retroVISOR

Amazonas S.O.S

Inspiration for the hips, the tongue and the heart.

The debut of the Colombian trio (Camilo Giraldo , guitar, sequences and keyboards; Carmen Gil, visuals, fx, voices; Luis Alfonso Cruz bass and sequences) in “La Mecánica”, tribute to Fabio Arroyave’s composition, is an impossible to ignore dance.
The next seven tracks won’t let you sit back, either you’ll be dancing to the rhythms of the Colombian coasts or possessed by the electronic frequencies invading the 53 minutes of the record.
Fragments of speeches from the popular leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán are present and mixed with beats and gaitas (Colombian flutes), elevate the revolutions in this song.
The sound of Amazonas S.O.S, goes from the intimate connection with nature, (birds are present in the song that entitles the album) to the electronic funky style of Despedida.
retroVISOR shows with a very impressive dynamism, it’s capacity to introduce an mix different rhythms and tempos without interfering the concentration in the most glorious song of the record: Retro Sexxxy. Now, if you’re looking for profound or happy lyrics, this work shows that a couple of verses in one or two songs is all you need to season this exquisite musical buffet.
Amazonas S.O.S is not standing just on plain experimentation, behind you’ll find what the band describes in the album’s liner notes as “social and environmental consciousness, a reflection on the role of technology in our contemporary life and a contrast between the old and the new” as their inspiring themes. A honest statement that “contrasts” with Gil’s sexy voice in MoMo episode VI.

Miguel Santacoloma for Rolling Stone Latin America
April 2007
- Rolling Stone Latin America_Miguel Santacoloma_April 2007

RetroVisor mixt rock, electronische ritmes, Latijnse beats en elementen uit de traditionele Colombi-aanse muziek tot krachtige Electronic Dance. Hoewel je meestal gewend bent in dit genre een DJ on stage aan te treffen met een ruime platencollectie en de nodige samples wordt je bij RetroVisor getrakteerd op een live spektakel waarbij Camilo, Luis en Carmen de nodige samples combineren met live gitaar, bas, keyboards en vocals.

Tevens wordt met beamers een complete visuele show gepresenteerd om de atmosfeer te completeren zodat je de muziek van RetroVisor zowel in geluid en beeld zal kunnen ervaren.

RetroVisor wordt in hun muziek geïnspireerd door sociale bewustwording, een reflectie van de rol van technologie in ons leven en het contrast tussen vroeger en nu en maakt dit dan ook tot thema van hun werken.

In Februari 2007 lanceerde RetroVisor hun eerste full lengt CD getiteld Amazonas S.O.S.

Meer over RetroVisor kun je hier lezen en beluisteren. - The MusicReps (Netherlands)

RetroVisor mixt rock, electronische ritmes, Latijnse beats en elementen uit de traditionele Colombi-aanse muziek tot krachtige Electronic Dance. Hoewel je meestal gewend bent in dit genre een DJ on stage aan te treffen met een ruime platencollectie en de nodige samples wordt je bij RetroVisor getrakteerd op een live spektakel waarbij Camilo, Luis en Carmen de nodige samples combineren met live gitaar, bas, keyboards en vocals.

Tevens wordt met beamers een complete visuele show gepresenteerd om de atmosfeer te completeren zodat je de muziek van RetroVisor zowel in geluid en beeld zal kunnen ervaren.

RetroVisor wordt in hun muziek geïnspireerd door sociale bewustwording, een reflectie van de rol van technologie in ons leven en het contrast tussen vroeger en nu en maakt dit dan ook tot thema van hun werken.

In Februari 2007 lanceerde RetroVisor hun eerste full lengt CD getiteld Amazonas S.O.S.

Meer over RetroVisor kun je hier lezen en beluisteren. - The MusicReps (Netherlands)

With retroVISOR it is clearly stated that music can also be seen.
Interested in a multimedia language, this band from Bogotá presents a new album that tells the story of a country beaten by violence, a country that's facing a changing world of new technology, a piece of our land filled with sounds.
The band formerly known as Visor, has been together for three years.
Renewed and with a fresh style that travels trough electronic sound streams, fused with Latin sounds, these musicians created in their laboratory of experiments an album with 8 tracks crossed by a constant beat that remembers the sound of the brits Propellerheads. Add to this some gaitas, drums and voices that appear and disappear.
You should have this record at home because it embodies a contemporary party style, that relies on the roots of Colombian music, processed, sampled and sequenced, then mixed with keyboards, rhythm machines and instruments.
Bring out the black dancer in you and enjoy the rhythm of the porro with “La Mecanica”, listen to the voice of the liberal leader in the incredible “Gaita.n” or glide though an acid Jazz with “Despedida”.

Luisa Piñeros for Cartel Urbano - Cartel Urbano_Bogotá, Colombia_April 2007

With retroVISOR it is clearly stated that music can also be seen.
Interested in a multimedia language, this band from Bogotá presents a new album that tells the story of a country beaten by violence, a country that's facing a changing world of new technology, a piece of our land filled with sounds.
The band formerly known as Visor, has been together for three years.
Renewed and with a fresh style that travels trough electronic sound streams, fused with Latin sounds, these musicians created in their laboratory of experiments an album with 8 tracks crossed by a constant beat that remembers the sound of the brits Propellerheads. Add to this some gaitas, drums and voices that appear and disappear.
You should have this record at home because it embodies a contemporary party style, that relies on the roots of Colombian music, processed, sampled and sequenced, then mixed with keyboards, rhythm machines and instruments.
Bring out the black dancer in you and enjoy the rhythm of the porro with “La Mecanica”, listen to the voice of the liberal leader in the incredible “Gaita.n” or glide though an acid Jazz with “Despedida”.

Luisa Piñeros for Cartel Urbano - Cartel Urbano_Bogotá, Colombia_April 2007

Like many times before, the electro stage, accomplished its role in Rock al Parque: to give new opportunities to a genre that is becoming more important in our country.
retroVISOR the local band, (alternated with bands like Nortec and Miranda), their Visual art was astonishing, giving the public the chance to appreciate the kind of visuals that have been present in electronica for some time now.
- colombia.com

Like many times before, the electro stage, accomplished its role in Rock al Parque: to give new opportunities to a genre that is becoming more important in our country.
retroVISOR the local band, (alternated with bands like Nortec and Miranda), their Visual art was astonishing, giving the public the chance to appreciate the kind of visuals that have been present in electronica for some time now.
- colombia.com

http://www.elniuton.com/colombia/view_niuton.php?ed=05&pag=143 - El Niuton Magazine

http://www.elniuton.com/colombia/view_niuton.php?ed=05&pag=143 - El Niuton Magazine

http://www.cambio.com.co/culturacambio/798/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_CAMBIO-4598847.html

Carmen Gil Vrolijk es una artista plástica bogotana, de madre arubense y padre colombiano, que hace parte de las primeras generaciones de artistas multimedia que se establecieron en el país.

Entre sus diversos proyectos está Retrovisor, una mezcla de música y tecnología que ha llegado hasta Europa, una de esas líderes que atraviesa fronteras.

- Cambio Magazine

http://www.cambio.com.co/culturacambio/798/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_CAMBIO-4598847.html

Carmen Gil Vrolijk es una artista plástica bogotana, de madre arubense y padre colombiano, que hace parte de las primeras generaciones de artistas multimedia que se establecieron en el país.

Entre sus diversos proyectos está Retrovisor, una mezcla de música y tecnología que ha llegado hasta Europa, una de esas líderes que atraviesa fronteras.

- Cambio Magazine

Experimentation, fusion, organic and mechanical sounds; a bit of everything but without excess. retroVISOR's proposal is for the senses... graphic, musical and artistic. Absorbs all it can from their environment: electronic music and Colombian roots and mixes it in a very clear social intention Amazonas S.O.S!

Machines roaring like fiery animals, sparkling beats and electronic crunches looking for the eager ears and bodies on the dance floor. However the machines become alive when they're combined with the 4 elements: earth, fire, air and water, theses elements turn on their sound making in digestible, to listen more than to dance.
A mix between analog and digital, looking back but not stopping: retroVISOR.
Sounds created by three, in 8 tracks of a first record and in conceptual visuals projected beat by beat to the rhythm of the music.
After experimenting under the sign of a very artistic proposal and the name Visor; Carmen, Pocho and Camilo decided that their project should take a new path. Thus they began shaping the new sound towards the local, “thinking of our roots, images and sounds. Getting together our experience in different fields (musical, visual, academic), that's the way we formed this project”.
A colourful project with atmospheres for your senses to take pleasure made also for reflection: Amazonas S.O.S
Thus, their songs embark on shamanic and ancestral paths inspired by a trip to the Amazon jungle, where their romantic vision of a green and living land suddenly transformed. Their discourse then tries to give voice to those who have fought, and give memory to the faces of people who fight today anonymously, including the assassinated leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán with his clever speeches; everything is resumed in their cover art, where the concepts of “retro” and “visor” are clearly stated.
“You can see in our music that we’re looking for some kind of equilibrium. We use technology, but we also use our hands to create when we play live, we want to be very organic”.
In other words their music “invites to listen, but also to see the “mise en scene” because we integrate the visuals as another instrument”.
Atmospheres’ strolling between traditional and new sounds, through green and yellow landscapes, though the metal of the consoles and the crystal on the water.

Sofía Sanchez for Shock magazine. - Shock magazine_Colombia_May 2007

Experimentation, fusion, organic and mechanical sounds; a bit of everything but without excess. retroVISOR's proposal is for the senses... graphic, musical and artistic. Absorbs all it can from their environment: electronic music and Colombian roots and mixes it in a very clear social intention Amazonas S.O.S!

Machines roaring like fiery animals, sparkling beats and electronic crunches looking for the eager ears and bodies on the dance floor. However the machines become alive when they're combined with the 4 elements: earth, fire, air and water, theses elements turn on their sound making in digestible, to listen more than to dance.
A mix between analog and digital, looking back but not stopping: retroVISOR.
Sounds created by three, in 8 tracks of a first record and in conceptual visuals projected beat by beat to the rhythm of the music.
After experimenting under the sign of a very artistic proposal and the name Visor; Carmen, Pocho and Camilo decided that their project should take a new path. Thus they began shaping the new sound towards the local, “thinking of our roots, images and sounds. Getting together our experience in different fields (musical, visual, academic), that's the way we formed this project”.
A colourful project with atmospheres for your senses to take pleasure made also for reflection: Amazonas S.O.S
Thus, their songs embark on shamanic and ancestral paths inspired by a trip to the Amazon jungle, where their romantic vision of a green and living land suddenly transformed. Their discourse then tries to give voice to those who have fought, and give memory to the faces of people who fight today anonymously, including the assassinated leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán with his clever speeches; everything is resumed in their cover art, where the concepts of “retro” and “visor” are clearly stated.
“You can see in our music that we’re looking for some kind of equilibrium. We use technology, but we also use our hands to create when we play live, we want to be very organic”.
In other words their music “invites to listen, but also to see the “mise en scene” because we integrate the visuals as another instrument”.
Atmospheres’ strolling between traditional and new sounds, through green and yellow landscapes, though the metal of the consoles and the crystal on the water.

Sofía Sanchez for Shock magazine. - Shock magazine_Colombia_May 2007

The Colombian trio retroVISOR makes and intelligent fusion between electronic music, traditional sounds and social messages.

Their song “Despedida” is a mixture among funk and electronic, but the concept goes way beyond.
Between their party beats and the sensual bass guitar, suddenly break fragments of Che Guevara’s legendary phrase. “Hasta la victoria siempre”. A couple of measures later, the song intermingles fragments of United States’ president Bush on the war in Iraq with guitars and samples, and it is through this track that one can begin defining the concept of this musical, visual and social project. Each one of their chords and sonic interventions is accompanied by that contrast between a reflection on politics and the reality of third world countries.
retroVISOR was born in Bogotá in 2004 and today it’s integrated by Camilo Giraldo Angel (guitar, sequences, keyboards, voice and production), Carmen Gil Vrolijk (visuals, fx, voice) and Luis Alfonso Cruz, (bass guitar, bass sequences and voice), artists with academic studies in classical music, jazz, world music and visual arts.
Their first work’s “Amazonas S.O.S” album cover is also a precise summary of the social ideas that are the foundations of the band. In it we see two indigenous children with headphones and mixers.
Not only do retroVISOR polishes local musical elements such as the “porro” (typical Colombian rhythm), but they also reflect on the role of technology in our lives.
When playing live they tend to go beyond the usual musical show, expressing the sound through visuals, and as a part of this technique they paint their bodies with glow in the dark paint, as a result they shape the beats coming out of the speakers.
The song Gaita.n –develops on a nice and steady rhythm with sporadic guitar riffs, gaitas, and keyboards- and includes famous phrases of the assassinated political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.
This month retroVISOR will be officially presenting their work in Colombia and then they’ll be touring The Netherlands.
Their solid musical base and their intelligent messages make them one of the driving forces of a new scene where bands such as Cielo Mama, Cabuya and Asdrubal –among others, move today, mixing elements from the future and paying a great tribute to the past.

Astrid Harders for Gatopardo. - Gatopardo magazine_Latin America and USA_may 2007

The Colombian trio retroVISOR makes and intelligent fusion between electronic music, traditional sounds and social messages.

Their song “Despedida” is a mixture among funk and electronic, but the concept goes way beyond.
Between their party beats and the sensual bass guitar, suddenly break fragments of Che Guevara’s legendary phrase. “Hasta la victoria siempre”. A couple of measures later, the song intermingles fragments of United States’ president Bush on the war in Iraq with guitars and samples, and it is through this track that one can begin defining the concept of this musical, visual and social project. Each one of their chords and sonic interventions is accompanied by that contrast between a reflection on politics and the reality of third world countries.
retroVISOR was born in Bogotá in 2004 and today it’s integrated by Camilo Giraldo Angel (guitar, sequences, keyboards, voice and production), Carmen Gil Vrolijk (visuals, fx, voice) and Luis Alfonso Cruz, (bass guitar, bass sequences and voice), artists with academic studies in classical music, jazz, world music and visual arts.
Their first work’s “Amazonas S.O.S” album cover is also a precise summary of the social ideas that are the foundations of the band. In it we see two indigenous children with headphones and mixers.
Not only do retroVISOR polishes local musical elements such as the “porro” (typical Colombian rhythm), but they also reflect on the role of technology in our lives.
When playing live they tend to go beyond the usual musical show, expressing the sound through visuals, and as a part of this technique they paint their bodies with glow in the dark paint, as a result they shape the beats coming out of the speakers.
The song Gaita.n –develops on a nice and steady rhythm with sporadic guitar riffs, gaitas, and keyboards- and includes famous phrases of the assassinated political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.
This month retroVISOR will be officially presenting their work in Colombia and then they’ll be touring The Netherlands.
Their solid musical base and their intelligent messages make them one of the driving forces of a new scene where bands such as Cielo Mama, Cabuya and Asdrubal –among others, move today, mixing elements from the future and paying a great tribute to the past.

Astrid Harders for Gatopardo. - Gatopardo magazine_Latin America and USA_may 2007