The Binary Cumbia Orchestra

First it was tango which underwent the digital treatment of DJs, musicians and producers. Impelled by Gotan Project and Bajofondo it moved from the “milongas” and other local clubs to concerts hall, night clubs, festivals, etc. and soon nu-tango was rubbing shoulders with pop and techno without inhibitions. Following on this worldwide wave of electro revival (extremely popular in South America) it is now the turn of another great Latin-American rhythm known as cumbia to go under the knife of these music surgeons specialists in resuscitating old cracking vynils. The style is sweet, sensual and frenzied. But having been used and abused to such an extend, it was on the verge of disappearing by lack of creativity and a certain overkill. Luckily, in the 2000s, a new generation of artists got hold of the genre and, re branding it «nu-cumbia», «digital cumbia» or «electro-cumbia», gave it a new dimension. It became more elegant and sophisticated without ever losing its dancing properties. In august 2009 Silvestre Herrera, DJ/producer from Buenos Aires, posted an mp3 on the Facebook of his friend Federico from the band “The Peronist”. The song was called «Coomvee-ah!» and was still unfinished. He did not know at that time but The Binary Cumbia Orchestra had just been born. Taking inspiration from Colombian cumbia, mambo and electro, it sounds both modern and retro with its samples which seem to come straight from the 50s. The vibe is both graceful and stylish but still grasps the popular and rather kitsch essence of the genre. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.