CD Review: Raul Campos - Loteria Beats Mixtape

Artist: Raul Campos
Album: Loteria Beats Mixtape - Volume 1
Label: Nacional Records
Release Date: 10/23/07

Listen to "Olvidela Compa" by Nortec Collective:

Regular listeners of KCRW know who Raul Campos is: the resident alterna-latino DJ for the lat seven years. From listening to his radio shows, you know he's a true DJ, a mixologist, with excellent beat matching and seamless theme weaving. Loteria Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1 is like a pumped up control-board tape capturing Campos on a night when he is particularly smokin'. If you're familiar with latin electronica/funk/dance/lounge then you'll know a lot of these artists which include Nortec Collective (listen above), DJ Bitman (reviewed HERE), Papashanty, The Pinker Tones, and Thievery Corporation to name several.

I like mixtapes and samplers a lot as they are excellent vehicles of introduction to music and scenes that one isn't familiar with and this one's no exception. This mix provides a great view into latin-tinged and latin-originated sounds from bossanova-toned lounge music, to reggae, and hip hop. One of the more incongruous songs on the collection is David Byrne's "Like Humans Do". I know that David Byrne deserves a lot of props for popularizing latin music with Rei Momo and his Luaka Bop label but Byrne's easily recognized and reedy voice was kind of jarring and disruptive which was amusing because Campos elegantly mixed Byrne's music into the mix (just a shame that he couldn't do anything about Byrne himself).

This album is a great intro to the genre of music that Campos has been an ambassador of for many years so give it a try. As a KCRW alum he's also way local and deserving of support - if you listen to that station, it's a no-brainer to get this CD. I'm looking forward to Vol. 2 and beyond. As always, buy your music if you like it.