Cornucopia

Los Amigos Invisibles have the right idea when it comes to keeping dance music alive: Bring back da live rhythms! Simple, no? This Venezuelan sextet provides a full band of piquant Latin funk, salsa, merengue, and breezy, hedonistic lounge tunes, all sex-tinged with lyrics describing nightlife woes and even stuff such as masturbation.

“DJs will need to produce original music and start picking up live instruments to keep things interesting,” says Amigos guitarist and DJ Jose Luis Pardo. Really, club kids are tired of seeing a DJ pumping house on the one-and-twos — the visceral dynamic of a band performing live just ain’t there.

Back in 1998, Los Amigos Invisibles released their debut, The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera. Then they moved to New York from Caracas and, after recording two albums for David Byrne‘s Luaka Bop imprint, are playing at the M3 Summit. Pardo promises a show that begins with a DJ set before eventually blending into a seamless, nonstop live dance concert.

“We’re definitely gonna keep going for the club scene,” he says. “But on the other hand, we like the organic sound of playing live. I’m amazed to see the effect on people when they see a song played by a DJ or when’s it’s a live band, so we’re gonna keep trying to mix the two worlds as much as possible.”