Sun’s Out, Get The Cumbia Out

Last week, when we had beautiful sunshine, there was one album that really hit the spot…

This tasty slab of 70s Peruvian cumbia was just what was needed, as I laid about like a withering lizard, getting toasty while sipping on a Tom Collins.

Ranil y Su Conjunto’s ‘tropical jungle party’ delivers some incredible guitar work that is reminiscent of Link Wray’s rumblings, or perhaps Hank Marvin or Duane Eddy. But with those heavy latin rhythms, the pace is ramped up to a rock ‘n’ roll disco-frenzy. At times there is West African High-life creeping in, and even reggae, which underlies the pan-African feel to the album.

I had my first taste of the psych-flecked sounds of Peru’s ‘chicha’ music scene through this Tiger Milk Records compilation, which opened my ears to some fantastic artists. It made me explore further how rock ‘n’ roll/surf guitar style had proliferated around the world during the 60s and 70s, coming into contact with indigenous musical cultures with some truly fun results.

The Cambodian surf rock scene of the 60s and 70s also offers a plethora of equally entertaining sounds that are perfect for those long, hot summer days, and artists like Ros Sereysothea are well worth exploring. As is the tragic history of Cambodian music, which was brutally destroyed by the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian genocide.

Further more, Analog Africa has created a brilliant series of compilations, that showcase the development of psych-addled funk predominantly in West Africa during the 60s and 70s. The flow of musical influences from the African continent, to the Americas and back again is fascinating, and you can hear how African, Latin and American popular music forms have all been thrown in to this melting pot of raucous dance music. Analog Africa has loads of great releases to explore but the African Scream Contest series was the first I was introduced to.

Back to Peru, and back to cumbia, ‘The Roots of Chicha’ offers a comprehensive introduction to this music scene. Thankfully, some kind soul has uploaded it to the TOOB for us all to enjoy…