ZZK Records North American Tour Starts in July

BUENOS AIRES' ZZK RECORDS RETURNS TO NORTH AMERICA FOR A SUMMER 2010 TOUR FILLED WITH CUMBIA DIGITAL & DIGITAL FOLKLORICO

ZZK Records, Buenos Aires' most exciting and cutting edge record label, is returning to North America in July for what is shaping up to be their biggest tour of the region yet. The label has prominently risen to tastemaker status by introducing the world to “cumbia digital," a fresh sound that combines the traditional Afro-Columbian rhythms of cumbia with the infectious dancefloor momentum of electronic music.

The ZZK “cumbia digital" sound has influenced DJs, parties, and record labels coast to coast from Bersas Discos & Tormenta Tropical in San Francisco to global bass ambassadors DJ/Rupture and Diplo in the east. ZZK has ignited resurgence in “cumbia" music to a new generation of Latinos, hipsters, and world-music aficionados alike. It's no wonder that the label and its releases have seen such adoration from a wide range of media including The NY Times, CNN, and The Fader to influential blogs like Mad Decent, Discobelle, and Generation Bass.

Currently the label is ramping up for its North American tour and raising funds for the production of ZZK TV, an online video project designed to share their sound worldwide. The Kickstarter project, will give “pledges" music and music tickets, but the higher you donate the more personal it will get - from dinner with the ZZK crew to having record label head honcho El G personally DJ your next event. You can check out the full details and show your support here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zzkrecords/zzk-records-online-video-project.

For the upcoming tour that kicks off in late July, ZZK will be bringing four of their top talents from their roster including producers/DJs El Remolon, Chancha Via Circuito, and El G all armed with newest “cumbia digital" tunes to debut. The tour's headliner, Tremor, breaks away from their normal DJ mode, by performing with a full live band. Tremor is hands down one of the most exciting bands in all South America. There is a reason there is only one live band on the ZZK label, and seeing Tremor perform you will quickly understand why.

Tremor is Leonardo Martinelli, a multi-instrumentalist and composer with ten years of experience scoring film and theater in Argentina. Together with Camilo Carabajal and Gerardo Farez, Tremor deftly combines IDM with the sound of Northern Argentina where guitars, drums and other instruments breathe to the beat of computer bleeps. Tremor performs live with native Argentine instruments like the charango guitar, the bombo leguero drum, keyboards and synthesizers. It might be easy to pass off Tremor's sound as “cumbia digital," but after one listen to his style and influence of native instruments and folklore - you will quickly realize he's forging his own sub-genre - “digital folklorico."

If there were ever to be a superstar DJ in the digital-cumbia scene, it is El Remolon. El Remolon brings a global dance sensibility to digital cumbia, dubstep and electro-reggaeton cuts. With hypnotic beats influenced by everything from Colombian cumbia, cumbia villera (cumbia from the slums of Buenos Aires), and reggaeton to dubstep, dub, IDM, and minimal techno, El Remolon cuts his own vision of electronica for global dance floors. His sound is laid-back but heavy-hitting with a European dance floor sensibility.

Chancha Via Circuito is ZZK's secret gem. As talented as producers come, Chancha Via Circuito is carving out his niche as a genre bending musical talent on the highest levels. When Diplo rolled through to play Zizek 3 years ago, it was Chancha's CD that struck him first. Chancha Via Circuito explores the minimal side of digital cumbia with inspiration from afro-dance, murgas (marching bands), minimal dub, IDM, and down tempo. Computer bleeps share sonic space with folkloric chant. Candombe drums are accompanied by the sample of a machete splicing the air and a vocal line of indigenous bebop is layered over hints of dub.

EL G is the DJ name of Grant C. Dull, label manager of ZZK Records, co-founder of Zizek Club and a 6-year adopted citizen & cultural ambassador of Buenos Aires. DJ sets of El G are powerful showcases of ZZK music: past, present and future. B-Sides, mashups, bootlegs, official and unofficial releases plus the newest music from the ZZK label is tested on audiences during his fiery, eclectic and intensely fun DJ sets. El G has commandeered ZZK Records as a global movement, both behind the scenes and on the turntables at festivals like Coachella, Roskilde & Summer Stage in Central Park, NYC. El G also runs http://www.whatsupbuenosaires.com/ & http://www.featba.com/

Don't miss this opportunity to catch the finest DJs and musicians producing some of the most progressive sounds in Latin America today. Catch them at a city near you! ZZK is currently warming it up with a European tour starting this week in Copenhagen (http://zzkrecords.com/zizektour).

Summer 2010 North American Tour Dates Confirmed (More To Be Announced):
July 23 Martha's Vineyard, MA Martha's V
July 24 Montreal, PQ - Divan Oranage
July 31 Denver, CO - Biennial of the Americas
August 1 Salt Lake City Urban Lounge
August 3 Seattle, WA Crocodile
August 4 Portland, OR Rotture
August 5 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop
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