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Meridian Brothers

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Meridian Brothers
Background information
OriginBogotá, Colombia
Years active1998–present
LabelsLa Distritofónica, Discrepant, Soundway, Bongo Joe, Ansonia
Members
  • Eblis Álvarez
  • María Valencia
  • Mauricio Ramírez
  • Alejandro Forero
  • César Quevedo
Past membersDamián Ponce
Websitewww.meridianbrothers.com

Meridian Brothers is an experimental band led by classically trained Colombian musician Eblis Álvarez,[1] who founded it as a solo project in Bogotá in 1998. The group mix electronic and avant-garde music with traditional Colombian music styles, particularly cumbia, vallenato, and salsa.[2]

History

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Meridian Brothers was founded by Eblis Álvarez as a solo project in 1998, and he sold early recordings on cassette in Bogotá.[3] While playing in short-lived group Ensamble Polifónico Vallenato, Álvarez began to use the Meridian Brothers project to experiment with traditional Colombian musical styles.[2] Álvarez has said that "the first Meridian Brothers albums suck", and that the project found its feet with its first official release, Meridian Brothers V: El Advenimiento Del Castillo Mujer.[2][4]

In 2007 the project became a band, with Álvarez being joined by four of his friends from Javeriana University: María Valencia (clarinet, saxophone and synthesizers), Damián Ponce (percussion, replaced in 2016 by Mauricio Ramírez[5]), Alejandro Forero (keyboards), and César Quevedo (bass).[3][6] The group released two more albums on Colombian record label La Distritofónica: Meridian Brothers VI in 2009, and Meridian Brothers VII in 2011,[5][7] which was partially composed by a computer algorithm.[2]: 1  In 2011 the Meridian Brothers played at Worldtronics festival in Berlin.[8]

In 2012 Meridian Brothers released their fourth studio album Desesperanza on UK label Soundway Records.[9] Also in 2012 DJ Gilles Peterson included the track Guarancha UFO on his list of the best tracks played on his BBC show that year.[10]

In 2013 German record label Staubgold released Devoción, a compilation of tracks from Meridian Brothers' first three albums,[7][11] and the group played Festival Estéreo Picnic, Roskilde Festival, and Rencontres Trans Musicales.[12][13][14]

In 2014 Meridian Brothers released the album Salvadora Robot on Soundway Records,[15] and played Villette Sonique, Paléo Festival, and Rock al Parque.[16][17][18] Their next two albums, Los Suicidas in 2015 and ¿Dónde Estás María? in 2017, were also released on Soundway.[19][1]

In 2020 Meridian Brothers released Cumbia Siglo XXI on Bongo Joe Records. Describing the album, Álvarez said "when I went to study composition I discovered algorithmic synthesis, a way to program synthetic generated sounds within an algorithm... but I didn’t do anything with that because I didn’t know how to take that and put it into Colombian culture. It wasn’t loud enough, or punchy enough, but eventually I managed to do it, and it was Cumbia Siglo XXI."[20] In 2021 they released joint album Paz en La Tierra with fellow Bogotá band Conjunto Media Luna, also on Bongo Joe.[21]

In 2022 the group released Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento, a joint album with an imaginary salsa band.[22] In 2023 they played Big Ears Festival in Tennessee.[23]

Discography

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Albums

  • Meridian Brothers V: El Advenimiento del Castillo mujer (2005, La Distritofónica/Discrepant)
  • Meridian Brothers VI: Este es el Corcel Heroico que nos Salvará de la Hambruna y Corrupción (2009, La Distritofónica)
  • Meridian Brothers VII (2011, La Distritofónica)
  • Desesperanza (2012, Soundway)
  • Salvadora Robot (2014, Soundway)
  • Los Suicidas (2015, Soundway)
  • ¿Dónde Estás María? (2017, Soundway)
  • Cumbia Siglo XXI (2020, Bongo Joe)
  • Paz en La Tierra (2021, Bongo Joe), joint album with Conjunto Media Luna
  • Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento (2022, Ansonia)
  • Mi Latinoamérica Sufre (2024, Ansonia and Bongo Joe)

Compilations

  • Devoción (Works 2005 - 2011) (2013, Staubgold)
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References

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  1. ^ a b Catalina Maria Johnson (2017-08-31), "Meridian Brothers: The Musical Madcaps Of The Tropical Baroque", npr.org, NPR, retrieved 2024-04-12
  2. ^ a b c d Russ Slater (2012-12-02), "Colombian Spring - Eblis Álvarez Interviewed", thequietus.com, The Quietus, retrieved 2024-04-12
  3. ^ a b "Meridian Brothers", soundwayrecords.com, Soundway Records, archived from the original on 2015-02-27
  4. ^ Luis Daniel Vega. "Meridian Brothers V (review)". Rolling Stone (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  5. ^ a b "Meridian Brothers Biografía" (PDF), meridianbrothers.com (in Spanish), Meridian Brothers, retrieved 2024-04-12
  6. ^ Ed Morales (2022-08-02), "The Meridian Brothers' Eccentric Mastermind Is Electrifying Roots Salsa", nytimes.com, The New York Times, retrieved 2024-04-12
  7. ^ a b Phil Freeman (September 2013). "Meridian Brothers, Devoción (review)". The Wire. No. 355. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  8. ^ "5. Worldtronics 2011", festivalticker.de (in German), archived from the original on 2022-12-06, retrieved 2024-04-12
  9. ^ Russ Slater (2012-11-21), Review: Meridian Brothers – Desesperanza, Sounds and Colours, retrieved 2024-04-12
  10. ^ "Gilles On BBC 6 Music // Best Of 2012", gillespetersonworldwide.com, 2012-12-27, archived from the original on 2017-11-07
  11. ^ "Introducing: Meridian Brothers – Devoción", klofmag.com, KLOF Magazine, 2013-09-03, retrieved 2024-04-12
  12. ^ "Así quedó la programación del Estereo Picnic 2013", elespectador.com (in Spanish), El Espectador, 2013-03-20, retrieved 2024-04-13
  13. ^ Roskilde Festival Guide 2013, Roskilde Festival, pp. 60–61, retrieved 2024-04-12
  14. ^ "Meridian Brothers", histoires.lestrans.com (in French), Rencontres Trans Musicales, retrieved 2024-04-12
  15. ^ Felix Contreras (2014-06-08), "First Listen: Meridian Brothers, 'Salvadora Robot'", npr.org, NPR, retrieved 2024-04-12
  16. ^ Stéphanie Binet (2024-06-05). "Les Meridian Brothers mixent folkore et électro". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  17. ^ "Paléo Festival 2014 Line-up", yeah.paleo.ch (in French), retrieved 2024-04-12
  18. ^ Rock Al Parque 2014: lista la programación del festival (in Spanish), Radiónica, 2014-07-22, retrieved 2024-04-12
  19. ^ "Diseccionando 'Los Suicidas', el nuevo disco de Meridian Brothers", vice.com (in Spanish), Vice, 2015-12-01, retrieved 2024-04-12
  20. ^ Patrick Clarke (2020-09-15), "Cumbia Completa: An Interview With Meridian Brothers' Eblis Álvarez", thequietus.com, The Quietus, retrieved 2024-04-12
  21. ^ John Parry (2021-10-01), "Album Review: Meridean Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna- Paz en la Terra", backseatmafia.com, Backseat Mafia, retrieved 2024-04-12
  22. ^ Neil Spencer (2022-07-09), "Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento review", theguardian.com, The Guardian, retrieved 2024-04-12
  23. ^ "Big Ears Festival Lineup Archive", bigearsfestival.org, Big Ears Festival, retrieved 2024-04-12
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