Como Asesinar a Felipes

Como Asesinar a Felipes are among the best and brightest from the current musical explosion taking place in Chile, firmly established as one of the country’s most popular emerging acts. ”Comenzara de Nuevo” marks their US debut. Describing their sound as “fusion between hiphop and jazz” might sound cliche, until one appreciates how their unique approach to the moodier, and darker aspects of these genres (think Coltrane, Company Flow, McCoy Tyner, Immortal Technique, Bill Evans)…painted on a psychic canvass in saturated techicolor, against a backdrop of post-Pinochet Chile.

CAF was formed in Santiago in 2006, as a group of three music students with one major influence in common: Hip Hop (esp. Roots, Pharcyde,Cypress Hill). Through the underground music scene they came into contact with experimental MC Koala Contreras and his DJ Sp@cio, and it was from this synthesis that CAF would develop it’s signature sound.

Their initial offering was their self titled album (2008), which was their first attempt, “to mix the jazz of the 60s, the rock of the 70s and the rap from the 90s”. In 2009, they released “Un Disparo al Centro” (2009), adding a live symphony orchestra to the beats and raps, creating cinematic arrangements inspired by impressionism. “Colores y Cadavers” came next in 2011, reverting to the original quintet and featuring three diverse musicians, each one an influence of CAF: A Chilean punk legend in one track (Alvaro España from Fiskales Ad-Hok), a well known jazz guitarist (Raimundo Santander) and the most respected MC in Chile (Epicentro). This period also marked a collaboration with Grammy award nominee Ana Tijoux, on her album “1977”.

In their latest, “COMENZARA DE NUEVO” CAF continues where the others left off, with the subtle addition of South American folk rhythms, and some sinister synths that surprisingly bring to mind early Krautrock. This is not the hiphop of programmed beats on a grid, songs are structured as premeditated compositions. In contrast to riffs simply cut,pasted and played back on a sequencer, Como Asesinar a Felipes is a living, breathing five member unit. They don’t do bling, and they don’t do acid jazz, what they do is drag their influences back into the street, where they were born, and where they belong; all the while remaining characteristically Latin. It’s as forward thinking and progressive as anything coming out…from anywhere.