The Roots of Chica 2

In the late 1960s, a number of Peruvian guitarists from Lima and the Amazon created a new electric hybrid that mixed cumbia with surf, Cuban guaracha, rock, Peruvian folklore, and psychedelic touches. This new wave of Peruvian cumbia came to be known as chicha. Scorned by the middle-class and the official tastemakers, chicha remained mostly associated with the slums of Lima, where the ever-growing population of Andean migrants embraced the music. Three years ago Barbès released the first volume of The Roots of Chicha, which created converts worldwide. The second volume in the series showcases eleven more bands, with sixteen tracks recorded between 1968 and 1981. This album is not exactly a sequel; it's more an attempt to rectify some of the biases and inaccuracies of the first volume by incorporating some lesser-known bands. This is cumbia at its best - music at once familiar and exotic, rooted in the changing sounds fostered by the worldwide musical revolution that took place in the late '60s but still remaining oddly timeless.