A mixtape can be many things, but one thing is for sure, a mixtape is more than just random songs put in a particular order. It’s about recontextualizing sounds, giving them a new meaning (sometimes very different from the original) by setting them side by side, or juxtapozed in ingenious ways with others. Best thing about mixtapes, most of them are FREE (!), and they’re a great way to discover new music. In this new column, we’ll give you a worthy one every week.
DJ: El Timbe
This week we cross the pond, straight to the viejo mundo’s capital of cosmopolitan multiculturalism, Barcelona. There we found El Timbe, a DJ that’s been mixing tropical latintronica for quite a while and is part of the Folcore collective along with other representative local names like Cherman, Meneo, and Le Freak Selector.
This is the fifth installment of his Timberism series of mixtapes and it focuses on the futuristic dubstep sound with a Latin twist. The characteristic wobble-wobble sound of dubstep has been very popular already for years, mainly in its birthplace, the UK, but also in other selective dance floors around the world. But the genre hasn’t crossed over to the mainstream Latin market yet, where it’s virtually completely unknown. Still, many DJs, bedroom producers, and mashup artists have been experimenting with these edgy uptempo beats, mixing them with elements of cumbia, reggaeton, kuduro, and more.
El Timbe digs into those digital crates to come out with an impressive mix that works out great as a cohesive introduction to the genre for neophytes, while also pleasing the demanding ‘step heads. He does so with both style and accuracy, with perfectly smooth blends and a good handful of unexpected surprises.
DOWNLOAD EL TIMBE’S TIMBERISM-ISMO #5 HERE.