zzk eng - ZZK Records

"ZZK is the first label to push the sound of Argentina from the villa
(ghettos) to the uptown. ZZK is a big part in bringing this to the attention
of the people." - Diplo
“There’s really nothing like ZZK Records anywhere in the world: the avant
Argentinian label releases experimental, digital cumbias and other unique
interpretations traditional Latin genres; acts as a family, collective and nightclub in
Buenos Aires; and, of course, travels the globe.” - The Fader
“Whether it’s making thousands of European ravers lose their shit at Roskilde, winning over
tents of sunburned Americans at Coachella, or inspiring Argentines to dance to something
besides endless drum and bass, the artists of Zizek have gone from their own tropical newschool cumbia club night in Buenos Aires to stages all over the world.” Black Book
ZZK Records is a label and production team with more than 150 shows in 70 cities in their 4
years of existence. Renowned worldwide for being at the epicenter of the new cumbia and digital folklore
movement, the Buenos Aires based record label shows the enormous talent of its artists in various
formats: CD, vinyl, MP3, tours and internet. Constantly on the move, ZZK is both local and global alike.
With shows at Coachella, Roskilde, Transmusicales de Rennes, Mutek, Sonar, SXSW and other
important festivals, ZZK sets trends as few other local brands do. CNN, Wire, New York Times, NME,
Pitchfork, Le Monde, Der Spiegel & The Fader are some of the media that has devoted space to ZZK and
their artists.
ZZK Records is a homegrown record label and artist collective born out of the Zizek Club nights
in Buenos Aires, Argentina created by DJs Villa Diamante, Nim, and Grant Dull (El G) in 2006. Dull was
introduced to Nim as a local tastemaker, A&R, and producer and turned up at his house in search of
cumbia. At about the same time, Nim met Diamante at a party held in a five-star hotel slated for
demolition. El G booked Nim at a film festival mansion party for 400 people and toyed with the idea of a
weekly party. Bringing in Villa Diamante, who was playing all over town, Zizek was born.
Dull’s bi-lingual cultural city guide Whats Up Buenos Aires promoted the new weekly party in San
Telmo and the trio named it after a Slovenian philosopher with a penchant for pushing the envelope. Zizek
attracted a new audience who came for the emerging sounds of hip hop, dancehall, electronica,
reggaeton, and cumbia. This new public participated in developing the party and created the spirit of
Zizek Club; artistic, home-grown, and dynamic. From the start, local producers arrived from diverse
backgrounds to craft their respective sounds. In person, artists collaborated, took risks, and got constant
feedback from the crowd. The stage became the lab where visitors joined artists on rotation and Zizek
Club took shape. In 2012, Zizek Club continues to evolve and is an integral part of ZZK Records. The
culture capital of Buenos Aires is its own unique experience, where nationalities fold into each other,
bringing architecture and design, art and music and traditional forms to modern tastes. It should come as
no surprise that this jet-setting musical revolution comes out of the capital of South American style.
ZZK Records / Press / This is ZZK Records / Facebook / Youtube / Vimeo / Twitter / Soundcloud
Artist Roster:
Chancha Via Circuito
La Yegros
Super Guachin
Mati Zundel
Frikstailers
Tremor
King Coya
El Remolón
Fauna
Villa Diamante
El G
Albums Released:
Various Artists: Future Sounds of Buenos Aires (2012)
Mati Zundel: Amazonico Gravitante (2012)
Super Guachin: Piratas y Fichines EP (2011)
Fauna: Manshines (2011)
Tremor: Para Armar (2011)
Frikstailers: Bicho de Luz (2011)
Chancha Via Circuito: Rio Arriba (2010/2011)
El Remolón: Pangeatico (2010)
Mati Zundel: Neobailongo EP (2010)
Various Artists, Poirier: Las Americas (2010)
El Remolón: Pibe Cosmo B Sides (2009)
Tremor: Caracol EP (2009)
Douster: Triassic EP (2009)
King Coya: Cumbias de Villa Donde (2009)
Fauna: La Manita de Fauna Remixes (2009)
Villa Diamante: Empacho Digital (2009)
Various Artists: ZZK Sound Vol. 2 (2009)
Fauna: La Manita de Fauna (2008)
El Remolón: Pibe Cosmo (2008)
Chancha Via Circuito: Rodante (2008)
Various Artists: ZZK Sound Vol. 1 (2008)
contact: management@zzkrecords.com
“His brilliant album, Amazonico Gravitante, fuses the deep haunting beats of the vast
Argentine south, the slow winding cumbias of the tropics and European club beats.
Zundel is truly a brilliant artist. Newcomers to Latin music should make him part of
their basic education, and lovers of more classic Latin music need to give him a chance:
if you spend too much time looking back at the great music of the past, you could miss
out on a true musical genius standing right in front of you.” - NPR Music
**Debut Album Amazonico Gravitante featured on NPRʼs Top 25 Albums of 2012 (so far) list, NPRʼs
First Listen, and KCRWʼs Todayʼs Top Tune!**
Raised on rhythms of the Argentine backwoods, Mati Zundel blends dance
music with traditional Argentine folklore rhythms such as tinku, huaynos, charangueada
and bomba with electronic textures. Shaman chant and charango guitar loops are the backbone of
Mati Zundel's signature style. Native voices are the backbeat to percussion and bass tracks with organ
melodies combining cumbia and psychedelic noise. Step onto the Mati Zundel dance floor - a desert
covered in a storm of stars.
Critically acclaimed by NPR, KCRW, Spin, and the Washington Post among others, Mati’s
debut album Amazonico Gravitante creates a musical map of his journeys traveling and composing
throughout South America collaborating with local artists. Starting with Miss Bolivia from Argentina to
Mexico by way of Mexican-Canadian rapper Boogat, to Uruguay with El Socio and heading up to Bolivia
with Ciudad Satelite. The result is a furiously original style that takes indigenous roots, and layers it with a
contemporary sensibility, maintaining respect for ritual and tradition while pushing classic Latin influences
into a cosmic future.
For more press links check out his ZZK artist page, video page, and download high res photos here.
“His 2010 XLR8R mixtape (which you can download for free here), is one of the
best explorations of any musical genre I've ever heard: the nightingale-crysurround-sound-nature of indigenous, rootsy cumbia running head-on with the throbbing
structures of beat-heavy modernity. It's a brilliant love affair that your ears will have
with this man's sound.” -Derek Beres The Huffington Post
"Rio Arriba is a dreamy, neo-primitive mix of chopped-up pan flutes, folk guitar, Coke-bottle
percussion, and booming, electronically treated drums-- an almost shamanistic sound that carries its own
landscape: underbrush, riverbanks, campfires." -Mike Powell
Pitchfork
“You wouldn´t guess that the guy selling CDs in the back of Buenos Aires´s Zizek
club is one of the scene´s most respected producers. Other Zizek producers craft
new school cumbia beats for dance floor whomp; Chancha takes the mystical / tropical
route, emulating both Martin Denny and hip-hop´s pursuit of the perfect loop.” -Jace
Clayton (DJ/Rupture) Fader Magazine
Rio Arriba is the sophomore album from ZZK artist Chancha Via Circuito who molds local
South American rhythms into global artistry. Rio Arriba bubbles up from the Andes like percussive lava,
seething as it is soothing. Layers of drums play out like water and earth battling heat - heat brought by
Chancha Via Circuito, the Pig on the Circular Train. Chancha has forged a path from his town outside the
urban sprawl of Buenos Aires in the east of Argentina up across the border with Bolivia and into the
Northern hemisphere where he's bringing new fans to native drum traditions. In his first release, Rodante,
Chancha took cumbia into uncharted territory retrofitting the Latin rhythm for a worldly audience. With Rio
Arriba, South American folklore takes the reins and, under Chancha’s steady hand, obscure backwoods
rhythms take on a top shelf lifestyle as folklore hits the club. Critically acclaimed in both the Washington
Post and the New York Times, Chancha’s production was requested by Gilles Peterson of BBC 1 for his
Havana Remix series, The Ruby Suns (Sub Pop) and the Gotan Project (Ya Basta/XL Recordings). He
imports raw material to metro landscapes, reminding listeners of the mysteries of nature lurking beyond
urban gates. A sentry on stage, Chancha’s tracks lead listeners up ancestral mountain paths to leap
streams and strut summits, on dance floors from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to Roskilde in Denmark and to
MUTEK in Montreal.
For more press links check out his ZZK artist page, video page, and download high res photos here.
“Amidst a flurry of overly experimental albums from pioneering Buenos Aires
collective ZZK, Fauna’s sophomore disc Manshines reminds us why we collectively
fell in love with the “cumbia digital” revolution to begin with: a combination of
killer beats and slimy synthesizers that not only results in interesting music that is
also danceable, but interesting music that demands you get off your behind and
dance, now.” -MTV IGGY
Pioneers of the global cumbia scene, Fauna present Manshines, their second
album released by ZZK Records.
Since 2003 they’ve made a name for themselves in their home of Mendoza, Argentina and
around the world. The duo is Color Kit (Cristian del Negro) and Catar_sys (Federico Rodríguez, who left
this Earth in Nov 2010), both on voice and beat making. They released their first album La Manita de
Fauna (ZZK Records, 2008), pure jungle cumbia with lyrics that transcended the message, mixing
playfulness and consciousness, a portrait of life on the foot of the Andes. Constantly evolving, the
message continues with Manshines, an album that was ready for editing when Catar_sys stepped off this
Earth, after an unforgettable South American tour through Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela
and Brasil together with Villa Diamante. Mixed and produced by Andrés Oddone and Frikstailers, this new
album widens the sound´s horizons - more beats, more powerful cumbia, dubstep and kudoro
rhythms. Daleduro and El Remolón are our two special guests laying down the beats so that the boys
from Fauna can spit their advanced lyrics, because in this album there is a lot more to be said. Color Kit
will be presenting the album together with Un Mono Azul acting as DJ and backup vocals to showoff the
new songs in Manshines.
For more videos and press links check out their ZZK artist page, video page and download high res
photos here.
“On Cumbias de Villa Donde, Argentina's King Coya (of Zizek) is staking his own spot
in the future of South American-inspired electronic music with no shortage of
creativity. This collection of remixes and original material begins with the sultry slowand-low riddims of "Villa Donde" and only becomes more colorful from there. To see
where cumbia is headed next, Coya's latest is a smart place to start.”
-XLR8R Magazine
Click here to read King Coya’s “Gaby Kerpel Beats to a Different Drum” feature in
The Real Argentina
King Coya, from the Northern Argentine Andes, is the digitalized, imaginary version of
Gaby Kerpel, who blends traditional Colombian cumbia and Argentine folklore with
electronic music.
Gaby Kerpel is a renowned Argentine composer whose credits include the score to De La
Guarda and Fuerza Bruta and a soundtrack on Island Records of the same. His LP, Cumbias de Villa
Donde, released on ZZK Records is a collection of original down-tempo, electro folklorica that bridges
indigenous music out of South America with global dance. Through King Coya, Gaby Kerpel reinterprets
classic Colombian and Peruvian cumbias in the Zizek sound. The album includes guest appearances
from Grammy-nominated Petrona Martinez and the renowned Cucu Diamantes. King Coya’s music is
both accessible and timeless, taking you home to the Andes mountains and beyond. Gaby, through King
Coya, has made himself into the purveyor of laid-back, electro-folk infused with cumbia, hip hop, and
reggae, enriched by voices from diverse global regions, while maintaining the avor of South America. He
has performed on major stages all over the globe, including Roskilde in Denmark, Central Park
Summerstage, and Recbeat in Brazil and he has been invited all over the world as an expert on digital
music production, including a recent workshop at Red Bull Academy in Bolivia and at the UnConvention
in Venezuela.
For more videos and press links check out his ZZK artist page, video page, and download high res
photos here
“…[Super Guachin] are taking cumbia to the next evolutionary level by experimenting
with new and retro technologies.” – Remezcla
“Ruthlessly mixing various aspects of genres like cumbia and dubstep (both present in a number of their
possible forms), Super Gauchin refracts the rhythmic results through a set of sounds elicited from the
brother’s (apparently extensive) collection of bent and repurposed gaming systems, ending up with a
sound that is totally unique despite its readily apparent origins...Super Gauchin is fantastic because their
vintage sounds come across as both culturally meaningful signifiers and tonally fascinating musical
tools. Their double impact is fantastic.” - Afropop Worldwide
Super Guachin is an audiovisual duo made up of brothers Ignacio and Luciano Brasolin,
ages 25 and 24 respectively. Experimenting with different technological resources
and video game musical structures that have influenced them through the years,
they create music that is uniquely modern, experimental, and innovative.
There’s a surreal, sci-fi quality to their mixing of vintage computers, and an arsenal of electronic
toys built and modified by the duo themselves including tricked out Comodore 64s, Gameboys, and
Ataris. Growing up in the quiet city of Mendoza, Argentina, the Brasolin’s spent much of their time using
video game consoles and personal computers to develop the sound that would be the basis for what was
to come. By implementing their deep passion and understanding of technology they were able to
redefine musical influences such as dub, dubstep, chiptune and techno with their love for
electronics. This artistic journey helped them transcend all geographic and stylistic limitations and
created the musical explosion into something totally new. Much like the tech world, their evolution is
constant. As they modify rhythms to construct a distinctive sound that provokes dance, and moves
between the tribaland the hypnotic, they unlock an introspective journey, surrounded by texture, light and
multidimensional vocals. Their high energy show mixes in live visuals, which they have brought to
House of World Cultures in Berlin, Sonar Sao Paulo, and they have heated up the floor for both
Bassnectar and Skrillex in Buenos Aires.
For more videos and press links check out their ZZK artist page, video page and download high res
photos here.
Bicho de Luz is that rare electronic release that will resonate with you on the dancefloor, at your
desk while at work, and on your headphones, it sounds like Four Tet stepped into a jungle
cantina with a wicked percussionist and found a casio laced with peyote.
-Global Noize Blog (USA)
“(On Bicho de Luz) Frikstailers employ touches of the traditional music particular to this sound,
but in scattershot fashion, pilfering a rhythmic structure here and a flute sound there.
-Resident Advisor (UK)
Essentially, the music of the Frikstailers is all energy. 220 volts of pure
dance energy. Both smart and shockingly fun, it is a project manned by the multi-rhythmic and
sampling madmen Rafa Caivano (aka Ralf aka DJ Rafa Caivano) and Lisandro Sona (aka Sandro Lee,
aka DJ Sandro de America). In their multilayered compositions they blend elements and icons from the
collective pop unconsciousness, who are then dismembered into mutant sounds, which all morph into
something totally unique. The finished product is multifaceted and can change at the drop of a hat,
combining dancehall, hip hop, baile funk, cumbia, dub, house, kuduro, electro and techno. Sometimes it
is crazy and bizarre, borderline schizophrenic, yet they still retain the intelligence and craft of a beautifully
produced electronic song. They have recently been selected by Modeselektor to be a part of their
Modeselektion Vol. 02 compilation and have released an official remix for El Guincho on Young Turks/XL,
while they are busily at work on their upcoming release “En Son de Paz”.
For more press links check out his ZZK artist page, video page, and download high res photos here.
““Hypnotic huaynos, trance-like carnavalitos, and dreamy andean rhythms, and
they are among the most played artists in the Argentine neofolk scene.” -Página 12
"It was one (show) that makes you tremble with excitement because nobody
else knows about this discovery: Tremor combines Leonardo Martinelli’s
extravagant instrumentals with Gerardo Farez’s work on the synthesizers. It was magical.” Review of Tremor’s SXSW Performance Austin360.com
“Tremor felt like the future of South American beats” - Time Out Chicago
Tremor combines rhythms and sound across genre borders, fitting component parts of varying
tradition together in eloquent symmetry. Tremor researches folklore traditions by region and bridges
generations, geography and genre to produce its signature style. Their sound is equal parts electronic
music and native drum and owes as much to anthropology as it does to popular music.The other two
members in Tremor are just as equally sage in their interpretation of local musicology. Camilo Carabajal
comes from a family of esteemed Argentine folklore musicians. His role is to keep the legacy alive and he
is doing it in modern fashion, by peeling away the layers of time and bringing the bombo leguero to the
21st century with Tremor. In an age of presets and virtual sounds, Gerardo is a master of the analog craft
of synth music. As a musician in demand, he often plays with 5 different bands in a typical month in
Buenos Aires. On their first record, Viajante, they create layers of rhythm fortified with modern synth
loops and paired with timeless Andean flute, strings and drum samples for evocative hybrids. Glitch, IDM,
and electronica reinvent classic rhythms for today’s listener as showcased on their 2011 remix album
Para Armar, featuring remixes of Nortec Collective and Radiokijada who is 1/3 of the renowned Gotan
Project. For Martinelli, “creativity is a combination of two improbable parts.” He sees musical style as a
puzzle or riddle, looking for the best way to put two opposing techniques together in one soundscape.
Tremor has played in important festivals and venues worldwide throughout Argentina, South America,
Europe and the US including Roskilde Festival in Denmark, C/O Pop in Germany, and an official Womex
showcase in 2010.
For more videos and press links check out their ZZK artist page, video page and download high res
photos here.
“Here is ‘the’ mixtape that's blowing my mind right now, dark breezy cumbia and faster
DemBow type riddims that M.I.A would sound great over.” - Mad Decent Blog
“(New cumbia) was cooked up by the talented Argentine called El Remolón, and
it’s a part of his album Pibe Cosmo B-Sides as well. Andrés Schteingart, the man
behind El Remolón, is one of the starts of ZZK Records, the record label born out of the
mythical Zizek club, that since it’s start in 2006 has contributed to putting the genre on
the map in the modern music scene in Buenos Aires.” -Rolling Stone
“El disco (Pangeatico) itself is designed as a bird’s journey throughout the American
continent; a chromatic experience is built as one discovers the consequences of such
trip.” - Club Fonograma
El Remolón is the alter ego of Andrés Schteingart, a producer who tucks hints of Latin American
rhythms like cumbia into a solid base of electronic music. After ten years in the Buenos Aires music scene
producing minimal techno and IDM under the pseudonym Drole, El Remolón or “the lazy one,” evolved
creating medium tempo tracks that make great use of space. His sound is laid-back but heavy-hitting with
a European dance floor sensibility. Schteingart´s strength is in his own evolution as a producer, codeswitching minimal techno into the dialect of minimal cumbia. The artist borrows off-center audio from
exotic sources, streaming innovation and rebirth through his full length album Pibe Cosmo and EP
Pangeatico. He is soon to be releasing the soundtrack for the film Boxeo Constitucion, which he scored
and was recently selected to the BAFICI film festival in Buenos Aires where he was invited to perform live
with a full 8 piece band.
For more videos and press links check out his ZZK artist page, video page and download high
res photos here.
"La Yegros, a singer from the province of Buenos Aires with an emotional sound and coastal
roots. She embodied a strange and explosive mixture that ranged from dub to chamamé to funky
rap and furiously danceable cumbia...performed with a very powerful band of electric guitars,
electronics, bass, keyboards and accordion, in which she shines as a “front-woman” of the highest
degree, which is very rare in Argentina. Overflowing sensuality that recalls the great Lila Downs, she
unites many different genres with her music.”"
- Telam
“Weʼve been waiting for the La Yegros since we saw her destroy NY Tropical a few months
back… Her voice is amazing: somehow she conveys a raw urgency while sounding completely relaxed
and conversational... So anyway, when are we all moving to Buenos Aires? ” - The Fader (USA)
"Then people moved back to the Alternative Music Stage where the luscious La Yegros, clad in a
tight striped dress, pink fishnet stockings and feather headdress, surprised the audience with her
combination of coastal folk and electronic music. Supported by a solid band (the talented Gaby Kerpel
included) and with her very distinct voice, she transformed the forest into a telluric rave" Folklore Club
La Yegros’s edgy voice electrifies her coastal roots, blasting ancient chamames into the future.
Recognized by MTV Iggy as “bringing a female touch to Argentina’s nu-cumbia scene”, La Yegros is the
first female on the renowned ZZK Records roster, bringing her feminine sass and raw energy to the world
music and global bass scene.
La Yegros combines traditional rhythms from the jungles of Argentina’s northeast, music still
relatively undiscovered by the global ear, with a urban edge influenced by her upbringing in cosmopolitan
Buenos Aires making audiences all over the world dance. Although she is about to release her solo debut
LP, La Yegros isn’t exactly new to the scene. She has performed on major stages worldwide as a part of
ZZK showcases, including Central Park Summerstage and Roskilde Festival in Denmark, having
made her professional debut in 1998 with the Argentine production of De La Guarda in front of
15,000 people.
Her solo project is produced by Gaby Kerpel aka King Coya, one of Argentina’s most treasured
composers, having written the music for the international productions of Fuerza Bruta and De La
Guarda. Both La Yegros and King Coya partipate in the band Terraplén, produced by two time Oscar
winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla. With her highly anticipated solo album, Viene de Mi, still waiting
in the wings (to be released in late 2012) she has already caught the eyes of NPR, MTV and the Fader
among others anxiously awaiting her debut.
Trailblazing with chamames and cumbias of her childhood across the globe while breaking
through a male dominated scene with an album that is refreshingly rootsy yet wildly contagious, La
Yegros is a force to be reckoned with in 2012.
Check out her ZZK artist page, video page, and download high res photos here.
“Grant C. Dull is pushing a different kind of South American product to the world: electro
cumbia, a new-school take on old-school sounds that has ignited the global
underground. A former Texan turned world traveler, Dull has been in Buenos Aires on
and off for over a decade. He started one of the city's top club nights, Zizek, with
two friends, and watched it explode, drawing 600 sweaty dancing people a night
before the joint was even six months old. Dull celebrated the one-year anniversary
with a Super Zizek party, importing trendsetter DJ Diplo, who returned to the States
armed to the teeth with new sounds and singing Dull’s praises. Shortly after, a
label was started to facilitate releases of the scene’s hottest talent, and Dull and his
crew hit the road, touring South America, the United States, and most of Europe,
including sets at Coachella and Roskilde. If the past couple of years are any
indicator, this perpetually-in-the-know man might be one of the top tastemakers of
2010.” -Black Book (USA)
El G grew out of Buenos Aires. Grant C. Dull (pronounced Duel), first came to Argentina in 1999
and reinvented himself more than once, going from musicologist and online magazine editor, to visual
artist for events and finally to curator and DJ. He founded the bilingual cultural website
WhatsUpBuenosAires.com, and co-founded ZZK Records and Zizek Club with his Argentine partners.
El G the DJ continues to evolve bringing new sounds of digital cumbia, electro-reggaeton and Andean
folklorico among other sound mutations to the decks. He collaborates with his peers on stage and brings
his unique vision of global music and culture to the arts community at large, playing stages from
Coachella to the Modern Art Museum in St Petersburg.
For more videos and press links check out his ZZK artist page, video page and download high res
photos here.
“Devoted music activist, freestyle DJ and label head, Villa Diamante is a major
figure on the bustling Buenos Aires dance music circuit. His moniker does not only
derive from the neighborhood he grew up in, but also from a mindstate of bringing
together images of poverty and hardships ('villa' meaning township here) with the
hedonism of shiny luxury. Whether holding a residency at Zizek Club, crafting his own
sound or putting out records on his ZZK Records imprint, Villa Diamante is always
aiming for the point where genres clash and something new is created. Accordingly, his
sets display a variety of preferences, rooted in the new trade of digital cumbia, but
branching out constantly into the realms of electro, moombahton, hip hop, house,
you name it.” - Red Bull Music Academy
Since 2004 Villa Diamante has used the mashup as a tool to experiment with music, genres and
cultural icons, from a DJ format where multicultural and mainstream sounds mix, tech hip hop and electro
reggaeton, digital cumbia, dancehall, dubstep or whatever inspires him. As resident DJ and host of Zizek
Club, he promotes the mixture of styles and supports artists, DJs and producers who reinterpret different
sounds of modern music from a local angle, in order to create a "laboratory of dance" and catching
international interest. Villa Diamante has participated in the festivals Sonar Sound BA 06, Creamfields BA
06 and 07, Pepsi Rock 07, Niu Fest Córdoba 07, toured around Argentina, from Tilcara all the way down
to Usuahia, crossed over to Santiago de Chile, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. At the end of 2008 he went
on his first international Zizek Tour in Europe with El Remolon and El G playing 14 cities from Spain to
Norway for almost 40 days. Empacho Digital, his triple album of mashups reflects the problems of
information overload and then participates in it with more than 40 tracks available for free.
For more videos and press links check out his ZZK artist page, video page and download high res
photos here.