Our man Agustín Rivaldo has been on a roll. Better known as Barrio Lindo, he’s one of the new faces of digital cumbia/folk and has the game on lock thanks to a debut EP on Bad Panda Records and many a loud night spinning at ZZK Club in Buenos Aires. As a producer, Barrio has a distinctive flair for composing upbeat, rhythmic, and hypnotizing tunes packed with the sounds of old school instruments and South American fauna, as exemplified on his latest release, a remix of Populous‘s “Night Safari.”
The original version emphasized the “Night” portion of the title with textures and sounds giving off the impression of wandering aimlessly under the glory of the stars of the Milky Way. Barrio’s version, however, focuses on the “Safari” portion of the title. The electronic beats and waves of shimmering synths are still there but they take a bit of a backseat to a number of Andean instruments. It still feels like wandering aimlessly beneath an ocean of stars, but the shining lights of the vast unknown feel much more welcoming this time around.