Music

Freegal Pick of the Week

Are you using Freegal? How can you call yourself a music fan and not be using this excellent service that gives you five songs per week – absolutely free that you can keep forever. There are thousands of songs from popular artists (AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, Johnny Cash) and tons of new & upcoming bands and musicians to enjoy. Speaking of new stuff, Miranda Lambert's playful new LP Wildcard is here, as well as Bruce Springsteen's Western Stars, the soundtrack to the new biopic about him, and of course, the new EP from Lil Nas X featuring the ubiquitous "Old Town Road". Whatever your taste, Freegal is perfect for any music fan.

This week's pick:
Various Artists ‎– Cumbia Beat Vol. 1: Experimental Guitar-Driven Tropical Sounds From Perú 1966/1976

During the prolonged summer here in the Arizona low desert, I share the local tendency to yearn for cooler weather, yet once it finally arrives, music emblematic of warmer climes (Afro-Latino, Caribbean-Tropical) quickly returns to the listening rotation. Spurred by hearing the stunning “Guajira Sicodélica” by Los Destellos (included on this collection), the recent tilt away from the sun has brought about an extended exploration into Peruvian Cumbia Beat (aka chicha). The effervescent folk melodies interwoven through the constantly shifting syncopated rhythms leads to a sound that is at once dashing, dexterous, and hypnotic. The vast majority of this music is instrumental and guitar-centric, prompting many in Northern Hemisphere to instantly note the prominent Southern California surf, Spaghetti Western, and British Invasion influences. Equally important are the unbridled percussive patterns lent from Colombian cumbia and Afro-Cuban rhythms that make these sounds crack, whack, and gallop along with the dashing folk melodies imbued with Peru’s Coastal, Amazonian, and Andean influences. To top things off, these ground shaking groups incorporated the entire spectrum of emerging guitar effects of the innovative era. Some standouts like the merengue-tinged “Cabalgando Con Ella” by Los Mirlos and the coiling “Captura De Lobos” from Los Orientales De Paramonga employ the watery guitar effect like some sort of tropical Vinnie Bell, while the songs which try to approximate the overdone Santana sound are not as absorbing. Down the line, Los Átomos De Paramonga’s “El Trencito” is an example of the melodic ‘60s pop sensibility running through these songs that perform double-duty as floor-filling dance music.  An unexpected and twangy cover of the Beatles’ “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” (simply translated as “Aquí en la Fiesta”) shows up near the end in full-on dusty Bakersfield/Buckaroos regalia. Overall, these appealing and adventurous Peruvian sounds reach new sonic plateaus suspended somewhere between the lush rainforests, the steep-edges of the Andes, and the vast Pacific Ocean. –Ted, Downtown

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