Tango, cumbia, champeta, bachata, salsa, samba, and bossa nova… You probably guessed it, we are heading to Latin America. A continent where the electronic scene is booming right now.<\/p>\n
In recent years, festivals have multiplied, artists have been emerging and labels have been growing in the electronic music scene. A musical genre that is far from the continent\u2019s distinctive Latin sounds. Successful amongst young people, the countries of South America are hosting more and more festivals that attract world-renowned artists in the electronic scene, despite being the capital of reggaeton, a purely Latino urban style. This success is a symbol of a change in Latin American society and especially for its youth.<\/span><\/p>\n It all started around 2005. During this time, various artists producing electronic music, mostly in Argentina, became somehow really assertive. They usually proposed a new mix between folk, popular and electronic music. Among those artists, <\/span>Faauna<\/b><\/a> for example, who are known for their taste for cumbia Villera and Drum & Bass and <\/span>El Remol\u00f3n<\/a>, <\/b>a producer of minimal techno. Eventually, all these artists were brought together by the Zizek Club, which started in 2006. This weekly party took place at the Niceto Club, which was the only space where these artists could perform at the time. After 3 years, the Zizek Club gave birth to <\/span>ZZK Records<\/b><\/a>, which quickly established itself as a pioneering label in electro-folklore, using dazzling visuals and offering new, intriguing and rhythmic music.<\/span><\/p>\n ;list=PL97ISVilOoYBeIjQHLKQ5Frq7L_MxW5tF<\/p>\n The activities of ZZK Records now extend to the entire Latin American continent and is one of the most influential labels in Argentina and more broadly in South America. Ecuadorian <\/span>Nicola Cruz<\/b><\/a> for example, had the whole world\u2019s attention in 2015 with his hypnotizing track \u00abCumbia Del Olvido\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The biggest influence on Colombian electronica is certainly Sidestepper<\/strong>. The project formed in 1996 when British studio engineer and Peter Gabriel collaborator Richard Blair linked up with Colombian singer-songwriter Iv\u00e1n Benavides; the innovative albums that resulted from this partnership fused electronic beats with performances by Colombian musicians, paving the way for the nueva musica Colombiana to come, and since then, it came a lot!<\/span><\/p>\n By creating Baum<\/span><\/i> in 2013, one of the most renowned electro clubs in Latin America, Columbian <\/span>Hern\u00e1n Cayetano<\/b><\/a> contributed to the development of the genre, particularly through festivals that he\u2019d been developing since 2015: Baum Festival, BreakFest in Medell\u00edn and the famous Tatacoa desert. Julio Victoria is also one of the major actors of the electro scene in the country. Starting in the first electro clubs of the capital such as Radio Berlin, Billares London or the Baum, he\u2019s developing today the project <\/span>Julio Victoria<\/b><\/a> Live mixing electro and instrumental.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLatino music and reggaeton are the most widespread and appreciated musical genres here, but Colombians are getting tired of it.\u201d Says Hern\u00e1n Cayetano. \u201cAs soon as we opened the club, techno became trendy again, with a very curious audience. I think it was the perfect time to seize this opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Big In Japan<\/b><\/a>. Contrary to what its name suggests, this Colombian label is intended to promote the alternative electronic scene in Latin America. The history of the label takes shape in 2018, when two former <\/span>Ninja Tune<\/b><\/a> members – <\/span>Seb Jenkins<\/b> and <\/span>Liam Nolan<\/b> – reconnect 13 years later, the first lives in Bogot\u00e1 and the second in Berlin. The two decided to set up their own record label together. On that year, the German-Colombian project gave its fourth production after fabulous EPs by the Colombians <\/span>Cero93, Dani Boom <\/b>and<\/span> La Payara<\/b>: a release produced by <\/span>Mati Zundel<\/b><\/a> (Lagartijeando), an Argentinian artist influenced by the European electronic scene and traditional Colombian and Argentinean sounds.<\/span><\/p>\n Lately, also established in Argentina and after wandering around Berlin, Barcelona, and Brazil, it is the creator of techno, minimal and progressive that drew international attention among the Colombian archetypes, along with J. Cruz (residing in Chile), Alex Young and Paisa Sano.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>When we talk about Chile, we inevitably think of the great figure of socialism, Salvador Allende, the committed writer Roberto Bola\u00f1o, or the all-round artist Alejandro Jodorowsky. But Chile is also and above all an electronic music scene which, after emerging at the end of the 90s and then going through a period of stagnation, is in full revival. The evolution of a country’s culture is often linked to its political history. This is especially true for Chile. Back in 1973, repression was legion and, in the years that followed, many families left the country for Germany. Most of them settled in Cologne, a city where there is still a large community of Chilean origin. With emulation helping creativity, artists such as <\/span>Matias Aguayo<\/b><\/a> emerged and were supported by major local labels such as <\/span>Kompakt Records<\/b><\/a>. Their productions will be of minimal and microhouse inspiration. Matias Aguayo’s trademark comes from the fact that he doesn’t hesitate to use Latin sounds and to put his voice on his sounds, which allowed him to modernize the approach of tech-house and will inspire many other artists.<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, alongside <\/span>Matias Aguayo,<\/b> how not to talk about <\/span>Ricardo Villalobos<\/b><\/a>. Unlike Aguayo, Villalobos went into exile in Berlin. It was thanks to a Berlin label, Playhouse, that he gained notoriety in the 90s. Still in Berlin, it\u2019s the label <\/span>C\u00f3meme Records<\/b><\/a> (directed by <\/span>Avril Ceballos<\/b> and <\/span>Matias Aguayo<\/b> in 2009) that started to get a lot of attention from certain artists such as <\/span>Rebolledo, I\u00f1igo Vontier, Daniel Maloso, <\/b>and<\/span> Alejandro Paz.<\/b><\/p>\n In recent days, it is <\/span>P\u00eda Sotomayor<\/b><\/a>, producer of some of the best festivals in Chile, radio presenter and DJ, that selected the best and emerging talent in Chile. She has performed in most of the nightclubs in Santiago, as well as at parties in New York, Buenos Aires, Lima, Colombia, CDMX, Tijuana, London, and Melbourne. In her selection, artists such as <\/span>Andrea Paz, Tom\u00e1s Urquieta, Quasio, Ochi, White Sample or RawC<\/b> all deserve to be heard.<\/span><\/p>\n ;feature=emb_title<\/p>\n In 2015, Mexico started to become a growing market, respectively the 4th country streaming the most electronic music on Spotify. Mexican producers of electronic music have made a lot of effort in the last fifteen years to attract international attention and be part of a more global scene. Mexico City is a city that has been consuming a lot of electronic music since the eurodance of the 90s, then all the progressive sounds of the 2000s, the EDM in 2015, and now the electro-house beats (at least 5 festivals have been devoted to it this year). As a result, it’s a natural progression, from <\/span>Nortec<\/b> (late 90\u2019s early 2000) and <\/span>NAAFI<\/b> (early 2010) to <\/span>Rebolledo<\/b> and <\/span>Louie Fresco <\/b>(late 2010\u2019s-now), just to name a few collectives that makeup \u00abmovements\u00bb in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n Since 2016, the Mexican artist <\/span>Hotmood<\/b><\/a> has never stopped to flourish and now has more than 20 vinyl in different labels. \u201cThe style that reflects my productions is combining slo-mo boogie, groove-laden disco, quality house, 70\u2019s funk, and deep sounds\u00bb. It is after reigning for 25 years in the music world, that the Mexican producer presents his new imprint <\/span>Discoweey<\/b><\/a>, a record label which is focused on releasing Funk, Disco, House beats. Hotmood\u2019s journey is far from being over, in fact, he is ready to star in a future release with <\/span>theBasement Discos<\/b>, so be ready!<\/span><\/p>\nA journey that started in the heart of Argentina<\/b><\/h2>\n
Electronic scene thriving in Colombia<\/b><\/h2>\n
\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe revival of the Chilean scene<\/b><\/h2>\n
Mexican Grooves<\/b><\/h2>\n