Mañaneros - El Sonido de lo Inevitable

El Sonido de lo Inevitable, Mañaneros

Empresaurio, Chile

Rating: 87

by Enrique Coyotzi

It’s been a while since a release title had resounded so strikingly accurate to the music it holds. El Sonido de lo Inevitable, Mañaneros’ astonishingly constructed EP, easily works like the sound of a new era–one that couldn’t be avoided, where tribal transcends demographics. Psych rock and krautrock, among other unforeseen genres, subtly merge with global bass and sharp electronica through mind-numbing progressions, resulting in irresistible dance numbers and meditative brain-drillers. The Chilean innovators have crafted a collection of five songs that feel both logical and completely different from any recent fusion you’ve heard lately. It’s the kind of mixture you would’ve imagined after all the tribal boom exploded, but Mañaneros have been part of the game way before that happened and, as proven in highlights “El Volcán” and “Baby Tropical,” have perfected it in their own peculiar style.

Led by extravagant fashion and blasting delirium, the Chilean ensemble has created a set of environmental pieces enhanced by well-chosen exotic elements: the flavorful samples of digitally resonant yeahs in “Baby Tropical,” ferocious feline roars in “El Volcán,” the spaciously trippy vocals and entrancing wavelengths of “Cisco Router,” cutesy sounds of chirping birds in “Playita,” dolphins crying and overall Caribbean acid-mood. And, no shit, Don Francisco even makes an appearance in the murky “Lévantate y Come,” transforming it into an even scarier swallow. Each of these monstrous songs possess the quality of drawing an individual atmosphere, never repeating themselves, therefore transmitting a grandiloquent amount of sensations, along the enviable attribute of new sound discoveries caused by repeated listens, reached thanks to the sensible and detailed craftsmanship in these expansive productions.

Despite being familiar with three of these tracks already (including “Baby Tropical,” #1 in our 2012 Midyear Report) and only the inclusion of two new compositions, El Sonido de lo Inevitable functions as something special, a collection of propulsive songs that sound like nothing else, whose perplexing, outlandish delight should strike any electronic music admirer. The EP commences with those tracks that had hit before our radar and establishes a wild build-up that grows from the most danceable numbers to the most explorative ones. Newest offerings, “Playita” and “Levántate y Come,” find Mañaneros stepping into an experimental realm. Enticing beats and agitated architecture color “Playita,” portraying a sunny landscape that relies on vivid instrumentals. Closer “Levántate y Come” reaches the spooky levels accomplished in Scott Walker’s The Drift, as a krautish downtempo prayer where the devil commands and shows up in the vertiginous ending (“Levántate, hijo/Soy el diablo”).

Considering they came out of nowhere, Mañaneros have expertly made a name of their own in the blogosphere. And this should come as no surprise. Ever since “El Volcán” was included in our Fonogramáticos Vol.13, we knew they were a one-of-a-kind, spectacular act. Pioneers of their own grand movement, Mañaneros demonstrate with El Sonido de lo Inevitable the intelligence of fusion within fresh development, smart genre-inclusion, and boundless talent for achieving it.

Levántate y Come by mañaneros

MP3: Mañaneros - "Baby Tropical"

When Mañaneros’ grandiloquent hit “El Volcán” came our way, I think we all cringed a bit. Here we had an out-of-nowhere band that was so loud and so monstrously into themselves that they had us saying, “Jeez! Chileans are also freakishly great at tribal.” In a weird way, “El Volcán” officially took Chile’s indie from an all-the-family pop scene into a prospecting and more diversified field. The four-piece act is prepping the release of their first EP, Levantate y Come, and has unveiled another badass single that intermingles tribal dub with merengue and polka. “Baby Tropical” is a subsequent home run for Mañaneros, who score another hit devoid of any templates, instead surveying as many platforms as Edgar Wright in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. “Baby Tropical” is like the meeting of Proyecto Uno and Das Racist, so blissfully satanical and so celebratory of the morning erections.

♫♫♫ "Baby Tropical" | Facebook

Video: 3Ball MTY - "Inténtalo"

| by Reuben "Judah" Torres

Vice meets Bandamax. That was my first impression upon viewing 3BALL MTY’s new video for “Intentalo.” Of course, it’s not as if no one saw this coming, especially after the group’s initial breakthrough feature in The Fader, and a certain infamous video by Vice. But tribal's roots have always been with the populace, originating in the flea markets of Tepito before making its way to northern Mexico and beyond.

One aspect I’d like to point to tends to be overlooked in the discourse surrounding tribal, and that is that its assumed role within the continuum of onda grupera and the tradition of cumbia mexicana. You’d be hard-pressed to overlook its commonalities with the latter, especially as tribal adopts the less rave-friendly 3/4 time signature, a staple of the cumbia sound. Its purely electronic nature easily recalls the '90s tecnocumbia sound of iconic acts like Mi Banda El Mexicano. Granted, the grupero connection has been easier to miss––especially as tribal is mostly based around singular DJ figures––but it becomes all the more evident with the inclusion of El Bebeto and America Sierra, both paragons of la onda grupera, as guest vocalists on “Intentalo." Particularly noteworthy is the fact that all three members of 3BALL MTY appear together as a group (or perhaps conjunto?), further reinforcing the notion that the group’s aim lies with that audience. Never mind duranguense, this is the grupero sound of the 21st century.

In an interview with Noiselab a few years ago, Toy Selectah––who has served as a sort of mentor figure for 3BALL MTY since their inception–– predicted that, in the coming years, rave music would become “la música de las periferias,” or the music of the urban outskirts, as it were. “Intentalo” is a testament to tribal’s new stature as an authentic regional Mexican style with its goal firmly bent on mass appeal. But, almost as if preempting global commodification, it winks at its presumed hipster audience, all the while basking in all its pointy boots glory.