Javier Alvarez Temazcal

Temazcal, the Mexican word meaning 'burning water', combines a single pair of maracas with pre-recorded sounds. Improvising around rhythmic patterns taken from Latin American folk music, the maracas weave through a world of electronic noises and rhythmic shadows. In the words of composer John Adams, 'The music of Javier Alvarez reveals influences of popular cultures that go beyond the borders of our own time and place.'

This video fuses together a live performance of Alvarez's Temazcal, with specially created images using footage of fire, water and occasional injections of coloured ink clouds.

Joby Burgess plays maracas, Kathy Hinde created and produced the images. The complete video is a bonus track on Powerplant's debut recording Electric Counterpoint