MP3: Zutzut - “De Shopping”

The most defining process of global bass is the exploration of the aesthetic lower class. In an indirect search for cultural respect, we engage our sense of distaste with parody, dance, and laughter. The longer we expose ourselves to an initially repugnant aesthetic, the more likely we are to reach a social understanding. With good fortune, bass producers are afforded opportunities for collaboration, which can evolve into healing and bridging relationships (see Dre Skull and Vybz Kartel, but not Diplo, never Diplo).

For myself and, evidently, Club Fonograma readers, reggaetón remains a permissive void of culture. In terms of functionality: Why shouldn’t we be able to enjoy the music that will continue surround us? Where have others failed (mainly Jessy Bulbo), Zutzut helps us re-evaluate the genre by emphasizing perhaps what we hate most about the genre, crass materialism. “De Shopping,” features a conference panel in the middle of a discourse on the merits of excessivley spending on women. The re-crafting of the song (with vocals by Yaga & Mackie, Opi, Arcangel, J Alvarez, Farruko & Jory) is intended for the minority of readers already into Arca and Teengirl Fantasy; however, I am sure we’ll be seeing reggaetons and tons of remixes for a variety of listeners this upcoming year.

♫♫♫  "De Shopping"

Cltrlsndtrck - Cifras EP

Cifras EP, Cltrlsndtrck

PIR▲.MD Records, Mexico

Rating: 64

by Adrian Mata-Anaya

As an audio project, the Cifras EP (PIR▲.MD Records, MX, 2012) involves the expounding of Cltrlsndtrck's musical models rather than the exploration of the artist's impending pursuits. Gloria Lasso, a long-past international diva, is our taxidermy figurine. The Catalunyan, previously performing as a Spaniard in France and then Mexico, has been re-imagined as entirely Mexican. The music of Lasso is indiscernible in Cifras and non-divergent from Cltrlsndtrck’s brain-feeding sound. The lack of resistance made by the stimulated Gloria Lasso, probably attributable to her digital absenteeism, is equated as an endorsement for Cltrlsndtrck and even Arts (MX).

Panning outward, PIR▲.MD Records is releasing a crowdsourced audio-visual sketchbook in the Cifras EP. It is completely digital in presentation, though we cannot ignore it as a product of craft art social scene (usually IRL). The visual-side of the EP involves the collection of five figure-centric paintings, each by a unique illustrator. PIR▲.MD Records states that each image is a digital postcard to be pasted onto a corresponding audiopage. This is not necessarily the most rewarding analogy, considering there are six songs and only five illustrations. To cover the EP’s tracks, I might add a “Footage Not Found” screencap for the future-step trance “Sexta Cifra.”

That’s not to say that this EP is anywhere near forgettable. On the contrary, “4ta Cifra” with our main feature, the entry’s titular image, is as dance-worthy in its rhythm as it is dream-woven in its narrative:

A Bladerunner-esque, smog wave begins to pour in the 4th minute. We’re hurried into an underground club. The space is well-lit, as it allows in natural light, which bleeds together with some watercoloring of acid, allowing us a full glimpse of every adolescent reggaetonto dancing around us. Now we're trippin’, tongues seem to vomit out of their mouths. Now speaking in and out of tongues, I grab what’s right in front me, I’m tripen’. Sirens flash red and blue. I'm abducted by a fuming black and blue alien, speaking Hungarian with a Mexican accent. 

Edgar MT's "Reggaetongue" postcard has been delivered: “Greetings from MY▲MX"