In association with the Latin Alternative Music Conference
Compass
Together, Camilo Lara and Toy Selectah are known as Compass. Camilo Lara is the founder of Mexican Institute of Sound (M.I.S) and has released 4 albums since its formation in early 2000. His music is a visionary mixture that flirts with electronic, hip-hop, dub, cumbia and punk. M.I.S. has performed at such major music festivals as Coachella, Lollapalooza and Roskilde. Last year Camilo curated a radio station for the video game Grand Theft Auto V. He has collaborated with artists such as: Tom Tom Club, Placebo, Beastie Boys, Morrissey and Esquivel. His music has been featured in dozens of television series and films, including the Y Tu Mamá También soundtrack, for which he earned a GRAMMY nomination.
Globetrotter, DJ, Producer and visionary, Toy Selectah has established a hybrid sound of Latin and world rhythms. As a pioneer and essential character of the new Mexican and Latin American music scene, Toy started out as a DJ and Producer of the critically lauded hip hop outfit Control Machete. Toy has worked with all kinds of artists including: Morrissey, Vampire Weekend, Major Lazer, Calle 13, Eminem and Bloodhound Gang. Toy is a key character in of the birth and explosion of hip hop and tribal (3Ball) in Mexico, as well as reggaeton and electronica in Latin America.
Systema Solar
Colombian audio-visual collective Systema Solar salvages stories and sounds from the country’s rich cultural history and jacks them up with space-aged beats, colorful videos, and power-to-the-people stands. The seven members live in four different cities, doing much of their work over the internet – not an easy feat in Colombia – and improvising most of their lives performances due to a lack of rehearsal time. Nevertheless, this chaos has created magic time and again. Their innovative approach pulls from cumbia, techno, tropical, champeta, hip hop, rock, and hacking culture to create an immersive experience they like to call Verbenautika, or “tropical psychedelia.”
Helado Negro
A South Florida native, born to Ecuadorian immigrants and based in Brooklyn, Helado Negro aka Roberto Carlos Lange’s upbringing provides essential elements to his songwriting, including his consistently bilingual – English and Spanish – lyrics. While citing the influence of the electro and Miami-bass he heard on the radio in his youth, his diverse work as Helado Negro points to shades of kraut rock bathed in his mesmerizing rhythms, loops, and hair-raising melodies. Known for his craftsmanship, Lange has cultured his identity, ideology and musical dexterity with constant artistic and introspective development, pouring his heart and full sincerity in his music. His fourth LP Double Youth released in 2014 garnered acclaim with Pitchfork naming it “the boldest and most intricate Helado Negro work to date.”