Please note this is an old page and Fly Global Music has now moved. Please follow this link and search for the entry in the new site.

Bomba Estéreo manages to combine folk music from the country’s Atlantic coast such as cumbia and bullerenge with lounge, hip hop, and champeta in what the group dubs as psychedelic cumbia. Their sound ends up being a reworking of Colombian tradition with modern urban sensibilites, using lyrics that allude to spoiled rich brats as well as to the Carnaval de Barranquilla. The song ‘La Boquilla’, for instance, mixes samples from champeta MCs and a chorus of women singing “Africa, my Africa” over a guitar riff that sounds taken out of Kraftwerk’s ‘Europe Endless’.

Less laid back and more confident in their cumbia roots, Blow Up is light years ahead from their 2006 debut. The group seemed to have learned which are their selling points and have delivered a package that hits you right in the gut. ‘Fuego’, the album’s single, is the perfect balance of all their talents while still remaining the most unique song in the record and the sound of what the future holds for the band. There is no other song where Li Saumet’s rapping, Simón Mejía’s beats and Diego Cadavid’s percussion sound so fresh and in your face.

Li Saumet predominates the album with a cumbia voice reminiscent of Totó la Momposina that shows as much versatility to rap and growl as to sing in pitch perfect tune, never letting the listener forget who’s in charge. When she sings “No tengo más que mi vida y mi garganta” (“I don’t have more than my life and my throat”) in ‘Cosita Rica’, you believe it through her weary shriek.

Blow Up is a great album that nevertheless suffers from filler (‘Camino Evitar’) and some similar sounding songs (‘Raza’) in its second half. However, Bomba Estéreo has enough enthusiasm to pass over these grievances and effectively give a boost to modern Colombian pop music. It also transcends the exclusivity of Colombian tastes and will be equally appreciated by international listeners.

Tracklist:

01. Cosita Rica
02. Fuego
03. La Boquilla
04. Juana
05. Camino Evitar
06. Aguasalá
07. Feelin’
08. La Niña Rica
09. Música Acción
10. Palenke
11. Pa’ Ti
12. Raza

Links & more:

www.myspace.com/bombaestereo