Rio arriba

Spied this over at Stink Inc, the blog of the esteemed Mr Stinky Jim - slipped by me, but it's well worth a read. Collection of interviews with South American cats from the excellent ZZK Records.

Chancha Via Circuito's album Rodante was one of my favourite albums of 2008. His label ZZK, described it as "a collection of cumbia songs ranging in nature from introspective (at the edge of a shaman-style trip) to festive, as in a crazy journey on a runaway train." It's a wonderfully percussive delight from start to finish, and his new album Rio Arriba is on the way very soon. Jim talked with DJ Nim, one of the founders of the ZZK label, along with Chancha Via Circuito, and Tremor.

snip....How is your music received by 'traditional' cumbia' musicians or cumbia villera musicians? Is there much or any dialogue between the older, more traditional artists and this new school? Your Jose Larralde remix for example is a track that bridges the gap between old and new for me.

“The reality is that there isn´t much dialogue between us. We know some artists who play cumbia villera and we respect each other, but I don´t know how it´s received by "traditional cumbia musicians". I met José Larralde once and gave him a CD with my remix, but I never received his feedback.”

Read the full interviews at Stink Inc - audio to check too!