From 1998 to 2003, Caipirinha Productions ran a record label called Caipirinha Music, releasing over thirty-five albums from dozens of artists. Caipirinha Music was a genre-defying melting pot of a record label, specializing in exploring the synergies between electronic music and other art forms to ultimately elevate and reinvent culture. The label released full albums, concept compilations, film soundtracks, and all sorts of unusual sonic experiments. Below you can find Caipirinha Music’s historical catalog.

DATACH’I – WE ARE ALWAYS WELL THANK YOU (2000)

Powerful and playful, Datach’i (a.k.a Joseph Fraoli) merges contorted, asymmetrical rhythms with winsome melodies, stretching the boundaries of IDM/Drill & Bass to create a sound all his own. His stunning debut ‘10110101 (rec+play)’ was a collection of complex sonic arrangements piecing together frenetic beats, a wide range of tones, bizarre samples and sugarcoated melodies seamlessly.

Datach’i’s follow-up, ‘We Are Always Well Thank You’, finds him moving ever forward, touching on varied themes from constraint to contentment, from madness to the mundane. ‘Free in a Box’ rolls in with carefully constructed beats, opening the album. If this is a confined space, Datach’i explores every inch and corner before breaking out on ‘Merrily We Roll Along’. This is little more than a glimpse of what is to come as Datach’i bombards our senses, taking us on an emotional and aurally stimulating roller-coaster ride. The title track is a cheerful but mischievous jaunt leading into the haunting ‘Clownman’ and placid ‘Memorandum’. Through each track, Datach’i shares his endless imagination with the listeners, inviting them to join him.

A truly refreshing album, ‘We Are Always Well Thank You’ redefines the term progressive and places Datach’i amongst the most prodigious producers in electronic music today.

Track listing:
1. free in a box
2. merrily we roll along
3. uma is dead
4. welcome to the jackalope
5. klahtmies
6. falp (318) + 15 degrees
7. we are always well thank you
8. cold shift
9. the business man
10. clownman
11. memorandum
12. animals coming home are excited
13. what it is

THE FREIGHT ELEVATOR QUARTET – BECOMING TRANSPARENT (2000)

The Freight Elevator Quartet returns with ‘Becoming Transparent’, the follow-up LP to last years ‘File Under Futurism’, their collaborative work with DJ Spooky, and the ‘Futurism EP’ with remixes by A Guy Called Gerald. With their latest effort, the FEQ establishes itself as one of the most original acts around, transcending the label ‘electronic’ through the incorporation of traditional acoustic instrumentation with pure downtempo and drum & bass influenced rhythms.

A truly multi-faceted album, ‘Becoming Transparent’ finds the FEQ venturing into more stylistically diverse territories, taking their signature dense basslines and cello orchestrations, that brought the ‘File Under Futurism’ album to life, to new levels. At times light and ethereal, at others deep and mysterious, ‘Becoming Transparent’ reveals previously unseen textures to its listener. ‘Transparent’ emerges as a delicate and airy commencement to the record leading into ‘Downtime is Becoming Less of an Option’, an irresistible groove spiraling into sensory overload. On ‘Exasperation’, synth-pop-like vocals join hyperactive beats and an atmospheric whorl of sound, while ‘Duplicity’, a study in aural ambiguity, leaves us in a state on wonderment and melancholy.

Witness the growth of the Freight Elevator Quartet, evidenced here by a follow-up that surpasses its predecessor in complexity and breadth of sound exploration. The FEQ’s careful separation of genres ultimately allows for a truly unique melding of them on this meticulously crafted album. A must for all attuned to radical convergence of styles.

DATACH’I – THIS IS MY EP (2000)

Powerful and playful, Datach’i merges contorted, asymmetrical rhythms with winsome melodies, stretching the boundaries of IDM/Drill & Bass to create a sound all his own. His stunning debut ‘10110101 (rec+play)’ was a collection of complex sonic arrangements piecing together frenetic beats, a wide range of tones, bizarre samples and sugarcoated melodies seamlessly. The album earned him a spot in Urb’s ‘Next 100’ list of artists to watch.

Datach’i’s ‘This Is My EP’, a precursor to the forthcoming ‘We Are Always Well Thank You’ full-length, finds him moving ever forward, sharing his endless imagination with the listeners, inviting them to join him. The opening track ‘We Are Always Well Thank You’ is a cheerful but mischievous jaunt leading into the fragmented ‘Animals Coming Home are Excited’. Remixing Datach’i for the EP are amongst the most exciting producers in music today. The acclaimed post-rock group Mogwai enters with a poetic remix of ‘Memorandum’, a continuous crescendo leading into Kid606’s frantic reworking of ‘Cold Shift’. Closing the 12″ is Rephlex recording artist Bogdan Raczynski, who does a soothing adaptation of ‘Leonard Park’ off Datach’i’s the debut album.

This EP blends the work of Datach’i with purveyors of the freshest electronic sound out of America and the production expertise of Mogwai, bridging the worlds of electronic music and post/indie rock, for an album that is both thematically strong and diverse.

Track listing:
a1. we are always well thankyou
a2. animals coming home are excited
b1. memorandum – mogwai remix
b2. cold shift (tigerbeat6 all stars mix) – kid606 remix
b3. leonard park (memories of you carried away by the spring breeze) – bogdan raczynski remix

SOUND TRACK – THE COOLER (2000)

Sound Track (a.k.a. Savvas Ysatis) began what has become a prolific recording career in 1993. In 1998, he was one-half the duo behind ‘Tower of Winds’, volume 1 of Caipirinha’s Architettura series, produced with Taylor Deupree. His most recent recording, ‘Highrise’, was released on the highly influential German techno label Tresor.

As his first full-length release under the Sound Track moniker, ‘The Cooler’ represents a crisp amalgamation of the worlds of techno and house, marrying Thomas Brinkmann-esque minimalism with warm house grooves for an album that is as at home on turntables as it is in a discman. Movement is built subtly. The opening title track features a regal house loop commingled with slight static pops and digital interference, soothing and conditioning the listener. By the fourth track ‘Sugarloaf’, a quintessential tech-house track, the album has migrated, focusing on more dance-oriented elements. The album exits with ‘Bel Air’. Deep bass forms a hollow space where organic sound impurities echo and reverberate through its closing.

‘The Cooler’ is a mesmerizing look at the Berlin-style of tech-house. It is a search for the perfect loop, a fixed state in and of itself, but not stagnant. Gentle and hypnotic, ‘The Cooler’ is a chilled-out lull, freezing time, slowing motion.

Track listing:
01. the cooler
02. avalanche
03. time out
04. sugarloaf
05. mule
06. frosty
07. go fish
08. bel air

CAIPIRISSIMA – BATUCADA ELETRONICA (2000)

The worldwide growth of the electronic music scene happened smoothly in most places – as a result of the effort of dedicated believers who often transformed their sonic experiments into original, yet commercial, ventures. In Brazil the electronic revolution happened guerrilla style – with producers and DJs smashing boundaries with their innovative concepts. The best of the collision of these different worlds is now featured in “Caipiríssima – Batucada Eletrônica”.

Several names emerged from the musical hurricane that swept Brazil in the mid-90s. From the urban beats of Ramilson Maia to the groundbreaking creations of Craotian-turned-Brazilian Suba, the electronic scene in the country has evolved to be a cultural movement never seen since Tropicália’s heyday in the late 60s. Contributions from names like João Parahyba (a percussionist behind the first experimental tracks using synthesizers in Brazil) and young producers Bid and Apollo 9 (responsible for some of the most innovative tracks of the past few years) appeared in this record side by side with internationally based musicians like DJ Soul Slinger, Arto Lindsay and Amon Tobin (all of them acclaimed in Europe and the U.S. for their daring production skills).

Tracks such as Anvil F/X’s “1000” and Mestre Ambrósio Underground’s “Pupila Dilatada” accurately represent a new language that has been developed by DJs and producers throughout the country – a trend that is at the same time groundbreaking and listener-friendly. Experimental meets classical , technology meets roots in the delicate sounds found in Cynthia Z’s “Zumbi” or DJ Dolores’ “Monica No Samba (She Loves Drums n’ Cavaco)”. Compiled by one of the true believers in Brazil’s new culture, producer/A&R Béco Dranoff (the man behind “Red Hot + Rio” and “The Best of Os Mutantes” – with David Byrne), “Caipiríssima – Batucada Eletrônica” elevates Brazilian music to a higher plateau. Together, the 13 tracks of the album form a daring, yet accessible body of work. These new Brazilian sounds blend the beauty of Bossa Nova, the innovative aspects of Tropicália’s psychedelic experiments and the organic grooves that fill global dance floors. These visionary artists are responsible for a musical invasion of epidemic proportions. And the best of this culture is here to become part of your world, forever.

GUTO BARRA
New York, February, 2000

Track listing:
01. joao parahyba: “central do brasil”
02. dj dolores: “monica no samba”
03. bid: “batuk de amor”
04. arto lindsay: “whirlwind”
05. amon tobin: “sub tropic”
06. suba x m.a.u: “pupila dilatada”
07. dj soulslinger: “master plan”
08. apollo 9: vai quem vem (nao fique ai)
09. anvil fx: “1000”
10. cyz: “zumbi”
11. i.n. project: “santa teresa”
12. ramilson maia: “bahia sou”
13. chelpa ferro: “miniatura chelpa”

PANACEA: BRASILIA – ARCHITETTURA VOLUME 4 – (2000)

volume 4 of the series, composed and performed by german tech-step artist panacea, was inspired by the preplanned city of brasilia. designed by renowned architect oscar niemeyer, brasilia is the capital city of modern-day brazil and known for its bizarrely futuristic look. unlike previous volumes, in which a single structure was examined, this piece takes an entire city into its scope. panacea leaves the listener with a void, echoing the desolation of this once buzzing metropolis.

Track listing:
1. suicidal – 1. (ongoing)
2. suicidal – 2.
3. no verve – 1. (ongoing)
4. pong/ping – 1. (ongoing)
5. pong/ping – 2.
6. assumptive
7. plain
8. we have never arrived
9. depopulate
10. embark
11. frustrated
12. no verve – 2.
13. void of safety
14. onerous (my slickness)
15. concrete
16. no tension
17. highly developed
18. languish – 1.(1,6 mio $ ongoing)
19. languish – 2. (individual)
20. fucked up mcknzm

ATAU – BIORHYTHMS (2000)

Atau Tanka has been an active player in the electronic music movement since the mid-80’s, bridging cultures of America, Europe and Asia into his music. Atau first gained notoriety in San Francisco as the preeminent performer on the BioMuse, a biosensor musical instrument. In Europe, he formed Sensorband with Edwin van der Hiede and Zbigniew Karkowski – a power trio of sensor virtuosi with releases on Sonoris, Touch, and Alien 8 Recordings. His work has stretched across the globe, opening for Can in San Francisco in 1998 and performing widely at such festivals as Sonar, Meltdown, DEAF, Musique Action, Victoriaville. In addition, Atau has collaborated with such luminaries as John Cage.

Biorhythms is Atau’s first solo release. It captures his view as an international traveler across the scene of electronic, experimental, and noise music in Japan, Europe, and North America. The musical horizons represented are wide and varied – from acid and downtempo to microsonics to noise. The unifying thread in the CD is Atau’s musicality and the Biorhythms concept – the loops and grooves are based on the polyrhythmic nature of our body’s biorhythm cycles. Atau is a pioneer in biosensor music – this music from the body is translated to CD for a musical journey that traverses international borders of culture of style.

Track listing:
1. heart:beat:monitor – pure heartbeats open this cd. The body processed by electronics
2. arteries:of:tokyo – out of the heart comes vessels rushing through the veins. In this rush of sound, we externalize from the body to the urban landscape
3. delull – the groove kicks in. New Orleans second line beat meets downtempo electronica
4. 28:23:33 – the frills are peeled away and the polyrhythms remain. The complex interaction of our body’s physical, emotional, mental cycles in pure blips
5. f:m:r – the acid house track. f-m-r = ephemeral, but the beat keeps on in this quintessential club track
6. surge – the big sound that japanese noise artists make in their tiny spaces. Here, analog modular synthesizers are contorted to the extreme, and are joined by pure data hacked into sound.
7. adagio – the beast meets beauty – a lush classical string adagio realized on hybrid analog/digital synthesizers. Infinite chords, seamless melodic loops build an orchestral richness
8. otaku – Otaku culture in Tokyo – grooving to mangas and cyberfood, hiding out and hacking. Keep the MD player headphones to keep that incessant beat as you float through the maze of Tokyo
9. alias:tothe:nexttime – -The remains of the day, shrill quiet beauty and digital artifact bid us a tempoary good bye until the next meeting

EARLY MODULATIONS: VINTAGE VOLTS (2000)

THE ROOTS AND WIRES OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC

Early Modulations, a collection of nine compositions covering a 30 year span from the late 1930’s to the late 1960’s, is an introspective look at some of the early pioneers of electronic music. The compilation aims to introduce early electronic music to an audience familiar only with the techno movement, while also attempting to introduce those already familiar with names like John Cage, Pierre Schaeffer and Iannis Xenakis to other influential pioneers like Vittorio Gelmetti and Luc Ferrari.

Early Modulations finds an equilibrium between historical reference and musicality. It is a stylistic collection that takes the listener from John Cage’s avant garde orchestrations of the 30’s to works by Ussachevsky and Luening, created at one of the premier centers for the exploration of electronic music, the Columbia and Princeton Electronic Music Department. The listener is then lead through musique concrète and the first traces of oscillating rhythms found in Morton Subotnick’s work.

Early Modulations is the second volume in the ‘Modulations’ cd series, inspired by the film ‘MODULATIONS – cinema for the ear’, which traces the history of electronic music. Volume 1 of the soundtrack looked at electronic dance music since disco and featured Donna Summer, Afrika Bambaataa, Derrick May, Goldie amongst others. In keeping with this multimedia exploration, this second album, Early Modulations, will be accompanied by an extensive cd booklet with photographs, detailed artist biographies and liner notes, written by The Wire’s Rob Young, providing an insightful commentary on the significance of each composition as well as explaining its role in furthering the realm of electronic music. We hope with this album to remove the artists from their permanent fixture of “Classical” composers and place them in the reach of today’s “electronic” lovers who have the desire to learn how this genre of music originated.

Track listing:
1. John Cage: Imaginary Landscape no.1
2. Pierre Schaeffer: Etude au chemin du fer
3. Xenakis: Concrete PH
4. Morton Subotnick: Silver Apples of the moon
5. Luc Ferrari: La tete et queue du dragon
6. Vittorio Gelmetti: Treni d’onda a modulazione d’intensita
7. Luening and Ussachevsky: Incantation
8. Ussachevsky: Piece for Tape Recorder
9. Max Mathews: Bicycle Built for Two

DATACH’I – 10110101 (1999)

Track listing:
1. Deconstructing Man
2. Leonard Park
3. Midnight Cowpoke
4. VCR Powered Carcass (X)
5. VCR Powered Carcass (2)
6. Turtle Head
7. Jafbox
8. Leonard Park (Blank)
9. XOR A+B (10110101) ≈ (You And Me) 13
10. Take Off Your Face
11. Piecing It Back Together
12. Fried Notes
13. Dizzy Fizz