Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3

Nortec Collective | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: July 26, 2005
• Release Date: July 26, 2005
• Label: Nacional Records
• Copyright: 2005 Nacional Records
• Total Length: 1:03:15
• Genres:
• ASIN: B000X5KLH4
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great unique sound, August 9, 2005

By 

MariaGitana (San Diego/Tijuana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tijuana Sessions 3 (Audio CD)

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...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delight!, June 28, 2006

By 

Gary Peterson (San Diego, California USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tijuana Sessions 3 (Audio CD)

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

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Esta Fiesta, July 26, 2005

By 

S. L. Winant "aceethno" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tijuana Sessions 3 (Audio CD)

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.