Agua Dulce

A meeting of Afro-Peruvian percussion with electronic experimentation. Laura Robles, percussionist with a long history in the world of jazz, and Ale Hop, guitarist and sound artist, are two of the most outstanding Peruvian artists today. Berlin-based Peruvian musicians Alejandra C?rdenas, AKA Ale Hop, and Laura Robles present their debut album together, released via Buh Records. With a foundation informed by decolonialism and organology, 'Agua Dulce' is a radical deconstruction of traditional rhythms of the Peruvian coast, in which the caj?n instrument plays a central role. 'Agua Dulce' is named after the most popular beach in Lima, near where both artists lived during their childhood, houses apart, without ever meeting one another. Now, years later, the pair have joined forces, with Robles on a self-built electric caj?n and C?rdenas on electric guitar and electronics. Together they explore rhythmical structures that form the backbone of the complex Afro-Peruvian music and dance traditions - a broad term used for the various musical developments that occurred in the last two centuries, at the shores of the Peruvian Pacific. The caj?n originated in coastal Peru as a percussion instrument that the black slaves created from wooden fruit boxes, when foot drums were banned at the end of the Spanish colonial-era, in the 19th century. From its birth the caj?n was a symbol of resistance, experimentation and transformation, so Robles and C?rdenas strive to maintain the instrument's spirit and qualities by pushing the boundaries of its sound into the future. However, although buzzing with an intense voltage and proffering a fresh contribution to modern experimental/noise/low fi/percussive music, the duo's mission isn't merely capturing something sonically futuristic, but is primarily concerned with shaking off the dust: "These rhythms have become ossified nowadays, heard in Peruvian folklore shows, and on the 'global music' circuit, but our desire is to experiment and do something more radical with them, connecting to the instruments more radical past", comments C?rdenas. The two musicians take the pulses of dances like Land?, Zamacueca, Festejo, Alcatraz, Lamento and Son de los diablos, electrifying and mutating them into pure textures, or reinforcing the physical character of the caj?n through repetition and distortion. 'Agua Dulce' is published through Buh Records in a vinyl edition, limited to 300 copies. Cover Art by Eduardo Yaguas.