Description
OCTOBRE 2022
Infectious, hypnotic tropical grooves with a ragga kick from Australia’s premiercumbia orchestra. If you like Ondatrópica, Frente Cumbiero, Ska Cubano andLucho Bermúdez, you’ll love Cumbiamuffin.It was only a matter of time before cumbia hit Australia. After humbly coming to life onColombia’s Caribbean coast, this rhythm—and everything it represents: its multiethnicity,its danceable pulse, its resilience—snaked its way up the mountains to reachColombia’s urban capitals, Bogotá and Medellín, who transmitted the signal to Mexico,Peru, Argentina… Cumbia travelled, and wherever it landed it took hold; Charles Mingusgot his fill in the 70s, Mexicans brought it across the US border in the 80s, JoeStrummer couldn’t get enough of it in the 90s; and wherever it landed, it has shown itsflexibility, its ability to adapt to new environments.Cumbiamuffin are the perfect example of what happens when cumbia arrives in acompletely different continent. Since forming in 2010, they have become Australia’spremier large format cumbia orchestra, offering a twist on the genre that no one sawcoming. They take their inspiration from cumbia’s brass band traditions, when the genrewas adopted by orchestras in the 1940s, the start of its golden age, but they do not stopthere. They also look further afield, to the big bands of Mexico and Peru, and even tothe Caribbean, which is how their name came about. Cumbiamuffin represents thecontraction of two musical styles that the group seamlessly bring together in one big,vibrant, joyous experience: cumbia and raggamuffin reggae. This is a group that caninject even more life into a bona fide Colombian classic like Lucho Bermudez’s“Salsipuedes,” take a Greek club version of a Mexican banda track written by anArgentine accordionist and come up with the cohesively international “Ritmo deSinaloa,” and then there’s that unmistakable ragga skank all over “La Promesa,” with“La Cabezona” being an instrumental descarga that has no right to rumble so low,designed with dance halls and sound systems in mind.Armed with the collective energy of two authentic Colombian vocalists, a seriouslymassive brass section, heavy bass, funky guitar, salsa piano and equally authenticpercussion, the 15-piece band combines elements of reggae, dancehall and roots fromthe Colombian Caribbean in a deft mix that is both retro and futuristic, authenticallytraditional and yet also experimental. Put together by a collective of Colombian andAustralian musicians, the project has the common vision of introducing the purestsounds of the golden era of orchestrated cumbia to Australian audiences, but with a littlesomething more added to the formula to keep things fresh.Having triumphantly conquered their home country’s competitive music scene with soldout shows at numerous festivals and well-known venues all over Down Under,Cumbiamuffin are poised to break out to a global audience with their debut self-titled LP.
Tracklist:
A1. Mocha del Barrio – A2. Planeando Ando – A3. Ritmo de Sinaloa – A4. La Promesa – A5. La Cabezona – A6. Salsipuedes
B1. Planeando Ando (Prince of Queens Deconstruction Remix) – B2. La Promesa (OYOBI Remix) – B3. La Cabezona (Rizomagic Remix) – B4. Ritmo de Sinaloa (SLP Turbo Sonidero Remix)
