Published
Wed, Apr 6, 2016, 10:53
- Afro-Cuban Electronics is due out in a couple months.
Detroit label Interdimensional Transmissions has revealed details for an album from Alpha 606 called Afro-Cuban Electronics.
The Miami artist, real name Armando Martinez, produces a lush style of electro that merges machine rhythms with live hand percussion. His music is strongly influenced by his Cuban heritage—he was born to Cuban immigrants, and the Alpha 606 alias references the anti-Castro group Alpha 66 (along with the Roland TR-606). Martinez initially appeared on IT back in 2008 with the Electrónica Afro-Cubano EP, his second and until now last full solo release. He re-surfaced last month on RMXD, which packed a new track with remixes from IT bosses BMG and Erika and Anthony "Shake" Shakir.
RMXD was sourced from Afro-Cuban Electronics, which the label describes as Martinez's "love letter to Cuba and his family and their struggles." They're calling it a "lost album," as it's apparently been in the works for years. It comprises 13 tracks along with a cut unique to the two release formats: a vinyl-only live version of "Shake," performed at one of IT's Samhain parties in Detroit, and the digital-only "No Me Quieras Tanto (Cafta Version)," a tribute to the 1947 song from Pérez Prado, the Cuban-Mexican musician and bandleader hailed as the King of the Mambo.
IT was RA's label of the month last December—and last week they announced plans for their annual Movement-weekend party No Way Back, in collaboration with The Bunker.
You can tune in again to samples of last month's RMXD 12-inch below.
Tracklist
01. Afriba
02. Armambo
03. Shake
04. 808 Trax
05. Gauges
06. Whale Memory
07. Guajiro (Alternate Jam)
08. Engineered Flotation Device
09. Defection
10. Dahomey
11. Black Mermaid
12. Endangered Cuban Crocodile
13. Boatlift
Interdimensional Transmissions will release Afro-Cuban Electronics in June 2016.