Description
The Spam Allstars are a cosmic Afro-Cuban band based in Miami who are a popular live act with their blend of Latin, funk, dub, hiphop, soul, electro and improvisation. Their sixth album Trans-Oceanic, is out now on vinyl by Peace & Rhythm (CD on the group’s own Spamusica imprint).
Trans-Oceanic, the long-anticipated, brand new record from Miami’s Spam Allstars, is chock-full of tropical electro space-funk spiced with a heady dose of Cuban flavors. Instant trans-oceanic beach party! Download card with the extra bonus track “Agua de Poço” included.
The six-piece Spam Allstars have been at the forefront of Miami’s culturally blended, highly creative musical scene for twenty years. Formed by the multi-talented Andrew Yeomanson aka DJ Le Spam to create electronic descargas (Latin jam sessions), the band’s unique sound was incubated in a live setting while in residence in the Cuban-themed nightclub Hoy Como Ayer on Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana (their weekly night is still going strong after 15 years). Le Spam and his all-stars took their inspiration from the fabled improvisational Cuban jam sessions of the 1950s and ‘60s, deftly mixing them with funk, dub, electro, rock and hip-hop elements that reflect the city’s multi-cultural makeup. Through the course of six albums, international touring, and interesting collaborations with the likes of Phish side project Vida Blue, New World Symphony, and Rumberos de la 8, this cosmically jamming dance ensemble seamlessly combines various traditions and enlightens in ways you won’t find anywhere else. Their new long-player, Trans-Oceanic, offers up a tasty batida (tropical fruit shake) of funk, rumba, charanga, electro beats, fat bass and bouncy brass that leads to relentless grooving throughout the proceedings.
Spam Allstars have their own studio in Miami, the well-respected City of Progress, where the inspiration freely flows through like a fresh sea breeze, both for the band and for many other musicians and producers looking to work with capable studio head Andrew Yeomanson, who is a producer, engineer, and audio archivist as well as a beat-maker, guitarist, and turntablist. It makes perfect sense that Yeomanson and his cohorts work in Miami because the population demographic – and hence the music – is so culturally rich there (both today and historically speaking). The deep voodoo rhythms of Afro-Cuban and Haitian culture, the 808 blasts of Miami’s own ‘booty bass’ music, the wealth of local soul, funk, R&B & disco, as well as Caribbean soca, Latin freestyle, Dominican merengue, Colombian cumbia, rap, reggae, house, country, art rock, even noise…you name it, Miami’s got it. The city has a rich past of Cuban musicians and singers that forged uniquely hybrid sound back in the 70s and 80s that built up until it spilled over into the international success of Miami Sound Machine, Gloria Estefan, and Willy Chirino; indeed, today the Latin music industry calls Miami home. And of course all those visiting pop stars that had classic albums built at storied spots like Criteria Studios surely soaked up these varied sounds and cultures as well, while stumbling through the city’s streets in search of a feeling, a feeling Yeomanson channels quite deftly; in fact, he’s worked with some of the city’s old-school producers and engineers to preserve their recorded legacies. The general vibe of the city is an interesting combo of relaxed beach culture and urban chic, of vacationers and retirees, artists and business people, immigrant strivers and refugees seeking a better life, ultra-rich and quite poor, all co-existing (sometimes not so harmoniously), thus bringing all the ingredients needed to make what DJ Le Spam playfully calls ‘Spamusica.’
Industry and press pull quotes:
“Perhaps one of the city’s most influential and long-lasting sounds, Spam Allstars is finally bringing some new beats to our booties…[Trans-Oceanic is] …every bit as awesome as they already are.” – Prism, Creators of Culture
“The latest batch of arrangements is collected on Trans-Oceanic, the Spam Allstars’ sixth album. The band’s hypnotic grooves are still firmly in effect, but so is a concrete sense of song structure. This is despite an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach: Fuzzed-out guitar riffs sidle up to conga rhythms and voice samples from the National Weather Service.” – Ocean Drive
“…Spam Allstars are the creator of the contemporary Miami sound….” – Miami Herald
“…an authentic Miami sound is being forged by DJ Le Spam and the All Stars.”
– Rolling Stone
“Often credited as pioneering the new Miami-fusion sound… the Spam Allstars combine live and improvised electronic music and turntables in a vigorous rhythmic celebration that defies categorization.” – Boston Globe
“A good old Latin jam, a ‘descarga’, with the same spirit of Cuba where descarga originated.” – BBC
