If you have read my blogs in the past, you probably noticed I'm a big fan of Cumbia. So low and behold, bubbling in the city of Norwalk of all places, comes a band that sounds like they came straight from Magdalena, Colombia. They are called Buyepongo. Most of the band is very young, yet they have a sound that rivals Cumbia legends such as Andres Landero, Lisadro Meza and Aniceto Molina.

There are many things I love about this band. They are descendants and citizens from Guatamala, El Salvador, Bolivia and Mexico. Still, it seems these guys have Cumbia running through their veins just by the way they play it. It would be easy to mistake Buyepongo for a Colombian band three times their age.

Another thing is that they are a great live band and they write their own songs. I saw them for the first time in a bar in Pasadena on Monday and I could of sworn they were playing obscure Cumbia covers.

And lastly... at last, there is another local Vallenato group that isn't Very Be Careful! I love the VBC, but it's good to have variety and more than one group in L.A. playing this type of music.

I think I mentioned before that I had the good fortune of meeting Joe Strummer a few times. On those occasions we talked about Cumbia and his love for it. I remember turning him on to Very Be Careful and he went gaga over them, so much so that he had VBC open for him during his last L.A. shows. I wish he was around for Buyepongo, he would have dug these guys.

Buyepongo have nothing released yet but you can go to their myspace page to hear some live tracks.
 

A post-depression era Argentina begot Cumbia Villera, a street electro-cumbia with lyrics that rivaled gangster rap. It started in the ghettos of Buenos Aires by Peruvian and Bolivian immigrants that brought their own style of Cumbia into Argentina in the late 80’s. Most Argentineans considered it lower class, especially by the music critics that have a stronghold on what is deemed important in Latin music. Two of the biggest groups from that scene, Los Pibes Chorros and Damas Gratis, have a widespread fanbase in the villas of Buenos Aires as well as fans all over Latin America. ZZK label co-founder Grant Dull called the success of Cumbia Villera “Argentina joining the rest of Latin America,” which meant the post-depression Argentina was no longer an oasis for the Eurocentric.  Argentina is now just as fucked as the rest of Latin America.

During the eighties, the modern Cumbia groups started using keyboards rather than the traditional accordion or a horn section. One of the coolest features of Cumbia Villera was their use of synthesizers, especially the infamous Keytar.  Pablo Lescano, who fronts the band Damas Gratis, is a master of his axe, as well as the other Keytar players that play in that style. All the bands have a particular look in both dress and in album art that separate them from other Cumbia groups. It’s a hybrid of Heavy Metal, Reggae, Gangster Hip-Hop, Sonidero and Soccer. It would be easy to mistake Pibes Chorros for a Metal band, with their long hair and their use of the Grim Reaper and Jesus Christ. Cumbia Villera’s heyday was in the late 90’s, right after Argentina’s economic collapse. Since then most of the groups continue to play in front of large crowds but it seems like Reggaeton has stole some of its thunder.

I asked a sale rep from Miami Records, the U.S. distributor of Discos Fuentes, why they don't release older Disco Fuentes titles with the original covers. She told me that their core market wants new music and doesn't care about the older titles anymore. I have to tell you, the biggest selling Discos Fuentes related  title we had at Amoeba Hollywood last year was the Colombia! compilation, put together by the Soundway label out of England. Soundway licensed classic Discos Fuentes tracks that the Miami Records rep said no one cared about and added a great booklet with liner notes and photos of the original album covers. The Colombia! Compilation was geared towards the Anglo market who aren't familiar with the music but many Latinos who grew up with the music bought it because it included many tracks that had been out of print for years. It goes to show you that most record company people tend to be oblivious about their own market.

The best place to find those out of print Fuentes titles are in the World Music Vinyl section, now located at the end of the Rock Vinyl section.

Best Of The Latin American Compilations
                                                            THE ROOTS OF CHICHA: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru.
Colombia!: The Golden Years Of Disco Fuentes - The Powerhouse of Colombian Music 1960-1976
Si, Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba, Vol. 1
Bachata Roja: Acoustic Bachata From The Cabaret Era


Latin Influenced Electronica
Up, Bustle and Out- "Mexican Sessions"
Nickodemus -Endangered Species Remixed (2007)
Geko Turner- Chandalismo Ilustrado
Mexican Institute Of Sound -Pinata