Country : Germany Label : Shika Shika Genres and styles : Cumbia / Downtempo / latino / tropical bass Year : 2020

Shika Shika: 5 Years

· by Rupert Bottenberg

Five years is a milestone that’s noteworthy enough, especially for an independent label in trying times. Based in Berlin, the imprint is operated by Robin “El Búho” Perkins and Agustín “Barrio Lindo” Rivaldo, a pair of producers in their own right, English and Argentinean respectively though archetypal global citizens in truth. For the last half decade, they’ve curated a catalogue of cool, comfortably lightweight downtempo jams that consistently impress with their character, their quality, and their artful balance of rawness and refinement. The equatorial heat and humidity is consistent, as the label taps talent focused in or on the cornucopia of musical cultures spilling from the coastlines of the Caribbean. Percolating percussion is ever present, and it’s in there that one here’s the proverbial “artist’s hand”, as well as in the frequent raspy flutes, clattering marimbas, and plucking of guitar-like things. Perkins and Rivaldo close out 2020, a year that saw among other things the label’s excellent endeavour for endangered birds, with a double LP looking back over their best moments. The lovely cumbia “Canario” (birds, always the birds!) by Mexico’s Karen & Los Remedios is this writer’s pick of the pack, it’s from their Botanas EP of this past fall, though the numbers here are uniformly above average (that doesn’t make sense, mathematically, does it…). Here’s to another five years of fine music ahead, and many more after that.

Latest 360 Content

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

LMNL – Rainbow

LMNL – Rainbow

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Galan Trio – Embrace

Galan Trio – Embrace

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Hypercube – The Force for Good

Hypercube – The Force for Good

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

Duo AYA – Cycles

Duo AYA – Cycles

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Marc-André Hamelin; Quatuor Takacs – Dvořák & Price : Piano Quintets

Marc-André Hamelin; Quatuor Takacs – Dvořák & Price : Piano Quintets

Subscribe to our newsletter