
Carlos Icaza, aka DJ Tropicaza
Anybody could roll down the list of bands that Mexico City’s Carlos Icaza is in, or credit him for his incredible work with the Vampi Soul people, but until you have met this brilliant, record collecting, drum-battering-anomaly in person, you have only read into a small semblance of what Icaza is all about. When I first met him, I had no idea who he was. He commented on a record I was playing at a bar and then a week later, my friends and I hadn’t missed a single gig he played in Chicago, including the loft party we all spun together the following Saturday. I have been addicted to this mix that he posted and it doesn’t even compare to his live sets. Who knew so many soul standards sounded twice as funky recorded in Mexico in the 60s.
Tagged: Carlos Icaza, Chicago, DJ Tropicaza, Dublab, Mexico City
RELATED

Celestial photographs inspired by dreams
Jaime Martinez was born in Monterrey, Mexico and is currently living in Mexico City. His work is influenced by his many fashionable friends and surroundings. Jaime’s photographs have been featured in many magazines including Fifi, Subterra, and Rolling Stone Germany. [via Feature Shoot] Read more

Mexican artist Pedro Friedeberg
When I was in Mexico City in December I had the great pleasure of hanging with Mexican legendary artist Pedro Friedeberg. What? Never heard of him? I hadn’t either, until my first trip to Mexico City where I was introduced to his work at his retrospective at the National Museum. It was love at first sight. Check it, because this guy’s work is still, so current. Read more
Audiotree: unearthing the best new Chicago bands
Audiotree is one of my favorite companies to discover new music. Based out of Chicago, the company wears many belts, including live sessions, band interviews, sponsorships and artist management. Since the recent inception of the company, they have interviewed and recorded a hundred great bands and counting, both local to Chicago and touring acts. Read more
Also by DAVE MATA

Violet Hour Mural by Tyrue ‘Slang’ Jones
Graff legend Slang used to be a neighbor of mine. His sharp-witted personality is mirrored in his latest commision for Wicker Park’s upscale cocktail hole in the wall, The Violet Hour. Read more
Twisted, offensive, hilarious. I can’t quite put my finger on where all these people must be coming from. It seems that the strongest thread between all of these hilarious shorts is an incredibly dark sense of humor. Read more

Meaty Ogre versus Crushcon7: Sword
Second in the series of hip hop instrumentals with a different producer on each side of the LP comes Sword for Fieldwerk Recordings. Something about hypnotic rhythms paired with spacey synth samples and R&B] vocals just adds up to a cold-ass winter for me. Meaty Ogre takes side A, showing off his craft for sampling, timing, and bringing a hook home without wearing it out. The flip follows the dark theme, with more sweeping beats aimed at the ‘banging head’ by producer and label owner Crushcon7. This record beats as hard as an ice cold pavement.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Brooklyn-based photographer Elizabeth Weinberg takes some great, sun-tickled and naturally lit photos, including one of my good friend Todd Goldstein of the band Arms. Read more
I’ve been expecting one of these dudes to show up on my porch at some point. I just wanna know if they’re alive or not.
The Australian film collective behind the sci-fi spoof, The Time That Time Forgot, perfectly capture the look and feel of awkward, low-budget rip-offs from the ’70s — the psychedelic lighting, bad dubbing, and amazing hair. One almost wishes Italian Spiderman was for real. [more about Italian Spiderman]
French design dynamo Jean-Marie Massaud has created a Manned Cloud. A cruise airship with a hotel for 40 passengers and 15 staff, Massaud worked with the Office National d’Etudes et de Recherche Aérospatiale in this proposal. Read more
I don’t intend on tempting any grape cravings which some borderline AAs may be experiencing, but everyone deserves some red after a long day. Drop of the Day is an easy way to receive fantastic quality wine at an extremely competitive price. Sure there are places online that offer cheaper alternatives, but Drop of the Day offers quality wine that pleases your wallet and your taste buds, too. Better yet, there is a new drop available to choose from each day for around AU$9 per bottle. Hmmm, I recommend you go for the blends.
At a gig last year Foals were forced to abandon their last song halfway through because the stage was stormed by too many crazed fans. The reason behind the hype they’re creating, both on stage and in the normally merciless media, isn’t immediately clear upon first listen: the sound is less than friendly on the ears, and they don’t employ the same catchy hooks and melodic chorus patterns that shoot your average band to fame in their early years. Read more
AJ Dimarucot is a Manila-based designer specializing in t-shirt graphics. His work is electric, bursting with colour and momentum, like something you’d see in the Big Bang section at the Museum of Natural History. Or something like that. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST

Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more

It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more

Francoise Nielly’s Yellow series
Parisian visual artist Francoise Nielly brings technicolour to the forefront in her latest series, Yellow. Featuring thick impasto palette knife strokes and trippy neon hues, Nielly captures the vulnerable expressions of her muses to a tee. Read more

Christoph Niemann illustrates a nightmare flight
New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann has created a brilliant visual diary outlining the peril and pitfalls that beset the everyday passenger based on his recent experience flying from New York to his home town of Berlin. Read more

Communication prosthesis by Sascha Nordmeyer
This ‘communication prosthesis’ by designer Sascha Nordmeyer is hilarious and awesome. I want to wear one to a job interview.
Junior Massive is a newly launched Australian boutique t shirt label making limited edition tees using only Australia cotton. It’s street meets indie; design meets durability; edgy fashion meets edgy fashion. We have them for sale in the Lost At E Minor online store. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.



