Antioquia

You gotta love a band that's impossible to pigeonhole. Antioquia is stewed from feisty rebel music from many continents, flavorful social consciousness with a hot pepper zest, sexy and smart and waiting to be slurped up in a hungry rush. Latin and African rhythms skip with guitars that wouldn't be out of place in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band or headier live Talking Heads. There's also the New World Order shattering, quasi-future thrust of prime Devo or Pere Ubu, plus the charged, earthy poetics of Patti Smith to boot. If it seems I'm throwing a lot at the wall, well, you kinda have to with Antioquia. There's some profound shit going inside My Piano… but you could also f*** like a beast to it. Politics and social inquiry are rarely so mouthwatering, and it's a safe bet Fela, Gil Scott-Heron and Sun Ra would LOVE this. Crank this up LOUD and just see if you don't crumble a few internal shackles toot suite. Not going to be real surprised if this winds up on some of the hipper, more truly open-minded "Best of 2010" lists. - Jambase.com

In the band's disparate psych-rock, the influence of traditional Colombian music is audible - as well as West African sounds from Guinea and Mali...The album is filled with ready to rock-out fixtures, and it's all fit for a feel good time. - San Francisco Chronicle

Very unexpected, this. Think Santana in a psychedelic African jungle with a detour down a Bolivian back street, and one gets a glimpse of the magical soundscapes of this Bay Area what-have-you quartet. Whether or not their instrument devoured a newspaper, or their collective decibel-dog ate their musical homework is beside the point. What does matter is that the music is sophisticated and memorable without being distant and aloof.

The 66-minute album begins with an impressive jubilant jab and righteous right cross (“Humans Do” and “High-end Logistics”) before descending through a surreal section of abstract funk ‘n prog (“My Piano Lament” and “Custer”), flies over the Atlantic into another timeframe with future’s past percussion (“Mapale” and the trippy title track), breaks it down into an intense and complicated riff on 60s bachelor pad juxtapositions (“Boogeyman”), an inspired interlude (“Overture”) prefacing local politics ‘n bossa supernova (“Police Brutality”), calypso dirges sped up for a lick and a promise (“Time (This Song Doesn’t Exist)”), hip hop and another Man rap for good measure (“Dmv”), falling down betwixt a descent buzz, indeed (“Dopehead”), and another slice of witty percussion-driven head bop (“Mississippi River”), which is concluded with a fine exclamation point, post-paper banquet, or otherwise (“My Piano’s Joy”).

Truth be told, Antioquia manages a coherent, consistent, and focused sound without ever once paying the slightest bit of attention towards tried-and-true tempo changes. Instead, the unique nature of their songs—helped quite a bit by an ability to keep it funky, man, and rolling along at an infectious and accelerated pace—are bolstered by the simple fact that often one’s music can get across to the listener just by being fun, danceable, and good. And there are ample quantities of that heady trio on My piano ate the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle. Perhaps, the band can devour the Web next time. Dunno. Future’s uncertain, but with bands like this around, at least it’ll be interesting. - Jambands.com

Excerpt from Jambase article:
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey :: 06.19.09 :: Starry Plough :: Berkeley, CA

"A few positive nods to the opener, San Francisco's Antioquia, who began by handing out homemade tin can shakers to the audience and actively inviting us to chime in, dance and otherwise twirl with them. Often this sort of thing feels forced ("Are you ready to rock? I can't hear you!") but they were so disarming and their music so interestingly angled and percussive that resistance was pretty futile. In broad strokes some of their music came across like the Talking Heads' "The Great Curve" or "I Zimbra" with a grimier underbelly, while other parts injected a Devo-like skip to tribal-inflected pop with distant echoes of quality ancestors like Pere Ubu, X-Ray Spex and The Specials (that is if they incorporated Cuban son, Afrobeat and a sprinkle of whatever you call the Art Ensemble of Chicago). Things are further enhanced by a dynamite lead singer, Mana Maddy Streicek, that infused things with a strange femininity and gut level energy and a dynamic group vibe that weaves everything together. Named after a prime coffee growing section of the Andes in Columbia, Antioquia was vast, rangy and honestly punky, shooing boogiemen from under our beds and making a Friday night audience step lighter than they did upon entry. Excellent wind-up for the main event and a real find that's currently on a national tour (dates can be found here)." - Jambase.com

What a name for the debut of four white musicians playing a unique hybrid of Latin, African, and American music. Like San Francisco Afrobeat troupe Albino!, Antioquia doesn't seek to transcend its identity so much as transport it, then share the results through music. At that the group succeeds, with interesting grooves and songs alike.

— Nate Seltenrich - East Bay Express

Bay Area experimental group Antioquia has made an album worth noticing. While bands normally throw CD release parties for their forthcoming albums, Antioquia continues to distance itself from the status quo by throwing a full-blown festival for its debut LP, Gringolandia. Though a festival may sound a bit too excessive for a mere album release, this 70-minute Latin-infused progressive rock record kicks off with a fervor that doesn’t abate and is undeniably worthy of its extravagant arrival.

Antioquia is all over the place with this debut, creating its unique sound by drawing tropical funk grooves and pulsing tribal rhythms from Cuba, Brazil, West Africa and Colombia. Self-proclaimed “music for the revolution,” Antioquia pulls international influences to unite the people of the world, singing dreamily of utopia: “un mundo sin frontera (a world without borders).”

Gringolandia opens with playful flutes and the smooth shakes of maracas over a mesmerizing djembe beat, quickly diving into airy, upbeat guitar before surprising listeners with a dip into a dark funk groove and crass male/female vocal switch-offs. The rest of the album continues in this manner, catching listeners off-guard with unexpected structural shifts, abrupt tempo changes, interludes of frantic guitar twang, noisy spastic drums and jazzy tangents of maddening horns. Beneath it all are the driving traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms, sprinkled over with mystical chimes, primal percussion, heavy slap bass and screeching guitar strings, coated with a layer of sweet and soulful Spanish song and finally seasoned with dashes of yelping and hollering chants and refreshing outbreaks of crisp slams of rhyme.

Burning with the raw, ardent energy of Primus while simultaneously washing over listeners with Fugees-like earthy coolness, Gringolandia is a wild ride through the center of the earth and into the depths of the soul. (Yonas Media)








-Brian Echon - West Coast Performer

"The four- piece combines Afro-Cuban and West African influences, good old rock ‘n’ roll and socially conscious, bitingly observant lyricism to create a live powerhouse." - Flagstaff Live

Latin jazz meets jam band on My piano ate the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle. Even those who don't like this kind of music will be attracted to its upbeat, charming, and cleverly witty songs. Antioquia would make a great party soundtrack — its music brings a smile to your face, and should get even the grouchiest butt out on the dance floor. - East Bay Express