Heck yeah! ‘Nortec’ is a combination of techno and norteño music. ‘Música norteña’ refers to banda, basically. To those of you who do not know what banda is: it is the exuberant, noisy music you hear blaring on Mexican radio stations that you instinctively skip. And you shouldn’t. Because it is awesome. This is Nortec Collective, a group of four Tijuana producers, of which two, Bostich and Fussible, bring us this record. It is a cross of traditional banda music, comprised of heavy accordion, a lot of exuberant brass, bouncy rhythms (along the lines of polka) and modern electronica, with heavy synths and pre-recorded effects/vocals. FCC clean, mostly electronic tracks. Try 3, 4, 6, 7.
1.Midtempo. Banda/electronica. Mostly instrumental except for a few repeats of title. Ends w/faux radio announcement.
2.Upbeat banda crossed w/high-strung pop. Exuberant brass & bouncy rhythm.
†3.Upbeat. Brass is smooth like in jazz, but song still has exuberance and bouncy rhythm of banda. Instrumental.
†4.Midtempo. Accordion and upbeat electronica. A few echoe-y vocals, but accordion takes center stage.
5.Downtempo. Male vocals, in English and despairing. Sad & depleted brass, you can hear the signature ‘tambora’ drums clearly. Most straightforward track.
†6.Midtempo. Dark track, leaning on electronic. Heavy use of bass guitar and short brass riffs. Late night club track. Limited synthetized vocals.
†7. Midtempo. Beachy and laid back, but still has the staple trombone in the background. Electronica with soft, layered vocals. Pretty awesome!
8.Upbeat. Electrified banda. Central accordion, whistled main line. Few vocals.
9. Downtempo. Slowed down melody. French sounding accordion line crossed with synth harmonies.
10. Midtempo. Banda crossed with electro pop. Vocals are in English, sound slightly like a rap, but gentler, synthetized. Bass line drives melody.
11.Downtempo. Starts out like folk song, synth line takes off with accordion. Very ethereal and dreamy.