If Pulp Fiction had been a South rather than North American production, there is no doubt it’s soundtrack would have oozed chicha. It’s not hard to see why the music has enjoyed something of a resurgence in recent... Read Article
Two weeks ago we announced that Roots of Chicha would be released as a vinyl this month. Now, we have details of a special launch party at DROM in New York City.
It sometimes feels like a week doesn’t go by without someone informing me of a new Kickstarter campaign looking for $10,000 or $15,000. I often wonder whether they are going to make the leap. In the case of... Read Article
Chicha, a unique form of cumbia from Peru has had something of a renaissance since Olivier Conan released his already-legendary compilation The Roots of Chicha in 2007. That compilation largely showed the Amazonian side of cumbia, featuring bands... Read Article
After the surprise success of The Roots of Chicha, released in 2007, there is no real surprise that a second volume has been issued. Both releases feature Peru’s chicha music, also known as Peruvian cumbia, or as the... Read Article
Our Man in Iquitos is a documentary film about Ranil, a Peruvian musician, pirate radio impresario and political gadfly from Iquitos – the capital of the Peruvian Amazon. Since he began recording music in the 1970’s, Ranil has... Read Article
Olivier Conan’s The Roots of Chicha compilations have single-handedly created a chicha craze both internationally and within Peru itself. The music featured on these compilations, known as chicha, Peruvian cumbia or pyschedelic cumbia, was born in Peru in... Read Article
I can still remember hearing The Roots of Chicha for the first time. I was in Choele Choel in Argentina asking a guy called Fernando for some music, in the hopes that he would put me onto some... Read Article
When journalists in Lima want to write about Chicha, the psychedelic-meets-Amazon music once popular in Peru, ironically, they place a call to Brooklyn’s Chicha Libre. The new band—led by Barbès club owner Olivier Conan—is reviving the style that... Read Article
