Ahead of tomorrow’s party. Big Chill quiz FFTANG! FFTANG!’s Huskiii and Marsali about this new darn fangled ‘Tropical Bass’.

Could you tell us a bit about Tropical Bass as a genre?

Marsali: Tropical bass is about taking the rhythmic and melodic elements of traditional world music and injecting them with energy for the dancefloor in the form beats, bass and samples. The result of this is a myriad of far-reaching sub-genres ranging from Latin American folk fused with old school hip hop to brass-heavy DnB remixes of Bulgarian marching bands.

Huskiii: There’s been several attempts to name the rising trend in global club music (Nu Whirled, Global Ghettotech, World 2.0 etc) but Tropical Bass is the one gaining the most traction and the one we’re putting our money on. It sounds the least contrived and although we play a fair bit of Balkan music which isn’t in the Tropics, it comes closest to nailing our sound.

What made you get into Tropical Bass?

H: Hearing Uproot Andy’s remix of ODB’s Shimmy Shimmy for the first time floored me. That combination of latin, party hip-hop and bass music was everything that I liked to play out condensed into one record. That opened me up to this whole new world that was starting to happen with Bersa Discos across the pond, and was the main impetus in setting up the club night.

M: I moved into Tropical Bass via a long-standing fascination with traditional world music, in particular the tribal African cross-rhythms that lie far outside the formulaic western approach to beat making. With the emergence of Topical Bass it became possible to bring these sounds into the nightclub and share them with a wider audience. The sheer breadth of the genre means that playing a Tropical Bass set involves continent-hopping between tracks, and so exposing club goers to a tapestry of different cultures in a way that few other genres can.

Which artists have influenced your music?

H: Sonido Del Principe, Toy Selectah, Quantic, DJ /Rupture have all left their mark but Uproot Andy has achieved that holy grail of having a definable sound without being pigeon holed to a single genre or continent.

M: Uproot Andy’s remixes are a staple in my sets. I admire his ability to preserve all the traditional folk elements of an original, whilst adding enough vitality with his characteristic basslines to get the dancefloor moving. His remix of Petrona Martinez’ “La Vida Vale La Pena” is a perfect example of that. El Hijo De La Cumbia is also producing some tidy remixes on the latin tip.

Who are the “big dogs” in this genre?

M: ZZK, Bersa Discos, Man Recordings & Mad Decent have all been prolific in their output of quality tunes this year, whilst Geko Jones and the rest of the crew at Dutty Artz are doing a great job of pushing the Tropical Bass scene Stateside.

H: They’re definitely the main players. Generation Bass was also a taste-maker in the early days.

Could you recommend any potential new talent?

M: Thornato (Thor Partridge) is an NYC producer, and co-founder of the collective Cumba Mela. He caught my eye this year by remixing Petrona Martinez. His sounds are eclectic in origin, with samples of everything from Township music to African prayer chants, but all are backed my an infectious dancehall beat.

H: El Dusty (also known as DJ Dus) recently signed to Man Recordings has graduated from doing a nice line in cumbia remixes to full-on club bangers. The insanely prolific 13th Tribe, an ex pat Scot living in Chile, puts out some ridiculously good stuff – it’s only a matter of time until he blows up. Isa GT is getting more recognition by the day and Miami’s Kinky Electric Noise do a nice line in electro champeta. Oh and Marsali, once she gets her studio set up haha.

How do you see Tropical Bass progressing in 2012?

H: Whether it continues under the banner Tropical Bass or gets usurped by a new title, the scene is only going to get stronger.

M: I’m looking forward to further exploration of some of the inconceivable micro-genres that have been created within the past year – Warachastep? Brazilian Ravegaton? I also think we’ll see increased crossover of Tropical Bass tracks into the mainstream, particularly via the medium of Moombahton.

H: It’s already started to appear on high street club flyers, sitting awkwardly next to Funky House and R&B, although I don’t think we’re in any danger of hearing it on Master Chef…yet.

Full interview taken from HERE

The second act we’ve got lined up for Friday is the high octane Gypsy Hill. This band fuse together balkan, surf-rock, massive bass-lines, Mediterranean guitars and a whole heap of electronics, scratching and beats. Keep your eyes peeled for their debut album which is set to drop this year.

Poznash (Äl Jawala vs Gypsy Hill) – Remix by Gypsy Hill

Balaka by Gypsy Hill

The headline act at our upcoming Big Chill House party comes in the form of the scorching Yaaba Funk.

Combining fat analogue basslines, blazing horns and gritty rock guitars this floor-filling ten piece play a red hot mix of Ghanian hi-life, afrobeat and low down dirty funk. Pure fire. Here’s them performing at the capital’s recent Seun Kuti gig.

Their album “Afrobeast” is out now on Yaabaphone and their follow up is set to drop this year.

We got a massive party coming up in Jan. FFTANG! FFTANG! take over The Big Chill House in Kings Cross on Friday 13th and we’ve got a hell of a line-up, including a scorching headline performance from the amazing Yaaba Funk and live electronics, scratching and balkan surf-rock from Gypsy Hill. All for the price of nada, nothing, Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Info HERE
Facebook listing HERE

The pun’s so good I’m surprised no-one’s done it before: Fela Soul is an album of De La Soul vocals over Fela Kuti loops. The perfect salve after hearing the entire Beatles back catalogue played at the same time.

Download the whole comp (with liner notes) for free HERE

This is going straight into the sequel to No Sleep Till Bogotá.It’s got FFTANG! running through it like a stick of cumbia rock

MC Bener One – What up Ese (Prod by DJ Tranzo) by djtranzo

Yes, we’re so retro we’re future. The first issue of our FFTANG!zine has just been published and it lives beyond the www, in the real world. Come to Ginglik tonight to get your hands on one.

Next Thursday (10th) we go Westwards to our favouritest London venue: Ginglik.

We’ve been wanting to throw a party in this ex Edwardian loo since our very first night and it’s finally here. Huskiii, Subculture Sounds and Obee bring the tropical bass for these long November nights, whilst Paolo’s and Captain Trumpet’s live drums and brass turn it into a live carnival mash-up knees up. With live visuals from Sheik l’Afrique.

Come see why we’re one of Time Out‘s best tropical clubnights.

Ginglik 7pm – 1am
£4 entry (or £3 facebook guestlist)
Free before 8pm

Come to the Big Chill House on Friday to hear a FFTANG! set from Huskiii, as well as a live interview with The Mohawks, and DJ sets from Mark Rae, Chris Read & the BBE boys.

Event info

Otherwise engaged? Feel free to bump round the living room to our promo mix instead…

Huskiii has contributed a new mix for art & music blog Synth Eastwood with a track by track breakdown. Read and listen AQUI