Systema Solar

• Systema Solar [Chusma, 2010] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Systema Solar [Chusma, 2010]
A goat-voiced Latino-Indian vocalist and a goat-voiced Afro-Latino vocalist lead two or three turntablists/samplers/keyboardists(?), a trap drummer, and a conga player to an irrepressible Colombian-Caribbean street party. The "genre" is piko, as the amplification-mad coastal sound systems are called--though there's plenty of cumbia in these grooves, they range much further, including some of the itchiest scratching on recent record. And it don't stop. Compare any current salsa record and you'll hear the difference immediately--this stuff is much rawer. It's the music of people who are overjoyed to be able to put their hardships aside for an hour or two. They know the hardships are still there, but they haven't been sapped by them, and they need to prove that to themselves and the world. A-