By Michael Harkin
The South American sound of cumbia has its very own hour-of-power in San Francisco: Tormenta Tropical, whose fourth incarnation rolled up to the Mezzanine last Saturday after prior appearances at Rickshaw Stop and the Dark Room at Club Six. Tormenta is a new monthly party thrown by Bersa Discos, an Oakland record label showcasing the experimental cumbia/electro/dancehall underground of Argentina.
Bersa especially digs into what's up around Buenos Aires, where the label's two founders, Disco Shawn and Oro 11 (say that 11 as "once"/OHN-say), moved separately from the Bay Area and met up amid the woolly, melodica-filled excitement to be had at club nights like Zizek.
It was, in fact, several regulars from Zizek that started off the night as Zizek Urban Beats Club, including sets by El Remolón, Frikstailers, and other fixtures from the Buenos Aires night that so inspired Bersa's founders as well as such hip jocks as DJ/Rupture and Diplo of Hollertronix and Mad Decent. The crew are touring to SXSW this week, also making appearances in New York and Chicago later this month.
Disco Shawn and Oro 11's sets had an even more danceable feel than what Zizek had been laying down, playing crunked cumbia-rap mash-ups and electro-oriented tunes that were damned infectious and head-spinning. Even as a mere club-goer, it was hard not to feel like this evening was on the tip of something on the verge of breaking big. The dollar-store Virgin Mary lights and various Argentinian banners adorning the stage and venue added an affectionate touch of kitsch to the occasion.
DJ/Rupture, whose Soul Jazz and Tigerbeat6 comps and "Mudd Up!" show on WFMU have established him as one of the most tasteful and open ears around, flew out from New York to close out the evening. Sporting a Blood and Fire Records T-shirt, he spun some horn-filled bangers and a couple of tracks featuring warped jungle-esque bass lines. He brought some killer reggaeton tracks, too, including Wilman de Jesus's version of "Walk Like an Egyptian," which you can hear on Rupture's blog here. 'Twas a pretty incredible set, and one that boded well for future nights, which you can find out more about at the Bersa Discos Web site along with information on Bersa Discos Vol. 1, their terrific first 12-inch including tracks by El Hijo de la Cumbia and Daleduro, as well as a remix of the Daleduro track by Oro 11.
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Comments (7)
But the party shut down right at the tick of 3!!! or rather 4 in daylight savings time, but that was really the first time I'd seen that happen ... me and hunky beau jetted there from Kafana Balkan at 1:00 and zizek had already gone off and Rupture was playing some pretty typical dancehall (maybe he was auditioning to join the tour?). We made do, and it seemed like the people left on the floor were having fun, but I had expected some all night electro fireworks, alas! Cost of cabs to Mezzanine from 12 Galaxies and back home: $25. I couldn't afford to buy any of the zizek cds on offer. Why, oh why is it so hard to dance all night on a saturday in SF??
Posted by Marke B. | March 11, 2008 10:20 PM
PS -- Kafana Balkan was the bomb -- almost worth missing the Cave party with T.I.T.S. -- live band Edessa rocked it -- poor things looked a little shocked to be rock gods for a crowd of hundreds playing traditional Romany music ...
and Leslie and the Lys at Cockblock was so packed it hurt -- even our cabbies were asking about the "giant lesbian party" that night hahaha.
Posted by Marke B. | March 11, 2008 10:31 PM
Marke - I didn't hear Rupture play *any* dancehall -- it was all cumbia, cumbia mixes, & reggaeton, with a little bit of bassline thrown in at the end.
who were you listening to?!
Posted by Ty | March 12, 2008 07:19 AM
Sorry ty -- that was a slip o' the nib after a 15 hour workday -- meant to type reggaeton (we only heard the last half hour of his set and didn't hear much cumbia) ... we had a lot of fun dancing, and I adore Tormenta parties -- I want them to have more big ones! -- just thought this one would be a little more off the hook when we got there, but alas we were too late! so the next one I'll do buenos first and balkan later -- and make sure to set my imaginary Gucci watch for daylight savings
I'm really looking forward to more afterhours parties that don't depend on trance or minimal techno, so I hope the Tormenta kids keep at it.
Posted by Marke B. | March 12, 2008 11:20 AM
Hey Marke B. - Ditch those cabs for a bicycle :)
Posted by Hal | March 12, 2008 12:12 PM
My bf won't let me drink and ride! I should have just taken the mission bus, I know, but I was rushing -- my usual downfall. Too many parties for MUNI! Isn't that a Dead Kennedys song?
Posted by Marke B. | March 12, 2008 01:44 PM
We're you thinking of this perhaps? Dk's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgtKM0E3bKc
Posted by Dulcinea Gonzalez | March 12, 2008 03:07 PM