Née: Mauricio Álvarez
Raíces: Somewhere between the Magdalena river and the Atlantic ocean(aka Colombia)
Sounds like: Chancha Via Circuito chillin’ with El Guincho and Four Tet
You should listen to Cero39 because… you know how to shake that ass while wearing chanclas
In 2007, Mauricio Álvarez spent a little over a year traveling the Colombian countryside between the Magdalena river and the Atlantic ocean and absorbed the myriad sounds and music styles he encountered in his travels. He settled in the northern town of Barranquilla where he became the cumbatronica/electropidub artist Cero39 (possibly an homage to the classic track of the same name by vallenato artist Alejo Durán).
Since then, Cero39 has remixed everyone from Bomba Estéreo, Lido Pimienta and Matia Bazar to ZZK’s Tremor and El Remolón before dropping his debut EP Volador last year via Chile’s KONN Records in 2011. This week, he’ll release his debut LP Móntate En El Viaje via Polen Records.
What little we’ve heard of Móntate… is incredible. Tracks such as “Morenita,” “Junto Al Mar,” “Cumbia Blue Dub III” and “Bye Bye” sound like Four Tet or Prefuse 73 channeling the sounds of vallenato, tropical and cumbia. We’re putting our money down on this one as an early contender for album of the summer.
Check out Cero39 next week in NYC during the Latin Alternative Music Conference.
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