{{Short description|Colombian experimental band}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Meridian Brothers | image = Meridian bro.jpg | caption = | landscape = yes | background = group_or_band | origin = Bogotá, Colombia | genre = | years_active = 1998–present | label = La Distritofónica, Discrepant, Soundway, Bongo Joe, Ansonia | associated_acts = Frente Cumbiero, Los Pirañas, Ensamble Polifónico Vallenato | website = {{URL|https://www.meridianbrothers.com/}} | current_members = *Eblis Álvarez *María Valencia *Mauricio Ramírez *Alejandro Forero *César Quevedo | past_members = Damián Ponce }} '''Meridian Brothers''' is an experimental band led by classically trained Colombian musician Eblis Álvarez,{{r|donde}} who founded it as a solo project in Bogotá in 1998. The group mix electronic and avant-garde music with traditional Colombian music styles, particularly cumbia, vallenato, and salsa.{{r|quietus12}}
==History== Meridian Brothers was founded by Eblis Álvarez as a solo project in 1998, and he sold early recordings on cassette in Bogotá.{{r|soundway}} While playing in short-lived group ''Ensamble Polifónico Vallenato'', Álvarez began to use the Meridian Brothers project to experiment with traditional Colombian musical styles.{{r|quietus12}} Álvarez has said that "the first Meridian Brothers albums suck", and that the project found its feet with its first official release, ''Meridian Brothers V: El Advenimiento Del Castillo Mujer''.{{r|quietus12|rolling}}
In 2007 the project became a band, with Álvarez being joined by four of his friends from Javeriana University: María Valencia (clarinet, saxophone and synthesizers), Damián Ponce (percussion, replaced in 2016 by Mauricio Ramírez{{r|pdf}}), Alejandro Forero (keyboards), and César Quevedo (bass).{{r|soundway|nyt}} The group released two more albums on Colombian record label La Distritofónica: ''Meridian Brothers VI'' in 2009, and ''Meridian Brothers VII'' in 2011,{{r|pdf|wire}} which was partially composed by a computer algorithm.{{r|quietus12|p=1|q=I developed a computer music puzzle which organised the samples randomly...listen to the weird guitar solo, I didn’t compose that!}} In 2011 the Meridian Brothers played at Worldtronics festival in Berlin.{{r|world}}
In 2012 Meridian Brothers released their fourth studio album ''Desesperanza'' on UK label Soundway Records.{{r|sc}} Also in 2012 DJ Gilles Peterson included the track ''Guarancha UFO'' on his list of the best tracks played on his BBC show that year.{{r|gp}}
In 2013 German record label Staubgold released ''Devoción'', a compilation of tracks from Meridian Brothers' first three albums,{{r|wire|klof}} and the group played Festival Estéreo Picnic, Roskilde Festival, and Rencontres Trans Musicales.{{r|picnic|roskilde|rtm}}
In 2014 Meridian Brothers released the album ''Salvadora Robot'' on Soundway Records,{{r|salvadora}} and played Villette Sonique, Paléo Festival, and Rock al Parque.{{r|vs|paleo|parque}} Their next two albums, ''Los Suicidas'' in 2015 and ''¿Dónde Estás María?'' in 2017, were also released on Soundway.{{r|suicidas|donde}}
In 2020 Meridian Brothers released ''Cumbia Siglo XXI'' on Bongo Joe Records. Describing the album, Álvarez said "when I went to study composition I discovered algorithmic synthesis, a way to program synthetic generated sounds within an algorithm... but I didn’t do anything with that because I didn’t know how to take that and put it into Colombian culture. It wasn’t loud enough, or punchy enough, but eventually I managed to do it, and it was ''Cumbia Siglo XXI''."{{r|quietus20}} In 2021 they released joint album ''Paz en La Tierra'' with fellow Bogotá band Conjunto Media Luna, also on Bongo Joe.{{r|paz}}
In 2022 the group released ''Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento'', a joint album with an imaginary salsa band.{{r|renacimiento}} In 2023 they played Big Ears Festival in Tennessee.{{r|bigears}}
==Discography== '''Albums''' * ''Meridian Brothers V: El Advenimiento del Castillo mujer'' (2005, La Distritofónica/Discrepant) * ''Meridian Brothers VI: Este es el Corcel Heroico que nos Salvará de la Hambruna y Corrupción'' (2009, La Distritofónica) * ''Meridian Brothers VII'' (2011, La Distritofónica) * ''Desesperanza'' (2012, Soundway) * ''Salvadora Robot'' (2014, Soundway) * ''Los Suicidas'' (2015, Soundway) * ''¿Dónde Estás María?'' (2017, Soundway) * ''Cumbia Siglo XXI'' (2020, Bongo Joe) * ''Paz en La Tierra'' (2021, Bongo Joe), joint album with Conjunto Media Luna * ''Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento'' (2022, Ansonia) * ''Mi Latinoamérica Sufre'' (2024, Ansonia and Bongo Joe)
'''Compilations''' * ''Devoción (Works 2005 - 2011)'' (2013, Staubgold)
==External links== *[https://meridianbrothers.com/discografia.html Meridian Brothers complete discography] *[https://meridianbrothers.bandcamp.com/ Meridian Brothers] on Bandcamp
==References== <references>
<ref name=soundway>{{citation|url=https://www.soundwayrecords.com/artist/meridian-brothers|title=Meridian Brothers|publisher=Soundway Records|website=soundwayrecords.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227023139/http://www.soundwayrecords.com/artist/meridian-brothers|archive-date=2015-02-27}}</ref>
<ref name=pdf>{{citation|url=https://www.meridianbrothers.com/meridian_brothers_esp.pdf|title=Meridian Brothers Biografía|publisher=Meridian Brothers|website=meridianbrothers.com|access-date=2024-04-12|language=es}}</ref>
<ref name=quietus12>{{citation|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/10864-russell-slater-eblis-javier-alvarez-interview-colombia-extract|title=Colombian Spring - Eblis Álvarez Interviewed|publisher=The Quietus|website=thequietus.com|author=Russ Slater|date=2012-12-02|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=quietus20>{{citation|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/28917-meridian-brothers-eblis-alvarez-interview|title=Cumbia Completa: An Interview With Meridian Brothers' Eblis Álvarez |publisher=The Quietus|website=thequietus.com|author=Patrick Clarke|date=2020-09-15|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=wire>{{cite magazine|author=Phil Freeman|title=Meridian Brothers, Devoción (review)|magazine=The Wire|date=September 2013|issue=355|url=https://www.meridianbrothers.com/imgNuevas/the_wire_review_meridianBros.jpg|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=rolling>{{cite magazine|author=Luis Daniel Vega|title=Meridian Brothers V (review)|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.meridianbrothers.com/img/MBV_rolling.gif|access-date=2024-04-12|language=es}}</ref>
<ref name=world>{{citation|url=https://www.festivalticker.de/2011/festivals/worldtronics/|title=5. Worldtronics 2011|website=festivalticker.de|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206072604/https://www.festivalticker.de/2011/festivals/worldtronics/|archive-date=2022-12-06|access-date=2024-04-12|language=de}}</ref>
<ref name=sc>{{citation|url=https://soundsandcolours.com/articles/colombia/meridian-brothers-desesperanza-16965/|title=Review: Meridian Brothers – Desesperanza|publisher=Sounds and Colours|author=Russ Slater|date=2012-11-21|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=klof>{{citation|url=https://klofmag.com/2013/09/meridian-brothers-devocion-works-2005-2011/|title=Introducing: Meridian Brothers – Devoción|publisher=KLOF Magazine|website=klofmag.com|date=2013-09-03|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=gp>{{citation|url=https://www.gillespetersonworldwide.com/gilles-on-bbc-6-music-best-of-2012/|title=Gilles On BBC 6 Music // Best Of 2012|website=gillespetersonworldwide.com|date=2012-12-27|archive-url=http://www.gillespetersonworldwide.com/gilles-on-bbc-6-music-best-of-2012/|archive-date=2017-11-07}}</ref>
<ref name=roskilde>{{citation|url=https://issuu.com/roskilde-festival/docs/rf13_guide_web/61|title=Roskilde Festival Guide 2013|publisher=Roskilde Festival|pages=60-61|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=rtm>{{citation|url=https://histoires.lestrans.com/fiche-artiste/meridian-brothers-2013/|title=Meridian Brothers|publisher=Rencontres Trans Musicales|website=histoires.lestrans.com|access-date=2024-04-12|language=fr}}</ref>
<ref name=vs>{{cite news|title=Les Meridian Brothers mixent folkore et électro|work=Le Monde|author=Stéphanie Binet|date=2024-06-05|url=https://www.meridianbrothers.com/imgNuevas/lemonde.jpg|access-date=2024-04-12|language=fr}}</ref>
<ref name=paleo>{{citation|url=https://yeah.paleo.ch/en/edition/2014|title=Paléo Festival 2014 Line-up|website=yeah.paleo.ch|access-date=2024-04-12|language=fr}}</ref>
<ref name=parque>{{citation|url=https://www.radionica.rocks/rock-al-parque-2014-lista-la-programacion-del-festival|title=Rock Al Parque 2014: lista la programación del festival|publisher=Radiónica|date=2014-07-22|access-date=2024-04-12|language=es}}</ref>
<ref name=bigears>{{citation|url=https://bigearsfestival.org/lineup-archive/#2023|title=Big Ears Festival Lineup Archive|publisher=Big Ears Festival|website=bigearsfestival.org|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=nyt>{{citation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/arts/music/meridian-brothers-el-grupo-renacimiento.html|title=The Meridian Brothers’ Eccentric Mastermind Is Electrifying Roots Salsa|publisher=The New York Times|website=nytimes.com|author=Ed Morales|date=2022-08-02|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=salvadora>{{citation|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/06/08/319246295/first-listen-meridian-brothers-salvadora-robot|title=First Listen: Meridian Brothers, 'Salvadora Robot'|publisher=NPR|website=npr.org|author=Felix Contreras|date=2014-06-08|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=suicidas>{{citation|url=https://www.vice.com/es/article/diseccionando-los-suicidas-el-nuevo-disco-de-meridian-brothers/|title=Diseccionando 'Los Suicidas', el nuevo disco de Meridian Brothers|publisher=Vice|website=vice.com|date=2015-12-01|access-date=2024-04-12|language=es}}</ref>
<ref name=paz>{{citation|url=https://www.backseatmafia.com/album-review-meridean-brothers-conjunto-media-luna-paz-en-la-terra/|title=Album Review: Meridean Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna- Paz en la Terra|publisher=Backseat Mafia|website=backseatmafia.com|author=John Parry|date=2021-10-01|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=renacimiento>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jul/09/meridian-brothers-meridian-brothers-and-el-grupo-renacimiento-review-eblis-alvarez|title=Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento review|publisher=The Guardian|website=theguardian.com|author=Neil Spencer|date=2022-07-09|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=donde>{{citation|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/altlatino/2017/08/31/545284499/meridian-brothers-the-musical-madcaps-of-the-tropical-baroque|title=Meridian Brothers: The Musical Madcaps Of The Tropical Baroque|publisher=NPR|website=npr.org|author=Catalina Maria Johnson|date=2017-08-31|access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref>
<ref name=picnic>{{citation|url=https://www.elespectador.com/entretenimiento/asi-quedo-la-programacion-del-estereo-picnic-2013/|title=Así quedó la programación del Estereo Picnic 2013|publisher=El Espectador|website=elespectador.com|date=2013-03-20|access-date=2024-04-13|language=es}}</ref>
</references>
Category:1998 establishments in Colombia Category:Musical groups from Bogotá Category:Colombian cumbia musical groups