Los Miticos Del Ritmo is the name of a 7-piece studio band made up of vallenato and cumbia musicians living in Cali, Colombia. The group was assembled by British born producer, musician and DJ, Will ‘Quantic’ Holland.

Cali is known in Colombia as the capital of fiestas, street partying, dancing, and salsa. This is where the eclectic British Producer Will ‘Quantic’ Holland has lived since 2007, immersing himself in the musical history of the country, and releasing countless Colombian-influenced albums including the fantastic The Original Sound of Cumbia, which he compiled for Soundway Records in 2011.

This latest release is a captivating album of instrumental Cumbias. The album features 3 covers, including, Queens ‘Another one bites the Dust’, and Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop ‘till you get enough’ and was recorded entirely in analogue! Using 4 track tape and a process of overdubs and tape transfers Holland has achieved an amazingly authentic and warm sounding recording.

For an album such as this it just would not have seemed right to have used modern digital recording methods.

“The idea of the record was to record something that sounded like a lost Cumbia classic,” said Will in a recent interview with Soundway.

He’s achieved this with Los Miticos del Ritmo. However, the album took a few listens to really get into, and then dragged on a little. This says a lot for an album that is only half an hour in length.

A particular highlight is “Willy’s Merengue”. The whirling merengue is a delight and provides a welcome break from the hypnotizing cumbias on the rest of the record.

The concept of this album is brilliant, and the analogue sound; refreshing. In spite of this, the music itself is an acquired taste – many people will love it, allured by the tropical rhythms and enchanted by the psychedelic vibe of this record. Others may have the same, frustrating, love-hate relationship with it that I experienced. Some days I was on the verge of loving it, other days I never wanted to listen to it again.

Love it or hate it, Los Miticos del Ritmo is an insight into the musical traditions of a fantastic country, traditions that with the help of new recordings like this can be preserved for decades to come.

Los Miticos del Ritmo is available from iTunes and Amazon

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