Congo Tardis #1 is Australia’s premier tropical / tribal sound-system represented by Melbourne’s Ms Butt, Paz and Lewis CanCut. All highly sought after producers / dj’s in their own rights, together they present a wild and ready 6 deck set of carnival sounds – Guarachero, 3Ball, Cumbia, UK Funky, Kuduro, Dancehall, Bashment, Kwaito, Baile Funk, Afrobeat, Dub, Dubstep, House, Latin Funk and Disco, Soca, Swamp Funk, Krewe Beat, Tropical Bass.
This is the tale of young Perseus. Just a few moons ago, Perseus opened The Magician’s Magic Tape 12 with his retouch of “New Life.” After noticing the people’s desire for 112bpm tropical flavors, The Magician descended upon the lands of Mycenae and challenged Perseus to undertake a quest only fit for demigods. The Kraken? Medusa? No — that’s ancient history. The undertaking was fairly simple: if Perseus could craft 3 magical originals, he would share them with the masses. And so it happened, Magic Tape 15 was met with “Russian Girlfriends,” followed by “Cool Runnings” in tape 17, and finally “Running Back To You” in tape 18.
The people prayed, day after day, asking for Perseus to unlock his music and share it with them. And so it was, through the help of his “fly” stallion, Pegasus (or in alternative universes, “The French Express”), they heroically unchained the EP, for the masses to fully consume & enjoy.
All which remains from the great epic is the highly-coveted, highly-demanded 3-track EP, in heavenly 320kbit quality. It is yours, for keeps… Tweet about it, post about it, share it, blare it. This EP will be live on Beatport soon, for those wanting to hang 10 and catch a few .WAV’s.
Sidestepper began in 1997 as an electronic solo project, mixing English beats and bass with Latin sounds. Richard Blair had first come to Colombia in 1993 to work with renowned folk singer Toto La Momposina – the two had met at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios where Richard worked as an engineer. He had planned to be there for a month, but stayed for two years, getting lost in Latin music culture. On returning to the UK he began to investigate how to create a new Latin bass line culture using modern beats and bass. The result was the first album, 1997’s ’Southern Star’ featuring the Latin drum and bass tune ‘Maine’. After meeting songwriter Ivan Benavides on the Carlos Vives record La tierra del Olvido, the two began to write together, producing the future club classic and sidestepper’s first vocal tune – ‘Logozo’ in 1997. A call came from Chris Blackwell’s Palm Pictures, and on signing the deal Richard returned to Colombia to make the next album. Again Ivan co-wrote and produced and ‘More Grip‘ was released in 2000, a homage to a salsa night out in Bogota.
Sidestepper began to play live for the first time, playing gigs in the UK and across Europe, at Glastonbury and Roskilde amongst many others, and Richard continued to dj in the UK and US. Meanwhile, writing work had begun on 3AM In Beats We Trust, as Richard travelled between London and NY where Ivan was living. The two recorded the core of the album in Bogota in 2002, some eventually unused sessions in Jamaica, with Cuban singer Ronald Infante in Havana, and mc’s Rubi Dan and Juxsi D in London. The mix was done in autumnal London, and 3AM was released to critical acclaim in 2003.
Richard returned to Bogota to form a live band that would be based in Colombia, and between old hands like Janio Coronado and Teto Ocampo, and new talent like Erika Munoz, a special magic has emerged with this incarnation of Sidestepper, which has been wowing audiences in Colombia, Mexico and the US for the last few years.
After touring extensively with the band, Ivan and Richard wanted to make a record written specifically for each member. The writing and original tracking were done at a farm outside Bogota, and mixing was done at a studio in the city. ‘Continental’ was released in Colombia in July 2006, and will be released in the rest of the world soon.
The current line up is – Janio Coronado, ‘Goyo’ Martinez, Erika Munoz – voices Ivan Benavides – electronics and voice, Teto Ocampo – guitar, Kike Egurrola – drums, Richard Blair – bass and beats
