Tijuana Sessions Vol3 en la revista Mosaico de Nueva York:
nymosaico.com

///al leer la resena me acord'e de Julio El Sueco///

Nortec Collective....¿y quienes son estos batos, pues?

By Oscar León Bernal

....¿y quienes son estos batos, pues?

Back in 1999, while listening to a banda sinaloense at a wedding, Pepe Mogt (Fussible) thought about translating the traditional rhythms of northern Mexican music into the field of electronica. Excited by the idea he invited several of Tijuana’s most active musicians and producers from?its electronic scenes to participate in the experiment, which Roberto Mendoza (Panóptica)?named Nortec. Some of these musicians came from industrial bands such as Artefakto while others came from electro-acoustic projects such as: Sonios and Aural.

When Fussible, Panóptica, Bostich, Hiperboreal, Clorofila, Terrestre, and Plankton Man launched Tijuana Sessions Volume 1 (2000),?its creation signified that the Mexican electronic scenes?had begun integrating local and global rhythms, similar to what occurred in 1990s with rock records such as Café Tacvba’s Re or La Barranca’s El fuego de la noche . Nortec signified the interiorization of the Popular through a globalized optic via a dialogue with?this otherwise overlooked tradition as?well as?a renewed interest in the regional particularities of Tijuana. In order words, why look for Latin rhythms in electronic music from Germany when all the necessary ingredients were already at home?

The Collective then enlisted the participation of a group of graphic and multimedia artists to accompany the Nortec sound. These artists provided an ambiguous visual pop aesthetic composed of iconographic elements from Mexico’s Northern cultures: Narco-chic, the Mexican curios, the maquiladora, the constant flux of consumer goods and human beings, and the sensorial assault characteristic of late modernity’s urban spaces. It was through this (re)appropriation of stereotypes and simulated Otherness that the world met what was destined to become one of the most significant cultural movements of the northern Mexican border.

....pa’ luego es tarde, socio.

Five years have passed since the release of Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1 . Terrestre and Plankton Man have left the collective in order to pursue equally interesting projects. Other electronic experiments that integrate traditional elements have emerged from Latin America, and many of us have waited patiently, wondering whether the Nortec Collective would be able to give continuity to this project without becoming formulaic.
?
Well, the Tijuana Sessions Volume 3 has arrived; consisting of 15 tracks and 48 minutes in length, the record proves that Nortec is no gimmick. The Nortec sound might not be easily digested by those unfamiliar with northern Mexican music nor by purists accustomed to specific electronica subgenres—rather than simply adding a conga to a house track or a Latin piano as a loop,—Nortec creates a distinct aesthetic that grounds itself on the borderline, in northern Mexican music and more specifically in Tijuana, while maintaining a fluid exchange with global electronic beats that range from down-tempo and electro-pop to drum and bass.

¡aunque le cale compa!

The Nortec collective continues to integrate banda sinaloense, norteño, and electronic rhythms, however, this time the music was recorded with digital and analog instruments.?The music?was then reinterpreted by norteña musicians from a different popular indie-underground, that is, those who play in bars, restaurants, family gatherings and street corners. Besides creating a record rich in textures and versatility this collaboration assured that the roughness that characterize the street sound of Tijuana would be maintained in the record.

From the very beginning when the record opens with the unmistakably Nortec mix of trumpets and synthesizers in "Tengo La Voz" from Bostich, and as it continues with the blissful border-pop of "Tijuana Makes Me Happy, (Bang, Bang!)," the invitation to live in?the city that inspired this movement from within has been extended. Clorofila adds the lounge-feel that coexists with the tubas, snare drums, and accordions in tracks such as "Funky Tamazula" and "Almada." Hiperboreal contributes with a timeless and melancholic cabaret touch in "Dandy del Sur," Don Loope and El Fracaso (¡esa cala, compa!). "Narcoteque"—a Clorofila and Panóptica collaboration—is a norteño bass and dub midtempo with escalating intensity. Two essential tracks in this record are Fussibles’ "Colorado," the only narco-corrido made for headphone listening that I know of, and "Bar Infierno," with a full accordion and bass driven dark mood. Panóptica gives us only one option in his a richly structured track, "Revu Rockers," to dance!

Melancholic urban-dub with a norteño feeling, border-noir, a very Mexican global sensibility, an aesthetic, that as the border itself, remains a work in progress with no clear-cut urban planning, and the coexistence of illegality’s excesses and the creative force of a young nation. The soundtrack one would like for a remix of Orson Well’s Touch of Evil, the perfect disc to enjoy during a summer party in Tijuana, New York, Buenos Aires, Mexico City or an American Southwest freed of neo-Mexican clichés. Enjoy it while drinking a cold beer and a book by Mike Davis.