Algodón Egipcio, the nighttiming name of Caracas, Venzuela’s Cheky Bertho, recently released a collection of remixes from his debut album La Lucha Constante. That album was one of my favorites from 2011 so I was pretty excited to see a host of new remixes coming my way. These new renditions come by way of remixers all across Europe and the Americas. The Caracas-Canada connection, Teen Daze’s take on the track “Los Asuntos Pendientes (La Prueba B),” adds a nice dancy side to the original. Have a listen below.

‘No soy una artista, puedo ser un cuadro’

From Maracaibo, Venezuela, Linda Sjöquist delivers revealingly beautiful songs under the name …Al Cruzar la Calle. Her debut album is out and it’s stunningly tangible. Her emotions arrive relentlessly, her songs fragile. A certain delicacy permeates each songs— a delicacy in tone and theme, but Linda is full of conviction. In ‘Girasol Rojo’ she warns of the risks of love. “No te enamores, sé inteligente. Sigue tu mente.” The song, or perhaps the album as a whole, is a thoughtful introspection. Linda’s advice echoes as words she mutters to herself. “No te enamores” (Don’t fall in love) is soon followed by “No me abandones” (Don’t abandon me). Linda sings about idyllic exceptions: ”Mírame por dentro…Soy basura. Escritura.”

…Al Cruzar la Calle - Girasol Rojo

…Al Cruzar la Calle - T.S.

Algodón Egipcio (aka Ezequiel ”Cheky” Bertho— one half of Venezuelan duo Jóvenes y Sexys) released his debut album La Lucha Constante last year on Lefse. After a year of touring around Venezuela, Portugal and Spain (he’s trying to get a US visa), Cheky’s back with a new single off a limited run split 7” with Spanish band El Faro from the Canary Islands, it’s out now on Club Social. Stream Algodón Egipcio’s pair of dreamy jams off the single below.

Venezuelan singer Linda Sjöquist just released her first single under her moniker …al Cruzar la Calle on Maracaibo-based label Entorno Doméstico. The two-track release, entitled Romanticismo Ultravioleta (Ultraviolet Romanticism), features the stunningly heartfelt ‘Asuntos Internos‘ which I posted back in March, as well as the always dreamy title track. Download el disco metafísico for free over at Entorno Doméstico.

…al cruzar la calle - Asuntos Internos

Linda Sjöquist is a promising Venezuelan musician who plays under the name …al cruzar la calle. Her latest tune, Asuntos Internos, clocks in at just under two minutes but bulges with emotion— and dreamy guitar. She fills the contemplating track with her poetic accounts of adolescent longing. As a self-proclaimed teenage dreamer with nothing more than a poorly tuned guitar and a whole lot of time on her hands, she’s already crafted a host of beautiful songs. She just wants someone to kiss her, to hug her when she wakes up, someone to read her Julio Cortazar poems and bring that warm cup of coffee to her bed when the day finally rises over Maracaibo.

…al cruzar la calle - Asuntos Internos

Quiero alguien que me besa y me abraza al despertar, que me lee poemas de Cortazar y me lleve el café a la cama

Ezequiel “Cheky” Bertho is a Venezuelan electronic artist who’s been releasing loop-based jams under the moniker Algodón Egipcio (Egyptian Cotton) when not playing as one half of the duo Jóvenes y Sexys. Cheky’s debut solo album, La Lucha Constante, is set to drop March 22nd on Lefse Records (Houses, Dominant Legs, How To Dress Well). Recorded in a burst of creativity after a trip to São Paulo, Brazil, half of the the ten-track release was crafted in a week up in Ezequiel’s cramped Caracas bedroom. Mixing together reverby synths, guitars, syncopated beats, hazy vocals and samples, Algodón Egipcio stumbles through genres, passing through shoegaze, electronic, ambient, lounge and dream pop but never stopping to dwell on just one. Preoder La Lucha Constante, which would be a dope name for an old school rap album, over at Lefse.

Algodón Egipcio - El Día Previo

Algodón Egipcio - La Transformación

Dominant Legs - Clawing Out At The Walls (Algodón Egipcio Remix)