With the work of these two producers, one can safely pronounce the following statement without fear of being wrong: Cumbia just got trippier.
Pressing play on the track will only confirm these suspicions, as you’ll be greeted with something that sounds like what some would describe as “Digiroots Trans Caribbean dub music” that is not based in one particular country, rather many territories are involved. The original “Trip Cumbia” is unmistakably based in the original take of that genre of music, as the intro to the DJ Neber creation features a guaracha rhythm and an infectious arpeggio only to be transposed into a hip-hop beat. For his part, Tribilin Sound takes the beat and gives it a subtle but busier spin, punctuated by rocksteady accents and dub-like treatment on the vocal samples. In general it’s a more minimalistic treatment, but it doesn’t mean the rhythm isn’t there to make you hit the dancefloor.
This is just one of the examples that are present on the Temporal Remixes album, which take tracks from the previous compilation by the Regional label, and artists like Loko Bonó, DJ Quien, Barda, and Lata, among others do their take on each other’s track. The Regional label is based in Chile and features artists from all over Latin America who take regional and folkloric sounds to mangle them with electronics into something else. The Temporal Remixes album is aimed to be released on CD, something they hope to achieve via crowdfunding. (Check their page on Indie Go Go for details).
This is a veritable LATAM championship of prime music production. A track by Mexican hip-hop-turned-nu-cumbia stalwart Javier Martínez Loredo, redone by Lima, Peru resident Álvaro Ernesto, who for his part is pioneer in guapachoso-electronic fusion (Ernesto was also responsible for the mastering work on the comp), released on such an international label. What we get here is plenty of great music, based on the past and bound by bodies moving to the rhythm.