Chicha Libre is a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

-based six-member band founded by Olivier Conan. Its name is a reference to ''

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...

'', a corn-based liquor that has been produced in South America since the time of the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admi ...

s. It is also the name of a Peruvian musical genre (also known as

Peruvian cumbia Peruvian cumbia is a subgenre of chicha (Andean tropical music) that became popular in the coastal cities of Peru, mainly in Lima in the 1960s through the fusion of local versions of the original Colombian genre, traditional highland huayno, an ...

) on which the band's music is based.

History

Conan was first introduced to ''chicha'' music on a trip to Peru in 2005. Their first album, ''¡Sonido Amazonico!'', was released in 2008 on Barbes Records, a label which Conan runs from his home in Brooklyn. They released their second album, ''Canibalismo'', in 2012, and an EP, ''Cuatro Tigres'', in 2013, both digitally and on vinyl. The band's original members were Olivier Conan (lead vocalist, cuatro), Josh Camp (DuoVox, keyboards, background vocals), Vincent Douglas (guitar), Greg Burrows (percussion, background vocals, timbales, bongos, guiro, reco-reco), Timothy Quigley (percussion, bongo, shakers, conga) and Nick Cudahy (bass guitar). Additional members are Neil Ochoa (congas) and Karina Colis (timbales). Featured guest artists have included Jose Carballo (a former member of the seminal Peruvian ''chicha'' band, Los Hijos del Sol).

Style

The band's music is based on ''chicha'', a fusion of rock and roll and cumbia produced by the native population of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon. This music was most popular in the 1960s and 1970s in northern Peru. Conan has described his band's music as "free-form Chicha" and has said they take many liberties with ''chicha'' music.

Reception

''Sonido Amazonico'' received a favorable review from Brendon Griffin in ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...

''. Griffin wrote that "...like the best music of any genre it leaves you wondering about the mystery of it all" and gave the album a rating of 9 out of 10. Jon Lusk wrote on the BBC's website that the album's music was "too self-conscious and contrived to match the fevered originals".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

awarded ''Cuatro Tigres'' an A− and wrote that the band "acknowledge their true roots" on the EP.

Discography

Studio albums

Sonido Amazonico! (2008)

# Sonido Amazonico # Primavera en la Selva # Mi Plato de Barro # Tres Pasajeros # The Hungry song # El Borrachito # Pavane # Six Pieds Sous Terre # Un Shipibo en España # Indian Summer # La Cumbia del Zapatero # Popcorn Andino # Yo No Fui # Gnosienne No. 1

Canibalismo (2012)

# La Plata (En Mi Carrito De Lata) # Danza Del Millonario # El Carnicero De Chicago # Muchachita Del Oriente # Depresion Tropical # Juaneco En El Cielo # Intermission # L'Âge d'Or # Papageno Eléctrico # Number 17 # Lupita En La Selva Y El Doctor # The Ride Of The Valkyries (Composed By – Richard Wagner) # La Danza De Don Lucho # Once Tejones * Engineers: Jason LaFarge, Joshua Camp, Olivier Conan * Mastered by: Scott Hull (2) * Mixed by: Bryce Goggin * Producers: Joshua Camp, Olivier Conan

EP

Cuatro tigres

# The Guns of Brixton (Strummer, Jones, Headon, Simonon) # Rica Chicha (Jaime Moreyra) # Alone Again Or (Brian Maclean) # La Danza de los Simpsons (Danny Elfman) * Producer: Olivier Conan and Joshua Camp * Mixed by: Bryce Goggin at Trout Recording * Cover: Elliot Tupac

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups from Brooklyn Cumbia musical groups