After a few dance floor test runs (as seen in this video at The Lot on Washington), “El Dougie” is finally an official DIRB! release.
Check out Squincy Jones & Gracie Chavez’s cumbia crunk edit on SoundCloud. It got a proper debut last week on KPFT’s airwaves during Tuesdays’ Son Pacifica Radio show, and has been making its way onto a few blogs and mixes.
In case you missed it, grab your El Dougie copy (main, inst, art) here now! Color in the artwork for a prize. Enter submissions to dirbtx [at] gmail.
Our next edition of Bombon tomorrow night brings in SA import Sonora of the infamous Peligrosa All-Stars. This DJ/producer has worked with a few fellow Texans, like Mexicans with Guns, and is working on an upcoming EP with Brooklyn’s baile queen, Zuzuka Poderosa.
I caught up with him just before SXSW gets 4Loco next week for a quick Dusty Crates interview. This is what’s goin on in Sonora’s world:
DustyCrates: What kind of sabor do you bring to your music? Sonora: I’ve been told by numerous people and also [a] dude from Generation Bass dubbing me ”Mr. Multi-Genre”. It really doesn’t matter what kind of track it is, it can be a disco edit, or a hip hop track I’m working on, it will always have some sort of Latin flavor or influenced sound built around [Latin].
DC: Who (or what) are you currently working with in the studio? SL: At the moment, I have a few projects im working on. I’ve been working with Zuzuka Poderosa via the Internet for this new collab/remix EP. But will be hitting the studio up with her when she gets to Texas for SXSW to record a
couple tracks with her.
I’m also doing projects with two different producers, Orquesta from Dublin, Ireland, and a local here in San Antonio who goes by LeDoom. And in the middle of all that I’m still working on a full length LP; it’s definitely
not going to be for the club, it’s leaning more towards the hip hop side of things with lots of melodys/textures layers, live instruments, and samples from old vinyl.
DC: Where do you get your inspiration? What did you grow up listening to in San Antonio? SL: My inspiration comes from a lot of things: my daughter, of course, or digging for old vinyl at the pulgas and spending hours analyzing tracks and getting ideas.
I grew up listening to a variety of things especially living in the house with three sisters. So, my mom and dad would play a lot of tradicional cumbia, bachata, salsa, and of course, tejano. My sisters had a lot of hip hop playing, like Biggie and Nas, or Michael Jackson. And later in the years, I started making beats in my bedroom and selling them at school! Haha! That led to making screwed and chopped mixtapes. I grew up appreciating so many things that, at the moment,
it plays a big roll in my production. [Check out more of Sonora's sound here.]
DC:What’s the SA music scene like? SL: The scene here as far as live shows go sometimes frustrates me. The city has so much raw talent here and great events going on that SA will sleep on it. But more recently things have been picking up, more crews establishing their names, and people actually travelling out a little further to go catch a gig that isn’t on “the strip”.
But all the producers here are really great. It was awesome to see a good friend of mine, Ernest Gonzales (aka Mexicans With Guns), plant his music seed a ways back, and to see it pretty much grow into something huge. [I'm] proud that his success happend here in this city. SA is definetly something that nobody should sleep on.
DC:Some Houstonians have been out to see you rock it at Peligrosa in Austin. But for those who haven’t, what you bringing with you to Bombon? SL: At Peligrosa’s, I always make sure to keep up with throwing in tradicional jams or blending it with a big beat, it’s always nice to sneak in some old merengue and mambo, too. But I’ll also be playing some tracks of the new Zuzuka EP, and a lot of my new productions, so Houston will get to hear it first!
Bombon Asesino en Houston
Be one of the select few to hear Sonora this Friday, March 11, at Avant Garden (411 Westheimer, 77006) with Bombon DJs Navo, OG Bobby Trill, myself (Gracie Chavez) upstairs and Cashless downstairs brining more tropical, Afro-Latin, soca, dancehall heat! No cover, 21+ from 9pm-2am.
Watch really carefully and get step your cumbia game up!
Then, try your new moves this Friday, February 4th, at Bombón – Houston’s Hottest Tropical Night (Avant Garden, 411 Westheimer, 77006). There will be FREE cumbia/salsa lessons with a dance instructor from 9-10pm.
Then, things heat up with guest the legendary DJ Comp 1 putting down some Latin funk and your Bombones upstairs weaving thru a mezcla of hot tropical soundswith DJs Tonio, Gracie Chávez, Navó & OG Bobby Trill.
It’s that time again, mi gente! Our monthly pachanga, Bombón, is in full swing again!
So bring your güiros, maracas, cowbell or anything else you wanna shake tonight at Avant Garden (411 Westheimer, 77006). DJs Navo, OG Bobby Trill and yours truly (Gracie Chavez) will keep you moving, so step your cumbia game up! DJ/MC Bobby will lead the “grito” contest–aye, aye, ayeeee!
While we get our hustle-on, peep out Houston’s own Panchitron, who’s raverton tracks were recently featured online.
A couple of weeks ago, we are embarked on a showcase of new sounds in H-town with BOMBON. The takeaway: people have been waiting too long for this kind of night in Houston!
As cumbia is gaining momentum worldwide, it’s exciting to see how this folkloric tradition has been given so many new mezclas and treatments. The future of South American-inspired electronic riddim has no shortage of color or creativity.
In the coming months, you’ll hear a collection of fresh uptempo melodies and bass-heavy beats that make up a variety of “Cumbiatron.” From Cumbia, Bajo Tropical, Salsa, Latin Beats, Baile Funk, Reggaeton, Moombahton, y Mezclas AfroLatinos, we have banded together to bring you this full-on Latino experience, without a need for a passport.
To see where the next sound of the Americas is headed next, mark your calendars para saborearBOMBON each month with yours truly, Gracie Chávez, plus DJs Navó, OG Bobby Trill and Tonio.
Starting January 7, 2011 and every first Friday of the month, centrally located Avant Garden (411 Westheimer, 77006) is hosting our first in a series of Latin parties full of irrepressible music, live instrumentation, cinematic loops, spirited libations and excessive dancing! Now, why would you want to miss the next one?
As some of you may know, Dias de los Muertos happens to be one of my favorite annual holidays. Forget the Halloween hype–these two days in November (1st and 2nd) always remind you to celebrate life! So why not to start early.
Tonight, we kick off a weekend of celebration with Afro-electro beat freestyler Chico Mann in Houston. The lineup, brought to you by Squad Media, includes downtempo maestros DJ Sun and Mr. Bristle, and myself (Gracie Chavez) spinning unBombón de cumbia and eclectic world beats upstairs at The Mink/Backroom (3718 Main @ Alabama, 77002).
Chico Mann was recently featured on one of my favorite remixer’s excursion, Mexicans with Guns’ “Me Gusto,” which is more of a banger for your soul than it is a soundtrack for the dead. Chico (aka Marco Garcia) describes his native style as “the convergence of electro, Afrobeat and freestyle.” “It’s kind of a statement to this genre of music that hasn’t really been developed until now,” he says.
Check out Chico’s “Oye, Mira, Cuidado!” live clip to see what’s in store tonight. Log on to Soular Grooves to get more insight or listen to my Cumbia Nena mix I recorded live on (now-extinct) KTRU radio station. Then, RSVP on FB to join us tonight.
Pero no se te olvide–Ponte los zapatos porque vamos a bailar!
Raw Word Record‘s DJ Orion is a DJ/producer from Austin, TX of Colombian/Puerto Rican ancestry who just released a new album. Although we’ve yet to make a formal introduction, this guy has been on the radar for quite some time. He’s been making moves at his Peligrosa nights and various other spots along with Klassen in ATX, and seems to be building una tremenda onda tropical.
Carajo Colombia is mainly his edits of tracks he grew up with and focuses on cumbia, with bmore/funk/hip-hop vibrations that manage to sneak in. You can name your price and download the album here.
Check DJOrion.com for his SXSW 2010 schedule as I’m sure he’ll be rockin’ a party near you!
When Tonio and I started rappin’ about tossin’ some cumbia beats into our sets it sparked a flurry of file sharing. He hipped me to Los Pibes Chorros and I pointed him to ZZK Records.
We soon discovered this rare reggetron gem…
This [Douster] mixtape, composed entirely of his own productions, shows the evidence of this influence: here the power of Electro is fused, remixed and edited with the rhythmic cadence of Cumbia and Reggaeton wrapped around Baile Funk, Kwaito, Wobble and a bunch of other unclassifiable genres we won´t even try to name.
In tune with his tour around North America and his set at Coachella, as part of the Zizek Tour 2009, Douster brings us the freshest in dance music, at the same time giving us a sneak peak of material soon to be released on a ZZK Records EP.
ZZK MIXTAPE VOL. 6 – Douster
Clipse – Zen (Douster edit)
Zonora Point – Huachita Rica (Douster Remix)
Bangladesh – Drop (How you feel) ft. Muffy (Douster edit)
Marcianos Crew – Lloren ft. Camilito flow (Douster edit)
Beenie Man – Hum Hum (Douster Tumba riddim mix)
Douster – Khasr (Loser edit ft. Cecill & Lady Saw)
Douster ft. MC Dandao – Puta que Paria
Fauna – Gauchito Gil (Douster Remix)
Douster – Dame Duro
Douster – Schlaggada (Swaggada edit)
Douster – Zombie ft. Fauna
Douster – Yezz
Douster – Triassic Genesis
Douster – Dumbo (Gunship funk edit)
MC Zulu – Body Rock (Douster remix)
Douster – Carajo
DustyCrates.com is the blog for DIRB!, a DJ collective and movement originating from Houston, Texas. Started in 2006, DIRB! is made up of Matt Sizzle, Gracie Chavez, Antonio, El Jeffe, Squincy Jones and SDF-One who all share varying tastes in dance music: club, electro, drum & bass, dubstep, hip hop, house, world beats, etc.
