Drinking & Nightlife - Buenos Aires - page 64

Electronica in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires might be known for its tango, but there is something else to keep you dan-
cing until dawn in this late-night city that generally looks to Europe for its trends. Since
1990 the electronic-music scene of BA has grown to become a major force in the music
world. Touting some of the world's best venues and biggest crowds, Buenos Aires is listed
by many DJs as a favorite place to play.
One of the most internationally acclaimed homegrown DJs is Hernán Cattaneo, who
began his professional career in the early '90s playing commercial clubs of the time, such
as El Cielo and Cinema. Several years later he secured a residency for the Clubland night
at Pachá, where legend has it he was discovered and whisked off to international stardom
by UK legend Paul Oakenfold. The success of Cattaneo and Pachá marked the beginning
of a new era, when electronica emerged into mainstream pop culture.
Nowadays, when the weather warms up in spring, enormous events with up to 50,000
people take place, such as Creamfields ( www.creamfieldsba.com ) and the South American Music
Conference , while newer, smaller-scale festivals like Festival Ciudad Emergente
( www.ciudademergente.gob.ar ) pack venues with thousands of young people and feature elec-
tronica performances. In addition to these annual events, the club and underground scene
is alive and well, although somewhat less kicking (and with good reason) due to stricter
rules since the 2004 Cromagnon club tragedy in which almost 200 people lost their lives
in a fire.
House music (referred to as ' punchi, punchi' because of the relentless kick drum) is no
longer the only option. You'll find a variety of sounds thanks to early diversification with-
in Argentina's veteran underground DJ collective, DJ UNION, composed of Carla Tintore
( www.carlatintore.com ) , Dr Trincado ( www.drtrincado.com ) and Diego Ro-k. Notoriously wild
parties such as the Age of Communication and Ave Porco helped pave the way to a di-
verse underground tradition, which you can experience at clubs like Cocoliche ( Click
here ) .
The original DJ collectives and electronica parties have paved the way for another gen-
eration of musical stylings: whether it's progressive house, breakbeat, techno, IDM, deep
house, drum and bass or even experimental cumbia (Colombian music), Buenos Aires has
it. Some of the DJs who experiment with styles are DJ Joven ( http://djoven.blogspot.com )
and Djs Pareja ( www.djspareja.com.ar ) , the famous electronica twosome who spin a fu-
sion of retro acid house techno and pop at clubs and parties around town; DJ Daleduro
and his partner DJ Gone, who form the duo Groovedealers and do two-step garage and