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Atropolis Announces New Album "Transitions" on Cumba Mela August 13th

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Adam Partridge, also known as Atropolis, his electronically global infused alter-ego, mixes his degree and knowledge in music composition and ethnomusicology throughout his own productions and DJ sets.

It makes sense that a lifelong New Yorker has created a sound that encompasses the best of a number of musical influences the city has to offer. Since the age of 8, Adam was introduced to the classical piano, progressing to hardcore metal music at 14, and then falling in love with jazz guitar at 16. Soon after, Adam was digging into sounds from West and North Africa, the Balkans, the Caribbean, and South America, while simultaneously beginning to study music composition. Adam grabbed his first scoring gig for Eurovision at the age of 22. Years later, he created a fresh amalgamation of nueva cumbia, dubstep, moombahton, Afro-Colombian house, kuduro, and other styles, catching the ears of studied future world music professionals, Dutty Artz label heads Jace “DJ/Rupture” Clayton and Matt Shadetek. This led to his debut self-titled album Atropolis, which made it to #2 on the KEXP World Music charts of April 2011.

As an accomplished arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, Atropolis became more drawn to DJ culture, as it compliments his growing tastes, allowing him to constantly incorporate new sounds in his productions and express his diverse and international tastes within his performances. Adam’s intentions in music are community, operating on a local scale and connecting sonically on a global level. Such are the intentions of Cumba Mela, founded as a DJ collective by Adam, Mike Tummolo (2melo), and Adam’s cousin Thor Partridge (Thornato) in 2010. Born among the Brooklyn underground warehouse scene, Cumba Mela lead the trio on a three-month tour throughout Colombia where they collaborated with a local artists such as Son Palenque, Sexteto Tabala, Los Alegres de Ambulancia and many others. Palenque Records Remixed (recently released on Dutty Artz with Geko Jones) is one of the fruits from this trip. Cumba Mela has also teamed up with Nickodemus, the father of infusing global influences with electronic elements. Together they throw the event, Bombeat, drawing large parties to a wide range of dancehalls, from clubs in Manhattan to raw warehouse spaces in Brooklyn. Cumba Mela’s most recent move of becoming a label is to further explore the various sounds from the world.

The first release on Cumba Mela’s label is Atropolis’ sophomore album Transitions, out on August 13, 2013. Transitions is aptly titled as it flows through Atropolis’ musical palette from one song to the next, keeping it moving for the dancefloor and rich in musicality for pure listening pleasure. In addition to Atropolis’ stellar standalone productions, his special guests include French-Canadian-Latin MC Boogat on the tropical-tinged track “Pomporaso.” Carol C’s graceful vocals float on “Which Way To Go.” Colombia’s Darwin Escorcia plays gaita on “Una Mezcla Costeña.” Colombian-Canadian vocalist/visual artist Lido Pimienta tears up “Reza Por Mi” with colorful lyrics and an equally colorful music video to be released soon. Rounding out the guests is cellist/composer Brent Arnold on “El Pacifico.”

In addition to his new release, Atropolis has releases with: Dutty Artz, Palenque Records (Colombia), Soundway (United Kingdom), Man Recordings (Germany), Kompakt (Germany), Nacional (US), and Sicario (Mexico).

Change is inevitable, and now that this world is more global than ever, Atropolis strives to provide a foundation for conscious music that maintains a dancing balance between global and local awareness.

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