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Artist: Los de Abajo
Category: Americas
Read an interview with Lider Ter谩n of Los de Abajo.
Revolutionary sentiments, punk rock attitude and Latin culture are a potent combination. Multiply by nine and you have Los de Abajo, Mexico City's answer to Chumbawamba.
The four core band members first came together in 1992, and subsequently drew in others from the thriving underground circuit of that teeming metropolis. One thing they all had in common was their radical leftist politics - they took their cues from the Zapatista movement of the impoverished Mexican state of Chiapas.
Musically they were united by a love of ska, and roots rock artists like Mano Negra. The addition of a brass section led them in the direction of salsa. They combined this with punk, funk, rap, reggae, cumbia, merengue, and even polka -- often more than one style in the same song, which gives their music an energetic schizoid quality.
They were also inspired by local styles such as Mexican son and the Afro-Latin music of Vera Cruz, something which is far more apparent from their live shows than their recorded material. Los de Abajo can switch from unhinged onstage pogo-ing to acoustic roots music almost mid-song.
When they finally put all these ideas down on CD, it was impossible at first to find a major label to finance its distribution and production. However, they had heard about David Byrne's passion for left field Latin music and quirky fusions. They sent him a copy and he liked it so much that he got involved in the mixing of some of the tracks and even the album's packaging and design. Their debut was released on his eclectic Luaka Bop label in 1998 in the US, and it surfaced in the UK the following year.
Los de Abajo have just recorded a new album called Cybertropic Chilango Power with the Spanish electro-dub group Macaco on production duties. It's not due for release until February 2002, but a spokesperson for the co-operatively run band says it is simpler and more influenced by European alternative music.
Biography by Jon Lusk, November 2001
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