mp3: VJ PIXIE El Bombon En El Club
mp3: EL REMOLON Modeselektor vs Calle 13
Last year, Fat Planet featured a series of Argentinean artists, many of which were developing a sound that I have referred to – on more than one occasion – as ‘neuvo cumbia’ . Whilst on one hand, I should offer apologies for what is a somewhat cack-handed classification, the fact remains that many Argentinean electronic producers are incorporating a variety of cumbian rhythms into their productions, the combined weight of which is building into a notable sub-genre.
Many producers use blends as their primary platform – taking pre-existing tracks and rubbing cumbia rhythms into the mix. Villa Diamante has gained most attention on these pages, likewise VJ Pixie (pictured) with her Mash Piola series and El Remolon. Most of the mash-ups incorporate southern or gangsta hip hop acapellas – a trick that allows the cumbian sound to migrate further, at greater speed. The combination of gangsta bravado and lyricism with cumbia is not unique to this recent development – Argentinean ‘cumbia villera’ has been around since at least the 1990s, and offers similar lyrical themes to its U.S. sibling (check the Oro11-space for a recent remix of cumbia villera crew, Los Pibes Chorros). With this in mind, its no surprise to find VJPixie offering a cumbian re-rub of 50 Cent. (For more, see Texan team Lucky Kumbias)
But what to make of El Remolon‘s cumbian refix of Modeselektor? Whilst at first this might seem like an entirely redundant exercise, there’s perhaps more to this than meets the ear. For my money, Modeselektor have always managed to pull off a difficult feat – to maintain the precise and seemingly impervious architecture of European electronic music, whilst simultaneously offering the kind of agitation and swagger more commonly aligned with booty, ragga or dancehall. Whilst the latter never overcomes the former, Modeselektor always force your hand – passive appreciation is not an option. Therefore, adding cumbia into the mix – a style that’s long been associated with passion, heat and intensity – is perhaps not as absurd as it sounds. And I suspect that the end result is something of a floor-filler. Whether this type of trans-Atlantic cumbian mash is just a simple curio, or the rallying cry for a thousand fingers hitting their cracked copies of Acid Pro, remains to be seen.