029 - Alma Negra
Alma Negra is a collective of four good friends, family members and musical kindred spirits from Switzerland whose production and DJ sets are as diverse as their backgrounds. Brothers Dersu & Diego have Cape Verdian heritage, Dario is half Italian, half Portuguese and finally there's Mario who has Spanish heritage. It is in this melting pot of cultural influences that their eclectic sound has formed, and it’s become a recipe for success. When you’re tracks are getting support from such luminaries as Giles Peterson, Ben UFO and Tim Sweeney you know you're doing something right. And those qualities are certainly evident on the quartets excellent releases for, among others, the excellent imprints Highlife and Sofrito.
I approached the guys about producing a mix for Métron and out of the blue a few weeks back, one appeared in my inbox. What they have compiled is a tour de force of Afrobeat, driving percussion, impassioned chants, beautiful guitar work and some mighty brass sections, pieced together with their usual creative flare. At just over 50 minutes it’s only a small sample of what the guys are capable of, with a burgeoning reputation for extended set lengths and a vast selection of tracks to draw from they’re well worth trying to catch live.
In the meantime check out their brilliant new EP on Basic Fingers titled ‘Digger’s Workouts Part 1’’ - really one of the fines EP’s I’ve heard this year. You can also check out more of their work by following them on Soundcloud & Facebook.
Original artwork for the mix created by Jack Hardwicke.