El Sonido: Los Viajeros

This week in El Sonido we're going to start in Brazil and go northwest through Ecuador all the way back home to Seattle. Then we'll check out some rocanrol en Español from all over the world.

To kick it off I'm excited to share a great live session that Rodrigo Amarante recorded for El Sonido in 2014. He's been getting some shine lately because of the TV series Narcos, for which he wrote and performs the opening title sequence song. It's his first tune in Spanish, but either way I'm just excited that more people are checking out his music. The Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been a part of the bands Los Hermanos, Orquestra Imperial and Little Joy, and it was great to have him at KEXP to play tracks off of his debut solo album Cavalo. Rodrigo's is the voice of a traveler, which is one I recognize and adore. The personal universality of this music is worth multiple listens. Check it out and learn more about the music and man himself.https://youtu.be/o2jAATHZ038Next, we meet in Ecuador and are reborn at the base of a volcano - eyes on the soul with the heartbeat of the Andes. Nicola Cruz is an electronic producer, musician and DJ born in France who lives and creates in Quito. His work celebrates nature and the voice of his ancestors with beautiful experiments in sound and electronics. This track is a favorite on my radio show and I'm excited to see it get a cool video to match. It sounds and feels liquid; profound, soothing, gorgeous. Make sure and check some of his other tracks and remixes too, including the EP Invocacion, and catch some of his mixtapes and live sets on YouTube. Also, look for the upcoming full-length release on ZZK.https://youtu.be/iRV90c_uWpQ

Back home to Seattle, though Ecuador is still with us. Ignacio Izquierdo, speaking of travelers, is the son of a diplomat who spent many years outside of his home country of Ecuador. He's made music with the projects Turnover, Botelia, Motozen and more recently under the moniker Elia, named after the famous aviator Elia Liut. Ignacio is now based in Seattle and his latest EP, Sentir, caught my attention immediately with it's warm, heartfelt vibe and lyrics that make you look both inside and deep into the distance. The record was recorded with drummer Michael Lerner from Telekinesis and producer Steven Aguilar and comes recommended. Definitely keep a lookout for the full-length that is in the works now, and hopefully we'll get some live dates here in Pacific Northwest soon as well.https://youtu.be/_rSJ0IuJE5Awatch a live version of "Vacío" here.https://youtu.be/abJ7IeKCzQM

To finish things off I've got another mixtape. "Más o Menos Bien" was KEXP's first-ever all rock en Español Music That Matters podcast. I compiled this about a year ago, and included all sorts of different flavors from all around the world. Read the original blog post, see the tracklist and download the mp3 here. And you can stream it on our Mixcloud below.

Music That Matters, Vol. 436 - Más o Menos Bien (November 2014) by Deejay Chilly on Mixcloud

Thanks for listening. See you next time.paz.

Chilly hosts El Sonido every Monday night from 6-9 PM. Follow Chilly on Twitter and El Sonido on Facebook and Twitter.