In 1997 German multi-genre electronic musician
Uwe Schmidt (aka
Atom Heart), finding the founding of his
Rather Interesting label and his multifarious collaborations insufficient for getting the creative juices really flowing, moved to Santiago,
Chile for a complete change of pace. And identity. As
Senior Coconut he began acting on Costa Rican inspiration from five years prior, fusing the
techno of his past experience with the traditional music of his
latin location.
His first album in this persona, "El Gran Baile" (The Great Dance), was interesting enough, but what really got people doing double-takes was his summer 2000 release "El Baile Aleman" (The German Dance) - an album of Kraftwerk covers done flawlessly in traditional (primarily cha-cha-cha and merengue) latin musical styles.
His band (the Y Su Conjunto) on El Baile Aleman includes work from vocalists Argenis Brito, Jorge Gonzalez and
Lisa Carbon, the enigmatic MPC3000 & S6000 machines with "Additional Midi Shaker" by Ricardito Tambo.
Keep your ears on Senior Coconut - he's been tearing up campus radio charts across the world and is virtually guaranteed to twist a smirk onto the embittered lips of any cynical hipster you may know, if only briefly.