Your Mix Fix: Medline (a.k.a. Aillacra 2743)

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The word mixtape has plenty of different interpretations. It used to be that mixtapes were actually DJ sets recorded on cassette tapes, but with the coming of the digital music age, the name remained the same, but the definition expanded. Nowadays, people call mixtapes many different things, some of which are not necessarily mixed and most of which were never taped. Here we try to cover them all. In this column, Juan Data gives you a worthy one every week.

DJ: Medline a.k.a. Aillacra 2743

MIXTAPE: El Dorado : rare breaks from the new world #2

The search for El Dorado in South America seems to be the theme of this ambitious and masterfully crafted mixtape. However, that sought-after gold here is not a precious metal found underground, it’s rare funky breaks found in obscure circular pieces of vinyl pressed in Latin America. The conquistador here is Orlando Díaz Corvalá, a French music archeologist of Chilean background, who goes under several different alter-egos depending on his mood and the music style he’s sampling.

Don’t expect to find many crowd-pleasing, sing-along anthems here, Medline, or Aillacra 2743, focuses mostly on the soulful side of old school Latin American music (what he aptly calls brown music) with an emphasis on the percussion breaks. So, you can take this as an archeology lecture that will probably inspire to look more into the records used and the little-known artists who sign them. Or, if you’re open-minded and you just have the rare ability of enjoying good funky music regardless of its popularity, you can totally dance your ass off to this hour-long session.

By the way, Aillacra 2743 just released a cumbia-centric 7” vinyl single on Names You Can Trust (the NY-based label that introduced Frente Cumbiero to the world a couple of years ago) that’s totally worth checking out.



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