El Remolón has made a name for himself in the international scene and his release of Pibe Cosmo on ZZK Records is a testament as to why. Securely positioned in a truly international community his music has several cultures in every track. It is without saying that the foundation of all his music comes from the culture from which he was raised and it is that reason he is consider at the forefront of the new digital cumbia scene. This album is full of pulsating tropical rhythms infusing elements from dub, soca, ambient, reggaeton, minimal techno/microhouse, early house music, baile funk and of course cumbia to create a whole new experimental electronic music that iTunes classifies as “Other.”
ZZK sums it quite well: “The record makes its way from party bangers to cumbia pushed through a minimal techno sieve, all the way to pretty pop melodies that stick in your head… [and] along its journey it soaks up the sticky rhythms of South America. It stumbles on a chorus of Guarani children from the jungles of Misiones and joins the parade of a marching band. It puts itself in a robotic, intelligent trance to dance to noisy tribal chant and it comes through a secret entrance to hit you over the head in a neighborhood of tin-roofed shacks.”
Personal Favorites: 1, 4, 8, 10 (for those heavy bass kids)
ZZK released the b-sides to Pibe Cosmo for free with the original album. They include remixes of Animal Collective, Modeselektor, Matias Aguayo, Mochipet and other ZZK artists. It also includes a mashup of Dabrye and MC Hammer. The Pibe Cosmo B-Sides disc can be found at WRUV with the Pibe Cosmo album.