We’re finishing up a whole week of recommended new music as strongly as possible with the team up of Quantic & Nidia Góngora. These two have been continue their recent collaboration with this double LP released last year and it really is the epitome of how to perfectly meld modern production and folkloric music, in this case Currulao from the pacific coast of Colombia. In doing so they simultaneously breathe life into the different worlds they are rooted in and create something entirely new. This is just a taste of what critics are in all agreement is a stellar record. We’re cosigning onto that and of course thrilled for Nidia’s continued success.
Tag Archives: Quantic
Ondatropica en Bogota
My fellow pelangueros know that every time I go to Bogota, I come back raving about some incredibly magical musical experience, the kind that you couldn’t have planned, the kind that you probably shouldn’t try to repeat, the kind that made us want to start La Pelanga in the first place. This obviously says more about the incredible depth and breadth of Colombian music today than about my luck. During my trip last month, which was beautiful in more ways than one, I really felt like I was witnessing a historical moment.
Ondatropica’s album drops tomorrow (7/16). It is an incredible blend of cumbia, salsa, currulao, funk, ska, and even a Black Sabbath cover, with guest appearances by Fruko, Anibal Velasquez, Ana Tijoux, and many others. You can hear the whole album right here. But buy it! Show some gratitude, no?
If you’re lucky enough to be in London (7/20, 7/22), New York (7/27), Los Angeles (7/29), Oristano (8/3), or Berlin (8/4), go see them! Details here.
Enjoy,
papicultor
Timbiquí, Pacífico
Last week, Caracol Radio reported that FARC guerrillas opened fire in the middle of Timbiquí and left explosive devices around the town on their way out, forcing more than 150 families to evacuate. We join the community of Timbiquí in rejecting this, the latest in a series of violent episodes in a conflict that the Timbiquireños have no interest in being a part of.
Ethnomusicologist David Lewiston went to the town of Guapi in 1968:
“The heavy rain in the region forms myriad rivers, which flow down to the Pacific […] there were so many rivers that there were few bridges or roads between coastal communities. The only forms of transport were boat and light plane. […] This community of a few thousand people was entirely black except for three mestizos – two of the doctors […] and the priest.
Because of the town’s isolation, its music had been conserved with remarkable purity.”
Lewiston did some of the earliest recordings of currulao. He didn’t keep track of who the musicians were in each song, but attributes this one to “the Torres family”. We think it might be the family of Gualajo, an influential fourth-generation musician who claims that when he was born, his umbilical chord was cut on top of a marimba.
This tradition is alive and well. Two years ago, Tunda and we had the sweet joy of attending the Festival Petronio Alvarez, the annual gathering for musicians and friends from the towns up and down the Colombian Afro-Pacifico. Thousands of people make the journey by whatever means necessary, even if it involves hauling drums and marimbas on a canoe. We’ve never seen a crowd that is that lively, and yet is so positive and peaceful. It was among these throngs that we decided to start La Pelanga.
Nidia Góngora and the Grupo Canalón from Timbiquí won the prize for Best New Marimba Song with Una Sola Raza:
We haven’t told too many people about the Petronio, because it felt like a huge family reunion that one feels honoured and blessed to be a guest of. For better or for worse, the word is getting out. We are very happy to see this incredible music slowly get the recognition it deserves – we just hope that as the festival’s popularity increases, its role as a community event stays strong.
Naturally, the region is no longer as remote as it used to be. While the Colombian government continues to show little interest in it, the public is starting to discover the region’s immense cultural treasures. Some great new music is coming out of the Pacífico and receiving acclaim – from the work of Grupo Bahía Trio, to ChocQuibTown‘s “hip hop that smiles”, to Quantic’s collaboration with Nidia Góngora. No doubt, this is just the beginning…
With all our respect and solidarity with Timbiquí and the Colombian Pacífic Coast,
DJ China Tu Madre and Papicultor
PS – Shoutouts to Luis and Ale of Lulacruza (you can support their latest project here), a Franz Tunda, Dimamusa, Pablo, and Meche – let’s do it again! Also to Mariacecita, who loves and shares la música del pacífico, and to our friend Karent, puro talento timbiquireño; if you haven’t watched her movie, El Vuelco del Cangrejo, you’re in for a treat!