Muzikifan,
CD Review
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This one leaps out of the speakers and grabs your vitals! Looking for things to fill the soukous void under my dancing feet I find the Colombian sound systems are really fitting the bill (& the cover design is bad enough to convince you of its legitimacy). Colombian sound systems are mobile, often pulled on donkey carts to move the massive speakers. Champeta is the raw ingredient, to which they have added scratching on old (truly scratchy) 1940s LPs, DJ toasting, with the exaggeration diction of r-r-r-r-r-r-adio announcers! and drumming and samples. This kicks off with wild enthusiasm and a track called "Bienvenidos" where they repeat "Systema Solar" over and over, against a pulsing bass, samples, scratched records and a wailing organ. "Mi Kolombia" starts in the street and layers on accordeon samples and a sickly wheezy funfair whirl of vocals & effects. It's ill and I love it. "El Majagual" features wild flauta de millo, which is a native instrument like a shrill reedy pennywhistle. After fifteen minutes it slows to a ballad then a techno ditty, called "Chico," that is skippable. But they are not giving up yet. What sounds like a souped-up Calypso oldie called "Firewire" is remade as "Fayaguaya." The live horns and vocals on this are fine. A dubby kind of thing --"Oye"-- follows that is okay in the flow because you are ready for a break. Speaking of flow it sounds like it's underwater. We stay in trance space for a while, with a fine clarinet popping up in "Amenaza." Then they wake up for a big finish with "Ya veras" and "Quien es el patron?," both back in the sh*t-kicking champeta mode. Overall Systema Solar's debut disc is well-sequenced & most enjoyable. 09/01/10
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