TDR Mix OF The Week: Quantic [Tropical Dub]
Will Holland (aka Quantic) is one the most prolific and innovative working producers today. What started back in 2000 with a little known 7-inch has turned into a long and varied career where he has bridged the gap between raw, funk-inspired drums, Latin-driven rhythms, African percussion and his unique brand of musicianship. Quantic has released many albums in various guises and has DJ’d and performed worldwide with musicians of the highest caliber.
Quantic’s sensibilities has paralleled a lot of the aesthetic interests of many of the left field dance producers of the last decade. When he first came onto the scene he turned heads in hip-hop and alternative dance music by releasing two albums of thick, funk-driven breaks coupled with hazy atmospheric psychedelia that featured the emerging talent Alice Russell. Whereas there were other producers working in this mold during that time, there was something different about Quantic’s approach, a distinct template that hinted at something more dynamic in the works.
In 2003 Quantic released “ The Quantic Soul Orchestra” an LP that showed an incredible amount of growth, pushing the boundaries of Latin, Soul, Funk, and Brazilian with Will Holland’s multi-instrumentalism on display. Since then he has released another album under the same moniker with a more tropical dub approach that garnered critical acclaim for its expanded horizons. He has since released many 7 inches, underground mixes and full albums. His upcoming album is entitled “Tradition in Transition”, with his band “Quantic and his Combo Barbaro”, a record that features the famed drummer and record collector Malcolm Catto and the legendary orchestral composer Arthur Verocai. It is an album that treads new ground for Quantic, fusing Caribbean, Latin and African influences with an explorative and rhythmically deep approach to traditional folkloric and experimental sounds.
In 2007 Quantic moved to Cali, Columbia where he has been digging for lost unknown treasures of cumbia, salsa and latin funk. This mix is full of tracks that you will never be able hear anywhere else, it is the work painstaking networking and digging on the front lines of the Colombian ghettoes (no Ebay) and what came together is nothing short of breathtaking. It is a mind-melting amalgam of cumbia funk, African inspired salsa, and Colombian vocal tracks that put you front in center of Latin American musical history.
[Quantic Mix Courtesy of RBMA Radio]
