Los Golpeadores de la Cumbia is out today and is accompanied by a suitably bonkers video, the single is another taste of the forthcoming Meridian Brothers album for Bongo Joe – this is madcap cumbia for the millenium and is at the fore of tropical experimentalism.
Between the late 70s and early 80s legendary Colombian cumbia group, Cumbia Siglo XX, began their experimentation with the traditional cumbia music of the region. Cumbia is distinctive for it’s simple binary marching rhythm and short phrases of melody. Alongside other groups and influential labels this new 80s cumbia, with its funky bass and evolving rhythms, blended with disco and even rock music.
The new album, Cumbia Siglo XXI by Meridian Brothers, is promising to take this style even further and continue the experiment, as evident on latest single Los Golpeadores de la Cumbia – with its off-kilter playing between rock and llamador drum rhythms (the tambora traditionally being the most dominant part of this cumbia rhythm, on the second and fourth beat).
Following the success of his largely acoustic album ¿Dónde estás María?, Eblis Alvarez – aka Meridian Brothers (technically a band, but only when performing live) – this time usues drum machines, guitars, synths, algorithmic software and other tech’ to create Cumbia Siglo XXI.
Meridian Brothers started in folk and travelled through noise, rock and electronic styles – always rooted in Latin American music – and it continues to morph through both traditional and modern sounds. August’s album is eagerly anticipated.
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