The DJ and Producer and environmental acitvist El Búho (aka Robin
Perkins) released the lead single "Nevar" with collaborator Didacte today ahead of his highly anticipated album Ramas ("branches" in Spanish) with Wonderwheel Recordings. The album, Ramas, is due out this March.
Ramas is El Búho's third album of original material and is a celebration of the art of
collaboration. For the Paris based DJ/Producer, collaboration has been a thread throughout his
career since his debut in 2016 while living in Mexico. El Búho has performed, produced and
collaborated with some of the most predominate DJs and Producers in the Latin electronic music scene including Nicola Cruz, and album collaborators Chancha Via Circuito and Captain Planet.
The new album features 19 collaborations with artists from 12 countries, and was born
organically with inspiration found in collaborations, mutual appreciation or a desire to
experiment and try something new. At times, the collaborations came together during El Búho's touring with opportunities to record in person, such as "Sky City", born out of a spaghetti- western jam in Thornato's Queens studio or "Gaviota" inspired by the seagulls of Brighton following a shared show with Rumbo Tumba. Meanwhile others such as "Elefta" with Hungarian producer Stas or "Kuuma" a track made with Finnish multi- instrumentalist QOSQI were created over long-distance with the producers never actually meeting face to face. The album also contains tracks from long-term friends and collaborators like Chancha Via Circuito, Barda and Wonderwheel's founder Nickodemus.
Musically the album references the blend of Latin American traditional music with original electronic music on tracks such as "Resiliencia" with legendary Chilean producer DJ Raff, an homage to the recent protest movement in Chile, or "Absolut" a track sculpted from an unfinished melodic idea by Argentine electro-folk trio Tremor. Meanwhile songs like "Nevar" and "Kif Kif Kuf Kuf" with Didacte and Kraut, both part of the Shika Shika collective, take El Búho's sound in a new direction, embracing a more melodic, impactful and rhythmic electronica.
At its heart, Ramas was Perkins' desire to challenge himself creatively, forcing him to see his own ideas and production style from a different angle or see ideas started in one direction come back completely transformed by the collaborator. The result is at once surprising and diverse but El Búho's signature sound and aesthetic is the thread that runs through all of the collaborative tracks, like the tree trunk to blossoming branches (Ramas).
Ramas has taken a refreshing look at our global community and grown worldwide collaboration both visually and sonically to create art at an international scale. Living fully in the spirit of collaboration, El Búho had an open call for dancers and choreographers in his community to submit video performances. He received an overwhelming response and has incorporated 18 fan created videos with original choreographed dances for the visual presentation of the new album. The dancers, from 12 countries ranging from Mexico to Taiwan, South Africa, and the Galapagos Islands, each chose a song that most inspired them and filmed the performance in a unique and beautiful natural location; creating yet more ramas or branches for the project.
Ramas is due out on March 27th with Wonderwheel Recordings and will be available digitally everywhere you stream music and also on a double disc vinyl available for purchase here.
One of the forefathers of Organic Electonica scene, El Búho's sound blends together the rhythms, mythologies and melodies of Latin America with the sound of waterfalls, birdsongs, crackling leaves and electronic music influences from dub to ambient. His music is a dreamy, deep, melodic journey that entrances as much through headphones as it does on the dancefloor. Incorporating his activism passion into his art, El Búho is actively involved with DJs
For Climate Action and its Earth Night initiative and crowdfunded two albums "A Guide to the Birdsong of South America" and "A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean" to raise awareness around threatened bird species across Latin America.
Tracklisting:
1. "Amanueces del Espiritu" (El Búho x Alex Hentze x Dominique Hunziker)
2. "Absolut" (El Búho x Tremor)
3. "Rumba Viento" (El Búho x Captain Planet x Kata x Izzy Wise)
4. "Nevar" (El Búho x Didacte)
5. "Resiliencia" (El Búho x DJ Raff)
6. "Medusa" (El Búho x Klik & Frik)
7. "Amalia" (El Búho x Aluna Project)
8. "Pez Dorado" (El Búho x Chancha Via Circuito x Alejandra Ortiz)
9. " Sky City" (El Búho x Thornato)
10. "Cancuban" (El Búho x M.RUX x Yemanjo)
11. "Diablada Disco" (El Búho x Nickodemus)
12. "A Miña Fraga" (El Búho x Baiuca)
13. "Elefta" (El Búho x Stas)
14. "Alegria" (El Búho x Rodrigo Gallardo)
15. "Gaviota" (El Búho x Rumba Tumba)
16. "Kuuma" (El Búho x QOSQI)
17. "Hornero" (El Búho x Barda)
18. "Kif Kif Kuf Kuf" (El Búho x Kraut)
19. "Salford Cumbia" (El Búho x Joaquin Cornejo)
Videos