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| The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1 |
No Gimmick
by robert whiteman
7.30.2001
You’ve probably heard of Nortec by now. This much ballyhooed collective hails from the cross-culture border towns of Ensenada and Tijuana, and much has been made of the fact that their music, Norteño Techno, is a hybrid of contemporary electronic dance styles and the oompah oompah world of traditional Mexican Norteño, Ranchera and Banda Sinaloense music. Is it a gimmick? Maybe. Playing the fusion aspect up certainly helped these guys get noticed by the same mainstream music press that usually ignores electronic music trends until they’re all but over, but thankfully The Tijuana Session Vol. 1 sure doesn’t sound hoaky or contrived.
"Button accordion and tuba bumps punctuate the rhythms while cowbells ride atop of cymbals, and snare rolls replace beat-rushes." |
The Mexican folk elements are there but in a subtle way. Snippets of button accordion, mariachi horns and tuba bumps accentuate and punctuate the rhythms while cowbells ride atop or instead of cymbals, and snare rolls replace D n’ B beat-rushes, but nothing sounds the least bit incongruous. This isn’t your average electronic fare either. Dubby effects, jazzy inflections and broken beats dominate the overall sensibility, and if you didn’t know you were supposed to be listening for some Flaco Jimenez samples you might think this was some West London as opposed to Northwest Mexico business.
Bostich’s energetic “Polaris” leads off The Tijuana Sessions and is a shining example of the overall aesthetic. Things start off fairly innocently for the first minute and a half of the track until a wickedly funky tuba breakdown appears out of nowhere. By the time the belching horn riff is joined by a breakbeat and hand percussion you know this is something new yet ancient, viciously tight, and definitely no gimmick.
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