Release Title: Soy Como Soy
Label: Luv Lite Recordings
Available Now From: Amazon (US) / Amazon (Germany) / Beatport / Juno Download / iTunes
To listen to previews of Makossa & Megablast’s Soy Como Soy album click HERE.
From the primordial drum beat of Africa, we have come far. The earliest origin of rhythmic drum objects and talking drums of the motherland, to the brand new long player from Vienna’s finest electronic drum ensemble Makossa & Megablast. Welcome to Soy Como Soy. In 2007 the duo, along with a host of talented singers and musicians, created quite a stir with their debut album Kunuaka on G-Stone Recordings, receiving high praise from musical luminaries such as Gilles Peterson, Carl Craig, and Laurent Garnier. With its tight, precise, and sharply exact production the DJ’s, and festival crowds who experienced the live shows, couldn’t get enough of Kunuaka.
For 2011, the duo of Makossa & Megablast have returned to Luv Lite's Vienna studio for a bit more retro analog knob twiddling and collaborations with the freshest and most innovative musicians and vocalists. The result is the superbSoy Como Soy album, built upon the pair's musical experiences, states, and situations of the past four years.Makossa & Megablast do a fantastic job of applying them to Soy Como Soy. The guys have come home, and are better for it. Sounds are even tighter, more precise and exact. Suspenseful, trippy analog synths and other tinted sounds, the scrupulous drums, percussion and forceful bass lines, all nicely inconspicuous from their travels and their tales. A real a fusion of organic Afro-Latin beats. Vocalists illuminate the scenes and the songs, all recorded live and direct in the Luv Lite studio as opposed to Internet distance. This all gels together to form the fantastic sonic stew found on Soy Como Soy.
Soy Como Soy blends a variety of dance music sounds from around the world into a powerful dance floor elixir that owes no allegiance to any particular style, preferring an eclectic mash-up of ideas instead. Cleydys Villalon’s vocodered voice on “Bailalo” may rub listeners the wrong way but the pumping peak hour track has more balls that what passes for main stream house music these days despite the obvious similarities. Villalon’s rough vocals align the track more with the impassioned dance music artists springing out of a very fertile Latin America than anything played on the radio. Villalon also appears on the album’s title track, another straightforward Latin tribal house floor filler. There are few tricks left in this genre, but somehow Makossa & Megablast are able to connect the musical elements the album’s sequence together in such a way that the bigger moments are balanced nicely against the quieter passages. This album is a solid collection of music strung together by feeling rather than tempo.
- Sean-Michael Yoder, Ibizia Voice
Makossa & Megablast made waves a few years ago with their first release on Kruder & Dorfmeister's G-Stone records. You can hear the tastefulness of that label's approach in these grooves, but there's much more going on rhythmically than the café-ready sounds associated with the K&D experience. Case in point: Afrobeat hero Tony Allen kicking the balafon-infatuated "Wangu" into high gear with his constantly modulating funky drumming. Dub is so pervasive here that it becomes an essential part of the rhythmic organization … each song resides in a happy cloud of post-Osunlade polyrhythms. This album isn't at all relaxing, yet it doesn't succumb to the air horns and gunfire tricks that some producers use to dirty up their tropical dance music. The kuduro groove of "Bailalo" is sweet, not jackhammering, while tracks with guest vocalist Hubert Tubbs (of Tower of Power) have that gutbucket vocal feel once synonymous with "progressive house."Soy Como Soy is a throwback, but also very contemporary. The bottom line is it's an immediate rump-shaker even when sitting down.
- David Dacks, Exclaim
Recloose - “I’m really digging this, interesting and unique approach to electronic and African styles!”
Robin Lee (Faze Action) - “Sonically amazing with a hefty nod of appreciation to some heavy-weight musicians here. Updating the sound of afro-beat to take it into the next century.”
UnaBombers - “Love everything these guys do and this just adds to the Makossa & Megablast legend. ‘Bailalo’ is off the scale.”
Johnwaynes - “Always a fusion from the roots of ancient sounds to pure techno. Support!”
Charles Webster - "Some really nice tracks on this album. Well produced and quality stuff."
Tim Goldsworthy (DFA) - “The OG Spiritual Godess tracks are awesome!”
Q-Burns Abstract Message - “Super hot all around … everything here is top notch ... twisty rhythms.”
JD Twitch (Optimo) - "Good stuff, especially 'Wangu' which is stellar."
Richard Norris (Time And Space Machine) - "Excellent, a real vibe here. Uplifting and real ... worth many spins to fill any proper floor."
Stuart Patterson (East Village / Faith) - “Wow … what a killer afro- meets electronica selection. Loving in it all. I can see lots of club play for ‘Wangu’ and ‘Coming Home.’”
René Josquin (m.path.iq / We Are … Radio Show)- “Simply hot package! One of the acts to book for the next festival season.”
Bob Duskis (Six Degrees Records) - “I’ve been anxiously waiting for this one. I love Makossa & Megablast’s unique production skillz and their tracks always kill on the dance-floor!”
Visit Luv Lite Recordings on the Web: www.luvliterecordings.com
