Here’s a taste of the Carnival edition of Electropical on Saturday, February 18, 2012. Navaro Franco and Yoro Noukoussi on percussion, with a special guest dancer. Big thanks to the performers and to all who came out!
Carnival arrives in many parts of the world on the same weekend as the February Electropical, so we’re tuned in to the spirit of the season.
Join us for the Carnival edition of Electropical on Saturday, February 18 at the Backstage Lounge.
It’s a masquerade party, so bring a mask of your own (whether it’s from Rio, Recife, Trinidad, Port-au-Prince, Santiago, Venice, or the Party Bazaar), or pick one up at the door at no charge.
We’ll dig deep into our ever-expanding collections of Brazilian beats, Caribbean sounds, African rhythms, Arabian waves, and Balkan bangers to keep you moving.
UPDATE: We’ll be joined by special guest percussionist Navaro Franco. Navaro is a founding member of DivaDrum, an all female rhythm & movement quartet. Her drumming experience includes training in Brazilian Batucada and Japanese Taiko drumming.
Here’s a not-to-be-missed show this weekend: Jeremy Sole‘s first-ever Vancouver appearance.
L.A.-based Sole is an acclaimed producer, musician, and KCRW DJ with a passion for world fusion and global beats.
Beats Without Borders, which is co-producing the Saturday, February 4 event at the Red Room, notes that Sole is known for “sampling seemingly unrelated world rhythms and sounds from old records, writing original music and juxtaposing it all as a form of mosaic music which magnetizes people on to the dance floor world wide.”
Sole has shared the stage and/or the studio with
Sly Stone, Roy Ayers, Ben Harper, Tony Allen, DJ Krush, Stevie Wonder, War,
The Meters, Chaka Khan, Seu Jorge, The Greyboy Allstars, Antibalas,
Fat Freddy’s Drop, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Joe Bataan, and Quantic.
Check out one of Sole’s DJ mixes below, and don’t miss the show.
Start the new year in style with Electropical on Saturday, January 21 at the Backstage Lounge.
We’ll serve up more of our favourite sounds of 2011, as well as some future sounds of 2012.
And we’ll dig deep into our ever-expanding collections of Brazilian beats, Caribbean grooves, African rhythms, Arabian waves, and Balkan bangers to keep you moving.
So shake what mama gave you, enjoy our mix of urban sounds with a tropical edge, and meet friendly people and great dancers from everywhere.
Last month, we mentioned that our friends at Highlife World Music had posted their best-of-2011-albums list.
Well, there are plenty more such lists, so we thought we’d round a few of them up. Here we go:
Worldbeat Canada: Rather than rank his best albums of the year top-ten style, Worldbeat Canada’s Cal Koat organized his list by month.
With Christmas behind us, the next big question is, “What am I doing for New Year’s Eve?”
Our friends at City Salsa Vibe have an answer for you. It’s The Empire Affair: New Year’s Eve 2012. Salsa and swing bands, samba and belly dancers, a fire dance show, James Bond girls, and six DJs, including DJ Michael Laycock of ELECTROPICAL.
Four themed party rooms, five live shows, and two dance lessons help make this a don’t-miss event at the Empire Landmark, an elegant downtown hotel.
UPDATE: Today (Dec. 26) is the last day for advance tickets at the discounted rate of $70 + HST. Prices go up tomorrow, and previous editions of The Empire Affair have sold out, so act soon.
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Come say goodbye to 2011 with the most cosmopolitan and festive crowd in town on Saturday, Dec 17 at the Backstage Lounge.
The concept is quite simple: if you have an office Christmas party that night, please go — it won’t hurt as much as you think.
The good people at Highlife World Music recently released their Best of 2011 albums list. It’s well worth a read, and there are some Electropical gems in there.
Check it out here.
A slice of Electropical life from a while back featuring Navaro Franco, our friend and percussionist extraordinaire. Thanks to another talented friend, Carelle Dunn, for the video.