Artwork: Gabriel Coutu-Dumont
History will remember Ernesto Ferreyra as the mad sonic scientist who invented an evolution machine with which to zap his Argentine musical roots, instantly catapulting folk traditions into the near future. The result of his experiment defies easy categorization. His is a resolutely modern sound with a musical aesthetic that is at once somewhat spooky and downright playful. Easy to dance to, difficult to decode. That’s because there’s a lot going on here: otherworldly vocal fragments weave in and out among thumping bass lines and deft hand percussions, playing hide and seek with an orchestra of samples and robotic onomatopoeia. While inspired by folk influences like Chacarera, this clicky tech-house vibe has much more in common with the groundbreaking sounds of the Montreal Mutek posse. Although this is his first solo foray, Ferreyra is no stranger to the ones and zeros.
He is one half of the critically acclaimed duo Chic Miniature, whose Conexión Califa EP appears on Frankfurt’s Raum Musik label. Ferreyra and cohort Guillaume Coutu-Dumont will be releasing Chic Miniature’s second effort on Musique Risquée.
Memoria Colectiva is a versatile EP that you’ll be pulling out of your record bag more than once in a given night. Start the evening off with the suave, gently-building groove of “Border Light”, a 10-minute cruiser that captures that floating, hypnotic, nowhere-but-everywhere feeling you get when you're traveling—whether it's in between countries or across the dance floor. Throw “Cloody” into the mix when things start to really heat up: its walloping bass, snappy hand percussions, distortion-heavy vocals and raw effects are ideal for getting your freak on. “El Cuento del Tio” is a B-side curve ball best lobbed in the wee hours of the morning. If a Day of the Dead procession invaded a minimal techno party in a deserted industrial warehouse somewhere between Mexico City, Montreal and Berlin, this is what it might sound like. Trainspotters will be too busy dancing to wonder what hit them.
Tracklist