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Growing like wildfire under the canopy of live electonica and world roots music comes Beats Antique, a masterful merge of modern technology, live instrumentation and seductive performance. Beats Antique combines the sounds of the Middle East and orchestral gypsy music with the styles of hip-hop, brass band, downtempo, glitch and dubstep in a new collage of music that is mixed and broken down with clever breakbeats for an adept international flair. Beats Antique is producing an un-charted style of music by adding live horns, accordion, glockenspiel, viola, string quartets, kalimba, clarinet and various unusual instruments to their big beat arrangements. Born of Oakland, CA, the musical trio consists of producers, David Satori, Sidecar Tommy and world-renowned belly dance performer/producer Zoe Jakes, who helped inspire the thematic Middle East tempo of the band. On the tails of their latest release, Contraption Vol.1, Beats Antique has been consistently selling out major venues up and down the west coast, and have also toured extensively as support for national acts such as Les Claypool from PRIMUS and Bassnectar. In line with their recent success, Beats Antique has signed on C3 Presents as management, and Madison House as booking. After only 3 years performing as a cohesive force, the group is about to self release their fourth album, Contraption, Vol. 2 which furthers their journey through new electro-acoustic soundscapes. Their second release, “Collide” on CIA (Miles Copeland’s new label, previous manager/producer of The Police, REM, etc.) has consistently held the number one spot in Amazon.com’s Middle Eastern category, and has also reached the Top 10 list of most downloaded artists under World Dance, and the Top 20 most downloaded electronica albums.

"For me, great records are always about salvation, redemption, reflection, the dirt and the beauty, living through your own trials and experiences," says Rob Garza, one half of electronic music pioneers Thievery Corporation and the brains behind his new solo project Dust Galaxy, "What I love about some of my favorite records like "Sandanista," "Sgt. Peppers," "Odyssey and Oracle," and "Sunshine Superman" is the way they drift through different musical temperaments." Having spent the past ten years creating, producing, remixing and touring as part of Thievery Corporation, Garza has worked with, and been influenced by an endless list of diverse artists. "Through the course of working as a producer in Thievery Corporation, I've had the opportunity to work with many talented singers and instrumentalists. During this time period, I've also learned to play more instruments myself. This project finally allows me to step out from behind the control booth to continue expressing myself as a songwriter as well as a performer and musician." Which brings us to his latest creation, Dust Galaxy. "After the completion of the last Thievery record and tour, and a trip to Sudan for the UN World Food Program (for which he and Eric Hilton from Thievery are spokesmen), I was ultimately inspired to make a very personal musical reflection of my continuing journey." In recording Dust Galaxy he enlisted producer Brendan Lynch (Primal Scream, Paul Weller) to push the UK take on older American sounds with more grit and psychedelia. Says Garza, "I loved Brendan's remixes like Mathars "Indian Vibes," and the remix he did of Thievery's "Revolution Solution" as well as his production work, and thought he would be the best fit to get the sound that I was looking for with Dust Galaxy. People often think that I spend all my time submerged in electronic music, but I listen to and am influenced by a broad spectrum of music, People are quick to come up with labels to identify you with. The hardest thing is when you create your own label for yourself, and then try to break out of it - that's the real struggle." Throughout the course of a year, most of that time spent in and around various London studios, as well as time in legendary Inner Ear studios, Garza set to bring his vision to life with an array of supporting musicians. Shawn Lee, Martin Duffy & Darrin Mooney from Primal Scream, Adam Blake of Cornershop, Jim Townsend (the People's Revolutionary Choir), Didi Gutman (Brazilian Girls), James Canty (The Make-Up, Ted Leo/Pharmacists), Jerry Busher (French Toast, Fugazi) all lent their talents to the record. "The collaborative nature of the project allowed me the unique opportunity to work both in the studio and play live with artists whom I admire. It was a quite a change to be on the other side of the booth. I honestly feel like my perspective about music production in general has even evolved," he muses. The result melds the sounds of psychedelic India, British paisley beats, post-punk, and roots rock into a riveting and unique combination. He continues, "My goal was to make a record that reflected my tastes, both personally, and musically. There are a lot of elements in this record that would be out of place on a Thievery album. There are still a lot of electronic elements, but a punk rock song on a Thievery album would probably come across as forced or contrived." Of course that history with Thievery Corporation is well documented. "I bought my first synth at age 14; my father got a new job in Connecticut, which happened to have one of the only high school electronic music programs in the country. Hip-hop was really coming on the scene, so I started programming beats for fellow students. At that time I was listening to a lot of abrasive music where people were experimenting with sampling. It was an opening which I would find my way through. I remember putting out techno records in the early 90's and really being captivated with the new technology, then suddenly gravitating to bossa and jazz. He continues, "None of my peers could understand my new direction in any way." Just at this turning point he met Eric Hilton at the infamous 18th St. Lounge, and they discussed the music they were passionate about and tried to amalgamate it with electronic elements, and the rest is history. "Singing and playing guitar on a stage, fronting a band, is the last thing I thought I'd be doing when I began making electronic records fifteen years ago, and probably the last thing Thievery audiences would expect as well," states Garza. "I grew up in a very white, small, rural town in Maryland, but I also spent a lot of time in Juarez, Mexico (his mother is from Juarez) and spending time in Mexico with my relatives was always kind of confusing. For me personally being of Mexican-American background with French, Spanish, Arabic, Meso-American roots. I've never known where I fit in. maybe that was the beginning of my personal musical odyssey, continuously searching for different styles of music that resonated within." In the end this may seem to be a more reckless endeavor for Garza, but it also may prove to be the most rewarding.

Just a sliver of the ocote wood starts a blaze. A few pieces of this pine was all Martín Perna needed to get his cooking fires started in a small fishing village in Michoacán, Mexico. It was there that Perna-known for founding Antibalas, the NYC collective that sparked an Afrobeat revival-found a new direction. For several years, I'd spend time in this little fishing village," Perna recounts, "living, writing, and doing a lot of green building. People would hear I was a musician and ask me to play some music. It was kind of difficult. What do I say: I play baritone sax, which I left in NYC, with this fifteen-piece band. If I play you some of my music, it's not going to make sense," Perna recalls. "I started thinking about what it means to be a musician and having a wide enough repertoire that I didn't need fifteen people to play. So I picked up the guitar and started writing music in a new way, with more intimacy and immediacy." Yet it wasn't until a mishap on a biodiesel cross-country trek that Perna found the perfect vehicle for this new sound, and the perfect musical partner in Adrian Quesada, of the Austin-based super-group Grupo Fantasma. The result was Ocote Soul Sounds. The grit and funk of the gridlocked NYC streets intersect seamlessly with the voices and rhythms of dusty Latin American lanes on their latest album Coconut Rock (ESL Music; release: June 23, 2009). Perna and Quesada had lived in eerily similar parallel universes. Though Quesada grew up in the Texas border-town of Laredo, and Perna came up in Philadelphia (later New York), both musicians straddled borders literally and artistically. Both had grown up on hip hop and the jazz and funk it was built on; both taught themselves to play multiple instruments; both had founded game-changing, booty-shaking big bands; and both were deeply moved by a powerful spirit of social and political activism, the spirit of ocote. Ocote, the Nauhatl word for pine, is key to starting fires, the fires used for cooking and heating across Mexico and beyond. A tiny handful, and even damp pieces of wood ignite, Perna says. "And I like that metaphor. I have always seen my role in whatever I do as a catalyst. We're not the big log burning that everybody sees. We are the one that gets it started," whether it's the current Afrobeat craze fueled by Antibalas, Quesada's initiative in Austin to help improve the lives of the city's musicians, or Perna's founding of NYC's first biodiesel factory. Years ago, Perna converted his station wagon to run on restaurant grease and journeyed from Brooklyn to Mexico, making a brief stop in Austin to meet Quesada, a friend of a friend. The two began playing around with some song ideas, and things really clicked. But after a few tracks, Perna had to hit the road. The return trip gave an unexpected boost to the collaboration. "Martín's car broke down and started having all sorts of problems. He had to drive from the Mexican border at 20 miles per hour, , and then got a tow all the way from San Antonio. So he got stuck here and stayed with me until he could fix the car, which took a while because no mechanic would touch it back then. And we finished the first album," Quesada smiles.

Radiola is Karina Zeviani and Frederik Rubens. A Brazilian Girl and a Belgian Boy, living in New York, blending their backgrounds and styles together in an unlikely mix : Brazilian Cabaret Electro Punk that is at once intimate, exciting, melancholic and surreal. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Karina Zeviani started her career first as a model for the Ford Model Agency at age 15 traveling to Zurich, Paris and Milano. While living in Germany, Karina Zeviani had her professional debut as a singer covering songs by her idol, Elis Regina. In NYC Karina became a sought out performer after her residency at East Village club Nublu. Since 2005, with the blessing of David Byrne, Karina sings and tours around the world with Thievery Corporation. This year Karina also started to perform as a lead guest vocalist with French band Nouvelle Vague. Frequently performing in Brazil and Turkey, Karina was featured on the cover of TPM magazine in Brazil and was the subject of a 6-page spread in the Turkish edition of Rolling Stone magazine. Hailing from Gent, Belgium, Frederik Rubens started his music career performing popular American and British folk songs with musicians from the local music scene back home. He built a recording studio in his attic and started recording his own music as well as many different local acts, ranging from folk to electro to punk. He started experimenting with and searching for new sounds, using old tape delays and cheap drum computers with guitar processing pedals - a production style that is still clearly present in his current work. Since moving to New York, he has worked with Brazilian Girls, Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto), Pharaoh's Daughter, Rob Garza (Thievery Corporation, Dust Galaxy), Acoustic Junction, Spirit House, Jason Lindner, Avishai Cohen, Third World Love, among many others.

"Radio Retaliation is definitely a more overt political statement," says Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation. "There’s no excuse for not speaking out at this point, with the suspension of habeas corpus, outsourced torture, illegal wars of aggression, fuel, food, and economic crises. It’s hard to close your eyes and sleep while the world is burning around you. If you are an artist, this is the most essential time to speak up.” So that’s exactly what they do with their new album. Recording in their Washington DC based studio, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, better known as the international DJ and production duo Thievery Corporation, have managed to blossom in the heart of a city they often refer to as “Babylon;” a poignant reference to the traditional Rastafarian distaste and distrust of a corrupt and unjust modern system. Although the city is best known as the seat of an aggressive American Empire, paradoxically Washington DC has long been the home of a music subculture legendary for fierce independence, a staunch do-it-yourself work ethic, and conscientious social activism exemplified by genre-defining pioneers like godfather of go-go Chuck Brown and indie punk rockers Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Fugazi. Likewise, although some may lazily pin Thievery Corporation as the soundtrack to their cocktail infused late night soiree, the duo have always drawn deep from the well of independent and confrontational music subculture their home town is known for, to produce an ever expanding globally conscious catalogue of music that is difficult to classify. Starting in 1996 with two international underground hit vinyl singles "Shaolin Satellite" and "2001 Spliff Odyssey," released on their own indie record label ESL Music, Garza and Hilton soon released Sounds from The Thievery Hi-Fi; an album that defined a genre and crystallized their distinct "outernational sound" aesthetic. Over the next decade the duo would remix the likes of David Byrne, The Doors, and Sarah McLachlan, and record three more critically acclaimed albums of original material, each one transcending the last in scope, style, and message: The Mirror Conspiracy (2000), The Richest Man in Babylon (2002), and The Cosmic Game (2005) Radio Retaliation finds inspiration in the uncompromising political music of groups like the Clash, Public Enemy, and Fela Kuti and is without a doubt Thievery Corporation’s broadest and most progressive album yet. The album imparts tough socio-political messages largely absent from today’s popular music. "Apart from a few independent bastions, there is no musical or informational freedom on the US airwaves anymore. They’ve been bought up, consolidated and homogenized. Music is suffering and society is suffering too. Radio Retaliation is about an exodus of conscious people who are willing to acknowledge something is wrong with the ‘official version’ in news and culture," explains Hilton. "The album cover image is that of a Mexican Zapatista fighter. They wear masks to shield their identity from right-wing death squads who prey on them and terrorize them, threatening to kick them off their land or worse. People’s movements, like the Zapatistas, are a great source of inspiration for us and that’s clearly reflected on the new record. "This record is also our most internationally oriented,"” adds Garza, describing how Radio Retaliation touches upon the eclectic sounds of Jamaica, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. "We worked with artists from around the world. The roots of our inspiration have always come from what is happening globally, and at the moment there is so much happening, on every level." With Radio Retaliation Thievery Corporation raise the bar with a new cast of musical collaborators including Nigeria’s afro-beat heir Femi Kuti, Brazilian star vocalist and guitarist Seu Jorge, Indian sitar virtuoso Anushka Shankar, Slovakian chanteuse and violinist Jana Andevska, and Washington DC’s own go-go originator Chuck Brown. Also returning are long time microphone co-conspirators Sleepy Wonder, Lou Lou, Notch, Zee, and Verny Varela. A defining element of Thievery Corporation’s sound has always been its decidedly organic quality and this is clearly evident in the rich productions of Radio Retaliation and recent live tour dates. Despite their minimal beginnings, Garza and Hilton have adopted a growing cast of collaborators over the years, vital musicians and vocalists who contribute to a dynamic 15 member live band. Playing sold out venues and festivals worldwide, Thievery Corporation dazzle thousands of music fans every year with their kaleidoscopic live show. With the help of long time partners, the UN World Food Programme, Thievery Corporation also aim to provoke conscientious thought among their audience. Garza explains, "We definitely want to contribute to the opening of ears, eyes, and minds. With our live shows it’s a poignant example of music and culture mixing together in an explosive vibrant way. To see a Persian singer singing in Farsi, as America debates on a war with Iran, next to other band members from all corners of the earth singing in Spanish, Portuguese, French and so on, it makes people wonder . . . and if you can get people to question the things around them, just a little, then that’s not such a bad thing."

Wax Poetic is a New York-based trip-hop band. The band came together in 1997 founded by Turkish-born music guru Ilhan Ersahin who is still a current member, playing tenor saxophone and keys. The group originated at the popular and now defunct club Save the Robots, and consisted of a volatile group of musicians jamming together to create a heavy groove of drum 'n' bass blended with quick dance elements. Ersahin and company signed to Atlantic in the latter '90s and released their debut self-titled album in June 2000. Pop singer/pianist Norah Jones was a member before her break-out album Come Away with Me. Other former members include N'dea Davenport and Saul Williams. Jones can still be heard singing with them on two tracks of their 2004 release, NuBlu Sessions. Current members are Thor Madsen (guitar and beats), Jesse Murphy (bass), Jochen Rueckert (drums), and Marla Turner (vocals). The newest CD, Copenhagen, was just released November 7, 2006 and the sound has been compared by Amazon.com to Garbage. Part of a three part series, this CD is followed up with Istanbul and Brasil.

Alan Scheurman is a folk musician, research buff, ecosocialist, and bioneer from Detroit, Michigan.  He is currently putting his energy into assisting Detroit's transition into becoming a sustainable city.  He is a member of the Detroit Evolution Laboratory and the New Detroit Cooperative.

Born in a small town in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Karina Zeviani started her career as a model for the Ford Model Agency at age 15 traveling to Zurich, Paris and Milano. While living in Germany, on a break from modeling, Karina Zeviani had her professional debut as a singer covering songs by her idol, Elis Regina. In NYC Karina became a sought out performer after her residency at East Village club Nublu.??Since 2005, with the blessing of David Byrne, Karina sings and tours around the world with Thievery Corporation. This year Karina also started to perform as a lead guest vocalist with French band Nouvelle Vague. Frequently performing in Turkey, she regularly draws crowds in the thousands and was the subject of a 6-page spread in the Turkish edition of Rolling Stone magazine.??Karina Zeviani performs with Frederik Rubens, producer & engineer for Brazilian Girls, Pharaoh's Daughter, Rob Garza (Thievery Corporation, Dust Galaxy), Spirit House, as well as many jazz musicians including Jason Lindner, Avishai Cohen and Third World Love. He's the keyboardist, musical director and producer of Karina Zeviani with whom he's been writing and performing internationally for the last 2 years.

Mantric Mambo is a music project and a definition of a style. Born from the experience of the group as musicians in ayahuasca ceremonies in the "Temple Mother of Water", the songs are prayers, invocations, calling the forces of nature, the subtlety of love, bringing the healing of the forest. The experience of this musicians with other music projects created the fusion of this prayers with different rhythms of latin american roots mixed with a touch of electronic. This fusion of rhythms, voices, acoustic instruments, synthesizers and electric guitars proportionate an involving hypnotic effect, bringing the feeling of listening to the music as if one was under the effect of ayahuasca. The "Temple Mother of Water" is situated in Alto Paraíso-Go, Brasil, mystic land, known for its natural beauty and large concentration of crystals.

While out on tour, Ilhan wound up in a jam somewhere with French trumpet player Erik Truffaz. The two clicked immediately, and they decided to record a few sessions together. They brought in Thor Madsen, guitar player for Wax Poetic; Jochen Rueckert, drummer for Wax Poetic and abstract electronics genius; and Matt Penman, a bass player who?s one on to become quite the name in the jazz scene. After two days of recording, Ilhan, Jochen and Thor spent two years cut and pasting pieces of the recording together coming up with Our Theory, a brilliant blend of left-field electronics and jazz.

Formed in Austria in 1996, Sofa Surfers wasted no time in making themselves known. In 1997, they released their first album, Sofa Rockers on Klein Records, to overwhelming interest and enthusiasm. They rode the resulting wave and quickly followed it up with their LP debut, Transit, which was also an instant success. Three years later, Sofa Surfers released their second LP, Cargo. The album proved to be a departure from their earlier sound, yet garnered attention and critical acclaim non the less. In 2001, they released their third LP, Encounters, a hip-hop flavored album that addressed the political intolerance that had been steadily growing in their home country of Austria.

Washington, DC-based trio, Thunderball, are globally renowned purveyors of sophisticated, stereophonic-thrillers, and cinematic dub. Since 1997 their productions have shifted effortlessly between the genres of drum & bass, breakbeat and downtempo, building a strong following for their signature sound. The former duo of Sid Barcelona & Steve Raskin are now officially joined by long-time collaborator, Rob Myers. Rob, a fellow ESL Music compatriot, records & tours with Thievery Corporation playing sitar & guitar, most notably on the Thievery classic, "Lebanese Blonde." As one of the first artists signed to ESL Music, Thunderball released their first album, Ambassadors of Style, (1999) to critical acclaim. Rolling Stone lauded the album with 3 1/2 stars for its "smooth, cosmopolitan drum and bass." Drawing from their love of '60s and '70s soundtracks, Brazilian beats and Afro-funk rhythms, Thunderball creates multi-faceted soundscapes designed for modern spy chases and late-night encounters. Thunderball's seminal second recording, Scorpio Rising, (2001) was a downtempo classic, hailed by All Music Guide as ".blaxploitation funk, cinematic soul, bossa nova lounge, downtempo dub, and downtown drum'n'bass [that] all come together to create a hipster vibe few other groups could even aspire to, let alone create." Scorpio Rising's integration of live instrumentation helped establish the organic sound that shaped the future of Thunderball. After Scorpio Rising, Steve, Sid & Rob joined forces with Jon "JonH" Horvath to found Fort Knox Recordings and the DC-based mega-group Fort Knox Five. As the Fort Knox Five the group has released 6 highly successful singles and completed many high-profile remixes for the likes of A Skillz & Krafty Kuts, Skeewiff, Tito Puente, and Louis Armstrong. They also produced 4 tracks on Afrika Bambaataa's latest album. Their efforts culminated in 2007 with the release of the Fort Knox Recordings debut CD, The New Gold Standard. With their latest full-length album, Cinescope, Thunderball return from their Fort Knox duties in full form. URB Magazine declares, "Thunderball are back, dripping in Eastern sitar melodies and tempting drum lines." Cinescope features 12 vivid soundscapes that fuse Latin funk, Afro rhythms, Indian Dub and Mediterranean Soul. With this release, Thunderball broaden their scope pushing the boundaries of their music both sonically and vocally. On Cinescope they teamed up with long time collaborator Mustafa Akbar on the jazz funk thriller, "Return of the Panther" and on the soulfully introspective, "Elevated States." Mustafa teams up with Miss Johnna M to rock the party on the '60s rave-up track, "Get Up with the Get Down." Thunderball also enlisted the talents of Thievery Corporation's MC's Roots and Zeebo of See-I to create the dub ragga, "Strictly Rudeboy." And the godfather of hip hop, Afrika Bambaataa, for the electro-pop anthem, "Electric Shaka." Thunderball has become a well known commodity for music supervisors worldwide, having their music featured in hit TV shows such as Alias, Viva La Bam, and Malcolm in the Middle; and TV commercials and ad campaigns, including spots for Mercury and Toyota. They have also had songs featured on video games like, Kelly Slater's Pro Surfing, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006. Following in their hipster vibe their music has been used in countless compilations including the prestigious Hotel Costes. Thunderball actively perform their music worldwide as DJs; as the Thunderball Sound System (featuring Mustafa Akbar and Rex Riddem), and as an 8-piece live band. Thunderball have brought their explosive performances to jet-set destinations like Australia, Bangkok, Moscow and to the warm beaches of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.