Anyway, check this out!

Ok, it’s a long time since my last post! A lot of stuff was going alongside. in my life (masala, dj, travel and the bad: work…) and  I’m quite happy to have a breath and write a little something on la Congona.

So I’ve been in New York to DJ for the party of Los Destellos and while doing some preparation for this peruvian cumbia night, I’ve just founded this new release of Vampisoul: Cumbia Beat Volume 1 (yes volume 1, so it means at least a number 2?!!) released earlier in may.  Again, just like the excellent Afrosound of Colombia, you are getting probably one of the best compilation of chicha with an amazing sound quality.

Like vampisoul explains:

The metamorphosis of cumbia turns it into a genre that seems to voraciously cannibalize acoustic traditions and modern technologies. There wasn’t an innovation that tropical guitarists didn’t add to their sound: delay, fuzz tone, overdrive, wahwah, reverb, modulating effects typical of rock bands are assimilated into a stunning sonic cocktail.

In this context, cumbia reached the top of the charts in popularity. Cumbia replaced rock as the urban sound. The groups would slowly develop an ethnic sensibility inspired by native Shipibo motifs and an astonishing and bewitching sound that seemed to drink from all the mysteries, secrets and myths of the jungle.

So, trust me, buy it and after listening to this compilation, you will love this psychadelic surf guitar in cumbia.   For sure it will be on my mp3 player on my next trip to Peru and Bolivia in 3 weeks!

Here’s a little regalo that I had in my stuff.

Los Mirlos – Cabalgando con Ella

And again, if you want more of it, go and download Sonido Martines’s mix “Un sonámbulo en la Amazonia Peruana” on this blog here!

Classical Peruvian chicha cumbia band Los Destellos running through New York with DJ assistance by Geko Jones and Benoit of Masala & La Congona.

You may have heard Los Destellos as remixed by Sonido Martines a year or two back:

Los Destellos – Elsa (Sonido Martines remix feat Fefe)

Sonido tracked down Los Destellos, explained to them what was going on in the slippery world of ‘new cumbia’, and with their blessings got permission to flip this remix. Now-thing realness with respect for the foundational musicans!

Para comenzar, este mix con una seleccion ripeos de vinilos de pura cumbia de la amazonia ( peruana ), incluye canciones de la epoca de oro y plata de la cumbia peruana, grupos de ciudades como Pucallpa, Tarapoto, Iquitos.
Tiempos en los que los peruanos del oriente deseaban representarse a si mismos mediante la modernidad de las cuerdas amplificadas, a veces vestimentas tipicas y fantasias de petrodolares…
Hoy en dia el sonido tropical de la region es diferente, otras busquedas, otros standares, mismos negocios, pero eso sera motivo de otro post,
Que lo disfruten!

Sonido Martines – El Sonambulo Orientalista

Las fotografias muestran la obra del genial Ashuco. Sus pinturas pueden verse en Bares, prostibulos, hoteles y varios otros sitios en la ciudad de Iquitos.

I’m back at la Congona after a long absence – real life’s accidental delights have kept me away for awhile, but I assure you that it’s been worth the wait.

To begin, this mix is a collection of vinyl rips: pure Amazonian cumbia! “El Sonambulo Orientalista (the Sleepwalking Orientalist)” includes songs from the gold and silver age of Peruvian cumbia, with groups from cities like Pucallpa, Tarapoto, Iquitos. Times with the western Peruvians wanted to present themselves via the modernity of amplified guitar strings, folkloric dress, and petrodollar fantasies…

Nowadays the region’s tropical sound is different: other searches, other standards, the same business… but let’s save that for another post. Enjoy!

The photos display the works of Ashuco. His paintings can be seen in bars, brothels, hotels, and various other spots around the city of Iquitos.

Mexican Dubwiser comes correct with a free 16-track compilation of cumbia/dub/latin/edits. Sonidos de Hoy y Siempre.

includes a tune from the great underrated/inactive? Cumbiampiro:

Cumbiampiro – Sobredosis de Sabor

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here’s another cumbia, decades older. Tepito titular metadata garble: “68 Mu – Eca Esquiva”

? – ? (Esquiva/Muneca)

Today’s topic: “The Queen of Tourism” (Today’s meta-topic: the fervor of the converted.)

Polibio Mayorga, the Ecuadorian genius who was my gateway drug into cumbia, also covers this song. The oldest version I have is from Venezuelan organist-superstar Tulio Enrique Leon “El Artista del Teclado” – who Sonido Martines first wrote up here. Below, Chucho Ponce of Los Daddys comes with a sweet synthed-up version called ‘The Queen of Tourism’. Mayorga goes in hard for the organs, forming a direct lineage with Leon’s “La Cumbia de los Monjes” (which has nothing to do with “La Cumbia de los Monjes” by Los Deakino, although we’ll get to that one during Week 14: Bells).

Los Daddys – La Reyna de Turismo

“La Cumbia de los Monjes/La Reyna [sic] de Turismo” is an example of a song – like “El Llanto de la Tortuga” – whose construction lends itself to interesting synthesizer work. En “El Llanto” for example, the horn arrangments do lots of octave leaps (also common in grime/dubstep production). In other songs the melody will be passed around on various instruments. In cumbia sonidera, these elements often translate into great synth patch weirdness.

It’s a beautiful quality – this ability of songs recorded in the 1960s, say, to inspire studio experimentation forty years on; they contain within their DNA the urge to f%ck up form.

Chucho’s “La Reyna de Turismo” is fairly restrained (the pleasures of version culture are many, restraint among them), and the bassline suggests reggae…

You’ll hear shoutouts for Chinantla, Puebla” in all of Ponce’s riddims. I was in Puebla last month and asked about Chinantla. Nobody had heard of it. “It must be a tiny village” they said.

And here is Tulio Enrique Leon’s take on things:

Tulio Enrique Leon – La Cumbia de Los Monjes

Cumbia on NYC’s NPR show ‘Morning Edition’! A few days ago I stopped by to talk Cumbia 101 with WNYC, results can be streamed or downloaded here at the WNYC Culture blog. You’ll notice the radio audio is tucked away inside a post of mine on the Sonido Martines D’Antigua party in Queens… and if you haven’t seen it yet, my 1st post for WNYC Culture is about thongs and world music.

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my intention is to post 1 cumbia a day here in 2010. I’m off to a slow start. Blame CPT.

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Over at Dutty Artz, check out PM Jawn’s latest post — on cumbia stores in Passiac, New Jersey! USEFUL INFORMATION FOR THE DEVOTED.

[interior of La Conga in Passaic, PM Jawn]

Bad Santa cumbia villera from the one and only Damas Gratis. Pablo Lescano is the most famous person I know who semi-regularly sends me insane emails. Some, like this recent one, contain amazing music. Hilarious lyrics thick with double entrendres.

Damas Gratis – Papa Cruel

[Pablo Lescano of Damas Gratis]

“Give music this holiday season. Pablito Lescano warmly wishes you a merry Christimas and this song is my gift.“