebration of the multiplicity of possibilities inherent in movement (be it physically moving from place to place or dealing with what’s percolating inside one’s self). “Ocean Fire” is a composition of balance instrumentally, but imbalanced thematically. Terrifyingly apocalyptic, pulsing music like this is likely to cause sleepless nights, dear readers, so be warned before you wade out. The simple intensity of this five and a half minute audio picture is spectacular. By the time one of the lead synth lines becomes more buzzing electrical fire than smoldering drone, we’re done – we’re finished and gone.
The album as a whole is most definitely a South American trip. OLIWA refers to explorer and scientist Charles Wiener, who almost re-discovered the ruins at Machu Picchu in the late 1800s, and is on the second tune of the set, “Charles Wiener’s Dreams.” From the internal memory games of a personal bon voyage like the opening synth rolls of “The Last Summer Night,” to launching one’s journey, and finally to reaching a geographic landing point (“Tierra Del Fuego”), Rituals is a travelogue and a damn fine score.
Rituals is out now on cassette and for name your own price download from Zeon Light
Written by Jeff Daily
Tags: Argentina, buenos aires, oliwa, Reviews, South America
Mixtapes
Hi guys! I made you a special mixtape. It’s called “International Mix 4 Internacional Tapes,” each song comes from a different country. Hope you enjoy it!
Hugs,
Cheky
01 Fakuta – Juntapena (Chile)
02 Torkelsen – Simple (Norway)
03 La Gallera Social Club – Chimban-Guele (Venezuela)
04 Za! – Calonge Terrassa, Kalon / Jah! Tewra-Ssah! (Spain)
05 Salyu x Salyu – 歌いましょう (Japan)
06 Titica – Chão (Angola)
07 Anti-G – Bubbling Cause Trouble (Netherlands)
08 Taragana Pyjarama – Pinned (Part 1) (Denmark)
09 Los Zafiros – Bossa Cubana (Cuba)
10 JoieJoieJoie – Les Iguanes (Belgium)
11 DJ Rashad – CCP (USA)
12 Jacques Greene – These Days (Canada)
13 Korallreven – Pago Pago (Sweden)
14 Novos Baianos – Besta É Tu (Brazil)
Submitted by Algodón Egipcio
Tags: algodón egipcio, Argentina, mixtape, Reviews, South America
Reviews
We’ve been following Argentinian punk/rock/whatever else outfit Mujercitas Terror for awhile now and we’re happy to say we’ve seen the band grow into the polished death machine that they were meant to be. Now, they’re bursting onto the scene with yet another gold-tinted, yet thoroughly monochrome, tune that’s as easy to listen to as it is to listen to again and again. Luckily, their extensive and constant touring hasn’t kept the band from venturing further and further into the studio. “Excavaciones” is darkly melodic way that will make you shudder, shake, and maybe even get up on your feet for some good old fashion spazzing. The co-ed vocal tradeoffs might float to the surface, but there’s way more going on here than first meets the ear. View this video as your personal introduction to something that’s both unstoppable and a lot of fun. Might as well start now, though we’re sure there’s plenty more to come.
You can hear more from Mujercitas Terror on Soundcloud
Written by Luke Carrell
Tags: Argentina, Mujercitas Terror, Reviews, South America
Reviews
Argentina’s Pakapi Records and New Zealand’s PseudoAracana have teamed up to release Splito, a (yes, you guessed it) split 7″ of the label runners’ own projects: GMC and Antony Milton, respectively. Recording with ad hoc methods, both artists manifest a dissonant take on a wonderfully bent brand of acoustic music that’s as organic as it is infirm. It’s as if the city noise leaking in through your headphones overcame your favorite indie singer songwriter and suddenly decided to commandeer the music entirely, transforming it back into a purposefully experimental demo tape. If that sounds like it’s up your alley, give the juxtaposition-heavy “Jingle 1: Pumice” a listen.
Splito is available on lathe cut 7″ from PseudoArcana
Written by Luke Carrell
Tags: Antony Milton, Argentina, Asia, GMC, new zealand, Reviews, South America
Reviews
Buenos Aires trance-folk duo Bosques conjure up a humid, nocturnal commune vibe with this, the title track from their new EP. Shuffling guitar chords and hand percussion suggest ankle-bells around a campfire, before a whirring Farfisa enters like smoke rising. The mantric vocal chants begin and that’s pretty much it for almost 8 minutes. However, as well as understanding the power of repetition, the band know hows to carefully ration the song’s few chord changes, so that when they do hit, a warm fog of contentment is fairly unavoidable on the listener’s part and by the time the song closes with faintly tinkling chimes, we’re deep in reverie.
Download the band’s free “El Fantasma Sagrado” EP here
Written by Chris Greenberg
Tags: Argentina, bosques, Reviews, South America
Reviews
“Não é de se Espantar” or “Not a Thing to be Startled By” is the latest track from Sao Paulo’s Shuriken. “Não é de se Espantar” enters the ears with a spectral, sonar echo that’s quickly overcast by sleepy bedroom vocals and guitar. Like having a creature 20,000 leagues under the sea assure you, “everything’s all right”, Shuriken makes even the eeriest moments feel alright.
Shuriken – Não é de se Espantar
Download the Leisure Memories EP from Cloud Chapel
Tags: Brazil, Reviews, shuriken, South America, Tracks
Reviews
We’re pleased to see that Lefse Records will be releasing Algodon Egipcio‘s first full length, La Lucha Constante, March 22nd, right on the heels of something called the “SXSW® Music and Media Conference”. We first posted about Cheky of Jovenes y Sexys‘ electronic solo project Algodon Egipcio on International Tapes back in September with “El Ingenio Humano”, slated to appear on the album. Their latest single, “Los Asuntos Pendientes”, is a slowly burning, blistering drone-turned-pop song that will no doubt get your head nodding. (via International Tapes)
MP3: Algodon Egipcio: “Los Asuntos Pendientes”
Pre-order La Lucha Constante via Lefse Records
Written by Ric Leichtung
Tags: algodón egipcio, Reviews, South America, Tracks, venezuela
Reviews
Having recently completed a brief US debut, the Argentinian duo known as Frikstailers are poised to lace DJ sets everywhere (”everything the Internet touches, my son”) with a double strong dose of their genre smashing beats. Perhaps best known for lending Major Lazer’s “Hold the Line” a few more months of dancefloor rotation via their cumbia infused remix, the pair has further embraced that brand of black light poster eclecticism, while simultaneously polishing their musical style and donning Cher-ish wigs to obscure their identities onstage. “Cumbianchamuyo” finds them embracing a slightly more measured approach than in their remixes. An amazingly restrained bass drone and break happy drums trade off holding together the delicately built synths until the main groove finally begins to settle in after half the track is halfway through. Samples and a heavily edited rap hook add palpable momentum during some of the more more sparse moments. Think percussive vocal hits reminiscent of Black Box’s inimitable “awe/ow” and James Brown’s ubiquitious “yeah” sample. Wasn’t kidding about this track being mix friendly. An oh yeah, it’s pronounced “Freak Stylers.” Now you know. Off to the dancefloor with ye!
Frikstailers’ Bicho de Luz is available from ZZK Records.
Written by Luke Carrell
Tags: all, Argentina, Frikstailers, South America, Tracks
Reviews
For Venezuelan Algodón Egipcio, Cheky of Jóvenes y Sexys has set aside the Mothersbaugh film score sensibility and precise acoustic pop of his long-term project in favor of exploiting a diverse palate of chained effects and synths. Never straying into misguided experimentalism nor “oh that sounds like that band but just one guy” territory, Algodón Egipcio is simultaneously a break in style and an expansion of a sensibility JyS fans will instantly recognize.
“El Ingenio Humano” embodies many of the more demure and eclectic elements that make it clear these songs are the product of creatively refining aspects of current trends, not aping them. The vocals give the track most of its momentum, with restrained sequences occasionally emerging from beneath the reverb to help carry the load. Worth listening to solely for the dreamily portentous guitar/synth alloy that dominates most of the track.
Algodón Egipcio – El Ingenio Humano
La Lucha Constante will be available September 13th via Bandcamp, check out Soundcloud in the meantime
Written by Luke Carrell
Tags: algodón egipcio, all, jóvenes y sexys, South America, Tracks, venezuela
