By combining vibrant Norteño music from northern Mexico with more modern electronic sounds, the musicians of the Tijuana-based Nortec Collective spearhead a new movement with this hypnotic album. At the same time, the project put their city on the map as an electronic pole on the same level as London, Paris and Chicago.
The Tijuana Sessions thus marks the collaboration of six Mexican groups successfully amalgamating Norteño music, trumpets, Ranchera guitars, Tex-Mex sounds, samplers, and drum machines. They dared to place a bet on such a culture clash, and the result is so convincing that this marriage of modern and folk should fire up fans of both Latin rhythms and electronic beats.
Bostich has without any doubt the most "purist" approach, as well as one of the most effective. The energetic "Polaris", "El Vergel" and "Synthakon" put an accent on Mexican sounds, in particular trumpets and percussion, that are supported with discreet dub. Fussible ("Casino Soul", "To Ensenada" & "Ventilador") opts for a larger, more classical techno sound into which he injects some Latin ingredients (percussion and brass) for a result that cruelly lacks originality. Panóptica follows more of a dub path with "And L" and is reminiscent of Primal Scream's Screamadelica. Plankton Man mixes rhythm and jazz with Seventies-inspired tonality. "Elemento N" and "no Liazi Jaz" certainly have very good vibrations and should thrill fans of original film scores like "Dirty Harry". Terrestre, who also borrows from the Seventies, develops a sympathetically kitsch music with a strong dose of mariachi and deliberately obsolete synthesizers. "Cantamar '72" by Clorofila is a dark, bewitching ambient piece with light funky touches and omnipresent trumpets. But the best piece of these sessions is certainly Hyperboreal's spellbinding "Tijuana For Dummies", a warm invitation to discover this new sound from Tijuana. With its use of dub style percussion, lively rhythm and a female voice sample that proclaims "Welcome To Tijuana," Nortec has most likely found its global hit, and it should capsize dance floors from the four corners of the world.
Despite a few moments of weakness, The Tijuana Sessions Volume 1 is an essential album that in one fell swoop rejuvenates both Latin and electronic music. It also shows that Mexico, in the grand tradition of Esquivel and revolutionary movements, is far from lacking resources when it comes to the avant-garde.
Nortec Collective The Tijuana Sessions Vol 1
