Customer Reviews

Tijuana Sessions 3

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The sound of this album is fresh and quirky, danceable, and most important of all, very Mexican. The combination of sounds are brave, but work well- tambora and tuba banda beats meshed with electronic and other sounds. I also enjoy the cultural incorporation of voices and comments into the songs...

Being that I partly grew up in Tijuana, while listening to this music, you really do feel like it is representative of the sights and sounds of our crazy city. I am glad to see recognition being given to some of the talent that this dynamic, unique region has to offer.

Live, these artists are totally recommended...

Let me start out this review with two overwhelming generalizations, both of which, of course, have many exceptions. First, I really enjoy electronica music. Second, I don't care for Mexican music. Now, having said this, you can imagine my mixed feelings about reading a review (in the Wall Street Journal, as I recall) about an album of Mexican electronica by Nortec Collective entitled "Tijuana Sessions, Vol 3." The review was quite laudatory. My curiosity was piqued. I couldn't resist ordering the CD.

"Tijuana Sessions, Vol 3" is a delightful CD, without question. It's good listening right from the first spin, and it's one of the most unusual and creative albums I've ever heard. The music is unique; nothing I've heard compares. The musical program is done in techno style and has all sorts of strange sounds against a throbbing bass and drums background, but most of the tracks also have horns, guitars and accordion parts. It's a strange mix. Imagine a good British techno band, but with a heavy reliance on traditional Mexican instruments. Don't think of it as traditional Mexican music, but rather think of it as a distantly related cousin. Good stuff. It's festive and danceable throughout. Fun listening. Humorous. Lyrics are done in both English and Spanish, but the reliance on the lyrics (with one exception) is so small that language presents no barrier to the enjoyment of this wonderful music.

The best track, in my opinion, is the first, "Tengo La Voz." It's simply delightful and a great way to start a disc! Some of the other better tracks include "Autobanda," "Dandy del Sur," "Bar Infierno," "Revu Rockers" and "Tijuana Bass." I burned out on "Tijuana Makes Me Happy" after the third listen and would regard it as the weakest track on the CD. Otherwise, all of the remaining tracks on this 15-song CD are worthy. This is great stuff! Try mixing it in with other types of electronica. Good listening!

Gary Petersonn

Pulling a Wilbury, the techno-musicales the Nortec Collective, after several under-the-radar solo releases, have released Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3. The first "Sessions" deconstructed everybody's favorite Baja border/drinking binge/accursed town, creating a sound that was at once turismo and commentary. On this second (I mean third) volume, they've almost turned into...Los Amigos Invisibles?! The turismo is still there...check the buses and the camcorder in the CD art. But on the most pro-TJ song, and I do mean song, "Tijuana Makes Me Happy," English lyrics, female backup singers, happy accordion, and beats introduce an explicit party vibe. What's the message?

The Nortec hombres have always mixed it up, and I don't just mean the Mexican signifiers and techno that have made them famous. Here, as on Volume One, two different strains of norteño come together: banda, the brass-band style originally from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and 'true' norteño, the Mexican hermano to Texas conjunto based on the accordion and the bajo sexto. Nortec certainly knows the power of each style and samples the strong points: the beautiful fart of the tuba and the face-smacking snare of banda (the track "Autobanda"), and the lilting accordion and polka offbeats of norteño (the track "Olvídela Compa"). The result is post-Baja, where signifiers meet, dance, and chill out together. And when I say post-Baja, I also mean post-Alpert and the TJB; Nortec member Bostich puns a track title "Tijuana Bass."

Now the border mashup hits a new stride, and adds new sources. "Funky Tamazula" brings wahwah guitar. "Almada" almost takes the horn lines to Prado-style mambo. "Esa Banda en Dub" not only features Calexico (los dos Indie gringos de Tucson) but also slides into dub a la Thievery Corporation, with dashes of Eno and Ennio. "Bar Infierno," true to its title, is a sort of dark lounge. Round it out with the hilarious "Dandy del Sur," and los de Nortec have made Tijuana a party town again.

Fact is, Volume One wasn't all that easy to dance to; it was the idea that counted. Volume Three, however, calls for Modelos all around. Go ahead, put some tortillas on your comal, invite over tus "hip" amigos, and put on this CD. Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3 breaks ground not for fusions, but for moods. I'd shout a grito...but I might get in trouble.

Early in the summer of '05 I started listening to this disc and by the end of summer I was hooked. I must admit the first listen was rough for me only because I was turned off by "Tijuana Makes Me Happy," however it is catchy and I think most young people will like it. The Nortec Collective have taken their time to avoid the sophmore jinx with a lapse of four years since "Vol.1." The result is a polished sound that is equal to or better than their first release. The cohesive organic sound may be the result of taking the musicians into the studio and working around the electronic elements as opposed to just using samples. This is good stuff much like spicy food that you keep putting salsa on in spite of the burning pain; it feels so good you just have to have more, mas y mas, it is all good and just gets better and better. The tambora and electronica elements still make me think of the bar scene in Star Wars at times but afterall Tijuana is like a scene from Star Wars with quirky and kooky characters who live there and are visiting. The music on this disc will make you shake your head in approval and take you across the border. Some of the highlights include "Revu Rockers" which is an uptempo song that takes you on a southbound sojourn with metallic and jazzy forays along the way. The simplicity is mixed with the complex to create a different sound uniquely reflective of the geographical loation. "Esa Banda en Dub, which features Calexio is a perfect mixture of old and new to create something totally different like a jazzy Clint Eastwood movie set in the future badlands of the southwest desert. "Bar Infierno" is a jazzy interlude that has tangoesque world beats that are international in depth. "Funky Tamazula" is like a walk down a dark street in Tijuana amongst the street life cabaret. The music of Nortec Collective on this disc is like electronic aural postcards where the honking cars and putrid smoke belching buses mix with the overpowering delicious wafting aroma of carne asada as a faceless person beckons while a vendor is trying to get your attention; it is cultural overload only found in Tijuana. The music of Nortec is a musical transport where no passport is neccessary; the street circus of Tijuana comes clearly into view without going there. No need to cross the border just put this disc on and sit back and enjoy the ambience of Tijuana from your speakers and the images of your mind.

I had been waiting long for this. It's finally here. It was not necessarily what I expected...it was much better! Not sure why they skipped volume 2...maybe because Nortec went through a transitional phase and it has now evolved into this amazing, more melodic combination of sounds.

Tracks like autobanda, colorado & tijuana bass were reworked in this volume. They were simplified and exquisitized. I highly recommend listening to the original versions. They were available in their website. I don't think they have them up anymore. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this album.

One complaint though. The tracks are shorter. It leaves me wanting more! I guess I'm used to their older 6-8 minute songs.

BUY IT!!!!

I picked up the first Nortec Collective album back in 2001. While "Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 1" had a lot of hype, it was a bit disappointing. Fast forward four years, and Nortec Collective have returned with an album that truly exhibits their potential. Nortec is a fusion of norteno music with techno/electronica, and the new disc "Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3" lives up to the genre's name.

"Tengo La Voz" is a stellar track, one that will no doubt get the party started. "Tijuana Makes Me Happy" is a hilarious and refreshing stab at a crossover. Is it mocking Americans' stereotypes of Tijuana? Is it mocking their fellow Mexican citizens? Who cares! It's the kind of song that is begging to be played by an adventurous alternative radio station.

Pick this album up - you will not be disappointed.

I stumbled onto this album at eMusic as I subscribe to it. Thinking what do I have to lose as I hadn't heard anything about Nortec Collective. I was suprised to find quite an excellent album. It's a fusion of big electronic beats with traditional Mexican music. I guess their name Nortec comes from a combination of Norteno (meaning from the North) and techno, which basically is describing the two different musical worlds colliding.

Overall this album is so much fun, upbeat and full of energy. But the energy is sort of laidback rather than giving you the feel of a nightclub. So Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3 has downbeat and chill elements to it as well. It's definitely well worth it buying or downloading it. If you like to experiment and find new music to listen to then this is definitely not to be missed. One of my favorite tracks on the album is Revu Rockers - a bass heavy big beat monster. I absolutely Love it.

SJ
www.beatzblog.com

Además de la obvias mezclas no debemos olvidar que el norteño es de por sí hijo de la polka alemana y el folcor mexicano, asi que bueno, este es un remix del mix de otro mix...

Fussible cita directamente a los Tigres del Norte, y sincretiza dos historias al decir "run colorado"; Camelia la Texana y Emillio Varela que iban, como dice "Colorado" de San Isidor a Chicago pero en un carro gris. Los del carro rojo cruzaron por El Paso y los cogieron en "mero San Antonio". ¿Sincretismo?¿error? ¿capricho?¿intertextualidad? No lo sé, pero el disco es iiBUENISIMO!!

This album was somewhat fun to listen to the first time, but hasn't really drawn be back to listen again. An fusion of Norteño and dance music, this had potential of being a really fun time. Unfortunately, for me it kind of fell flat. Perhaps it just wasn't my thing.

This album is one of the best examples of the electronica scene that has been blossoming for some years on the Mexican side of the US-Mexican border -- especially in Tijuana.

There are not a lot of groups doing this kind of music, so someone listening to this album as their very first norteco/electronica may not know what to expect. It's not typical Mexican music, and bears very little similarity to the electronica on the American side of the border. This distinction makes Nortec Collective a pleasure to listen to for those of us familiar with Mexican music and other forms electronica.