Clot Magazine

Mixtape 58 The new mixtape instalment comes from Ale Hop(aka Alejandra Cardenas) and Laura Robles. Cárdenas is a Berlin-based artist, researcher, and experimental instrumentalist from Lima, Peru. Earlier this year, together with Laura Robles (a percussionist and bassist formed from a very young age in the rich Afro-Peruvian and Cuban musical traditions and who also grew up in Lima), they released one of the most exciting albums of the year so far, Agua dulce (Buh Records, 2023). This mix takes on and reflects on the artists' inspiration for and during the Agua Dulce album production. The album is titled after the most popular beach in Lima, agua dulce, near where both artists lived during their childhood, houses apart, without ever meeting one another. Years later, the pair met and joined forces, with Robles on a self-built electric cajón and Cárdenas on electric guitar and electronics. With this album, both artists explore rhythmical structures that form the backbone of the complex Afro-Peruvian music an