Various - Cumbia Bestial!

crackin' comp of modern cumbia hits from a diverse international network of 2/4 time protagonists - apparently the very first of its kind. the roots of the offbeat cumbia sound lie in the street / folk music of the afro-latin diaspora around south america - colombia to be exact - but the infectious sound has spread like a particularly contagious dancefloor flu out from mexico and buenos aires to the discos and dancehalls of london, new york and berlin in recent years. 'cumbia bestial!' refers to the bastardized contemporary cumbia fusions occuring in the studios of producers like hijo de la cumbia, toy selektah, and el remolon, where traditional indigenous melodies are remixed with up-to-date production values, dub bass, electronic beats and samples. some of these tracks are quite compatible with modern hiphop, like benny bazz's 'cumbia, tabaco y ron', or dub reggae like master blaster's 'pan con vino' and bopping ska in zurita's 'llega fauna' but the majority are sharply defined by that loping 2/4 bounce, best heard in bomba hstereo's 'fuego', miss bolivia's woozy, trumpet filled 'alta yama', and at it's most electronic and western-sounding in the likes of toy selektah's 'half mex. half colombian bandit'.