now that the south african world cup events are over, we can move on without the much annoying vuvuzelas and make amends in the name of quality african sounds via this carefully curated spotify playlist. for this instance of the colectivo plays series, we weren’t satisfied with just including the already known big names of african music, such as fela kuti, tony allen, mulatu, et al… but we embarked on a month long research journey through the most obscure corners of the continent to find not only sounds of past, but also forward looking artists who are currently igniting the vast african scene. whether it’s afrobeat, ethiopian jazz, bazombo, afrorock, or soul, we’ve got you covered with this 30 track spotify playlist.
tracklist & link below (click on link to add the playlist to your spotify client)…
ninth installment of the colectivo futurecast with our close friend Baldo, half-owner of neovinyl recordings and resident of barcelona, spain. his overall feel-good and contagious personality permeates throughout this 60 minute mix that will surely induce a smile on your face while you tap your feet along to the beat.
It was recorded at home using ableton live, since I currently don’t have any DJ equipment. It took me a few afternoons to complete between selecting the tracks & the actual mixing.
* having grown up in a small town in the south of spain, we are curious to know: what turned you towards music and DJing?
There’s something that most people don’t know about southern Spain… in the late 90s there was a surprisingly big breakbeat music scene… there were a lot of clubs in smaller towns and it suddenly became popular amongst my friends to DJ (it was either that or doing sports!). So they started buying vinyl and DJing in their homes, making parties for friends. On top of that I was always interested music and technology, so I started buying records as well, and began to introduce myself in the electronic music scene. Gradually, I started learning about making music, releasing on labels, etc…
* how was neovinyl born? you started off with a netlabel and have now transitioned to a digital label, how would you compare both experiences?
The idea grew out of creating a platform where people could listen to our own productions for free (Neovinyl is owned both by Baldo & best friend Carlo). If people were to download our first productions today, they would certainly feel the evolution we’ve experienced, that to us is something really beautiful. When we first started, the netlabel explosion hadn’t begun and we really had little idea of what we were supposed to be doing.
We can’t really say we’ve dropped the netlabel side of things altogether, we are simply running parallel projects with the netlabel (free) and the digital label. We are slowly releasing music on the netlabel for more experimental and personal projects these days, because there’s bigger room for risk taking. With the digital label, we’ve taken a step forward towards making our music known to a different crowd. All in all, both projects have provided us with amazing experiences and they’ve helped us mature as artists and introduced us to different people and artists.
* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your top three favorite albums ever?
I listen to a lot of different things. In fact very little of it is electronic. Lately I’ve been listening to Caribou, Grizzly Bear, Lindstrom & Toro y Moi. As far as favorite albums, it would take me forever to make a final decision, but there is one that comes to mind, which is Adore by Smashing Pumpkins.
If you’re on spotify you can check out two playlists that I like to keep current with new and old favorites:
The weather, friends who live here, regularly good club lineups & parties that last all night long!
* what can we expect from yourself and neovinyl in 2010?
I’ve just released a track (the perfumed kiss) on Microfreak with a remix by Daniel Kyo. Also in June, there will be two new remixes by myself coming out on Clock and on Redmo. This summer I’ll take a break from production under my own name and will focus on a new project called Plus One, which is formed by Miguel Colmenares and myself. We will finish some remixes and original tracks for release after summer.
Regarding Neovinyl, June 17th sees the release of an EP by Maik Yells with remixes by Tom Ellis and Carlo. Afterwards comes an EP by V.Rotz with remixes by Rene Breitbarth and Oren Bi. Then we have a series of release planned with artists who’ve already release with us like Echonomist, Miguel Colmenares, Ham N’ Cheese and Loops, as well as some new artists, such as Denite, Pete Lazonby and Hain Dutt. We are trying our best to keep our workflow steady!
as you all know by now, a few weeks ago a powerful icelandic volcano wrecked havoc across most of Europe with its massive dust clouds, virtually paralyzing air traffic across the continent for several days. this alone should be enough to hate on an otherwise quiet and tranquil country, but we at colectivo futuro want to help Iceland make amends for such mess via this 20-track Spotify playlist, showcasing a wide range of icelandic musicians. ranging from classic Björk to newcomers Jónsi formerly of Sigur Rós or Emiliana Torrini, and touching up on the modern classicism of Jóhann Jóhannsson. overall, icelandic music is highly introspective and melancholic, which is probably the best companion for days with quiet skies.
tracklist & link below…
01 gusgus – gun
02 björk – aeroplane
03 slowblow – second hand smoke
04 borko – spoonstabber
05 jónsi – tornado
06 múm – now there’s that fear again
07 emiliana torrini – birds
08 benni hemm hemm – skvavars (rainy version)
09 seabear – cat piano
10 gusgus – polyesterday
11 sigur rós – sigur 1 (untitled)
12 jóhann jóhannsson – sálfræðingur
13 björk & tríó guðmundar ingólfssonar – kata rokkar
14 seabear – hospital bed
15 slowblow – happiness in your face
16 emiliana torrini – today has been ok
17 borko – summer logic
18 ólafur arnalds – lost song
19 sigur rós – heima
20 björk – it’s oh so quiet
take us with you!
