Recruiting DJs from way down south, Avalon breaks free from the predictable
Electronic dance music has had a long love affair with Brazil. Some of the scene's most iconic songs - Basement Jaxx's "Samba Magic," Faze Action's "Samba" - have been heartfelt odes to the land of headdresses and street parades. Even the speedy, dirty sound of drum 'n' bass has found a Brazilian soul in the music of critically acclaimed producer-spinners Amon Tobin and Soul Slinger. Still, there's something off-putting when a local club announces it's hosting a "Brazil night." Images of free-range derrieres, whistle-blowing beefcakes, and sweaty samba lines inevitably fill your head. For fans of electronic dance music, which has become more refined and velvet-roped in this post-rave era, a Brazil night could seem like step back.
Except that, in the case of Avalon Hollywood's "Made in Brazil" quarterly parties, the vibe is all fast-forward, technologic, and DJ-centric. In other words, Brazilian exoticisms take a backseat to contemporary, binary beat-craft. With the advent of laptop production, language-neutral e-music, and light-speed file-sharing, DJs around the globe are racing toward the future, and Brazil's spinners are eager to measure up. The country excels and often dominates in other edgy youth culture arenas, including skateboarding, surfing, and mixed martial arts, so it's no wonder that a new wave of e-music stars is emerging from the world's fifth largest country.
"Brazil has an important electronic music scene," says Brazilian expatriate Renata Amaral, part of L.A.'s Liquified promotion firm and the mind behind the night. "'Made in Brazil' was created as concept to launch Brazilian DJs in the United States."
DJ culture at Los Angeles "super-clubs" has become frustratingly predictable, with the same DJs from the U.K. and the Netherlands who play the same old "progressive" and trance circulating with clockwork frequency. Promoters aren't ignorant about the stagnant waters of club-land. They are, at least, trying to make waves by gambling on lesser known, buzz-worthy talents. Avalon Hollywood brought Germany's well-respected Booka Shade duo to the club in March, and Vanguard matched that move by booking label-mate M.A.N.D.Y. last month. With its "Made in Brazil" parties, initiated earlier this year, Avalon is casting a fresh light on an often overlooked but fertile region of electronic music. The nights also help the club connect with a sizable Brazilian expat population in Los Angeles. The first "Made in Brazil" night, held in February, is said to have drawn 2,400 people, many of them of Brazilian origin or ethnicity - without a carnival in sight.
"This young crowd is not into samba and carnival," promoter Amaral explains. "We appreciate the culture, but we also know how to appreciate a good party with good music and beautiful people. One of the greatest things about electronic music is its capacity to integrating people. When you are on the dance floor, it doesn't matter who is who, or where did you come from. Brazilians enjoy the music just as Americans and Europeans do. We are proud of our DJs, so when there's a chance to see them playing far away from home, a big crowd comes out."
Chief among the south swell of talent being drawn to Avalon's Brazil nights is Fabrício Peçanha, who in February immersed the club's deep well of a floor with a tech and electro-flavored bubble bath of grooves. His chugging, momentous set proved that the DJ belongs in the same league as such superstar spinners as Hernan Cattaneo and Danny Howells. Peçanha, who will perform at Saturday's "Made in Brazil" party as part of the DJ trio Life is a Loop, uses three CD decks, an effects processor, and a loop-maker to create his supercharged machine soul. Born and raised in the vertical metropolis of Porto Alegre, Peçanha has been spinning since he was a teenager. He's watched as his beloved techno music rose from the underground to become de rigueur at the big-city "yuppie" venues that "charge more at the door," says the 32-year-old.
"Nowadays there are no more frontiers," Peçanha says. "With the power of the Internet, everything has become easier - and closer. From Brazil I am able to communicate with people from all over the world, and every time I play abroad, people spread the word."
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