The Roots Of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru

The Roots Of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru
Various Artists
Barbes Records 2007

YES. It is not a typo, psychedelic cumbias from Peru. Okay, so you're scratching your head thinking what have I gotten myself into? So this is the part where I give you a little bit of a background before your head explodes.

Chicha refers to a fermented drink usually made from corn that has been known to the Andean region of South America for nearly a thousand years, but it is also known as a "brand" of Peruvian pop music that originated there in the 60's. As different countries around the world were beginning to emulate the British invasion and American psychedelia; a similar occurrence in Peru happened when the Shipibo Indians of the Amazon began taking up western instruments such as Moog synthesizers and wah wha pedals and began fusing the styles of surf guitar, the syncopated rhythms of the Colombian cumbia along with traditional Andean folk melodies. As Chicha spread throughout Peru and other parts of South America it began to reach urban areas where much like the Colombian cumbia was frowned upon by the upper and oftentimes middle classes. Unlike other types of music of the time Chicha never became part of an intellectual movement, it was never accepted by the Peruvian middle class, the critics never wrote about it, and never had any kind of international spotlight, until now. So when Oliver Conan, owner of Barbes Records went to Peru on a recent trip and discovered the music; he found that the record labels responsible for producing this music decades ago had gone bankrupt, and decided to put together this compilation comprising of six Chicha combos it can almost be considered a mere accident. Albeit, a very good one.

Mark Fritts