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 juxtaposed 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 column, Juan Data gives you a worthy one every week.
MIXTAPE: Me Gusta Cali
DJ: Quantic
Few foreigners know Cali and its music better than Quantic. The British producer has been living in the Colombian “Capital of Salsa” for five years now, and besides recording some amazing music with his many side projects (Combo Barbaro, Flowering Inferno, Soul Orchestra, etc), he’s also been doing some much-needed archeological work, digging through the uncharted depths of old school Afro-Colombian music, rescuing forgotten classics and unknown gems and releasing them into the world.
It’s pretty obvious this guy really loves living in Cali. His most recent official release is an EP of remixes titled Caliventura, available on vinyl on Tru Thoughts, with many extras on digital download. And now we get his mixtape he recorded as a tribute to his adoptive town: Me Gusta Cali, a collection of songs with lyrics focusing on that city, its beauty, its history and obviously, its women.
This is a technically simple live mix, done with old vinyl records, with no digital editing or post-production. Just one song after the other—but always sticking to the common theme. There’s salsa vieja, descarga, boogaloo, and cumbia, the only thing missing is Afrosound’s classic “Caliventura,” but I guess that’d be too basic for Quantic, so he decided to show off and go deeper with his selection.
TAKE A TRIP DOWN TO CALI WITH QUANTIC’S ME GUSTA CALI MIXTAPE. DOWNLOAD HERE.