Description
Nicola Cruzは、自身のルーツであるエクアドルの伝統と最先端のビートを交差させ、世界中のリスナーを魅了してきたプロデューサーだ。本作『HYBRIDISM』では、その探究心がさらに深化している。70年代のフランス産エキゾチカを彷彿とさせる「Aima」は、ナイジェリアのイボ族の歌声をサンプリングし、まるで長い年月を経て発掘された失われた名盤のような質感を醸し出している。
マサイ族の子供の名を冠した「Naeku」では、ケチュア語の「Llaquilla（悲しいけれど幸せ）」という死生観を投影。303のベースラインが、魂を揺さぶるような力強いエネルギーを楽曲に与えている。また、Nasiriによるウードの演奏をフィーチャーした「Third Eye Dub」では、ペルシャの伝統的な旋律を取り入れ、深いモジュラー・シンセのグルーヴと共に潜在意識の奥深くへと潜り込むような感覚を提示している。
FMシンセサイザーの音色で南国の情景を描いた「Drom Tradisie」や、チベットの『死者の書』に着想を得たヴォーカル・コラージュが光る「Kawe’s Dream」など、全5曲が異なる文化の断片を繋ぎ合わせており、砂のように指の間をすり抜ける儚くも美しい音の旅路が広がる。限定カラーのグリーン盤が、その神秘的な世界観を視覚的にも鮮やかに彩っている。
A1. Aima
A2. Naeku
A3. Drom Tradisie
B1. Third Eye Dub
B2. Kawe's Dream
Limited edition green vinyl.
Originally released following his acclaimed sophomore album, HYBRIDISM finds Ecuadorian producer Nicola Cruz at the height of his exploratory powers. Now reissued on limited editon green vinyl, this expansive EP re-emerges with renewed relevance—blending North African rhythms, ethereal Persian motifs, and vocal fragments that evoke both ancient traditions and imagined worlds. A contemporary take on global exotica, HYBRIDISM is a vital entry in Cruz’s ever-evolving sonic journey.
'Aima’, named after the refrain sung by Igbo girls from Nigeria, creates the illusion that you’ve dusted off a lost LP. The aesthetic details recall expertly produced French exotica from the 70s, an overall feeling of warmth and character rarely pulled off with such panache.
‘Naeku,' in Cruz’s words, is "a sorrowful song in minor tonalities, but with a warrior energy, strength and forward vision: a soul departs, but a new one arrives in the name of Naeku, a maasai child. Not all grief needs to be a suffering; a feeling which I can relate to the place I come from with a Quechua word: Llaquilla - triste, pero feliz (sad, but happy). As always, the 303 adds that heart touching feeling.” If there’s a template for Multi Culti’s ethos, Cruz has synthesized the formula: Masai lamentation filtered through Quechua wisdom with a touch of 303 for the soul.
'Drom Tradisie' is a nostalgic vignette that captures the fantasy of a scenic horizon on a lost beach, a portrait done with the FM domain of synths that somehow associates with tropical imagery.
'Third Eye Dub’ takes things deeper, exploring the fractal realm of concentration, a point where the Oud (played by Nasiri) acts on the pineal gland. This inward journey through the cavernous depths of the subconscious sails on a smooth modular groove that transports the listener across this psychic expanse, a filigree of Persian harmonies (in Shur, to be exact) tracing outlines in the dark.
Finally, 'Kawe’s Dream’ ventures even further into the imaginary spaces of the mind. It is an aural reconstruction of the Tibetan Bardo Thodol, or ‘Book of the Dead’, a sacred text that guides the spirit through the passage out of the body. In Nicola’s words "To paint that depth, I had these Tibetan chants in mind, that I ended up crafting with Ableton's vocoder over a piece of Ayan’s vocals (sung in a made-up language). A few notes, and it gave the gravity I was looking for in the song.” Stuff that only a producer as capable as Cruz could pull off.
Hybridism’s five tracks are sonically diverse, yet all possess an ephemeral quality, a pastoral, transitory feeling that travels through the music - we listen to the sounds pass us by, we might even catch a hook or two, but the feeling is of sand running through our hands, deep, elusive, beautiful.
