Perú Selvático: Sonic Expedition into the Peruvian Amazon 1972​-​1986 – review | Pop and rock

The lopsided, scratchy rhythms of cumbia, the music of Colombia and Peru, have enjoyed growing popularity in recent years, be it via antique recordings or slick, electro updates, many of them from Argentina. On Perú Selvático, pop archaeology explores some of cumbia’s most distant shores, specifically those of the upper Amazon in the 1970s, where towns hundreds of miles from the capital, Lima, spawned their own variations on the genre. Central to many of its 18 tracks is the twang of surf guitar, by then a bygone fad in its California birthplace but still hugely popular across swathes of South America. (Currently, much the same sound is being championed by Los Bitchos, a chi-chi female four-piece from London.)

The sonic novelties of electric guitar, squeaky Farfisa organ and proto-synths replaced the accordions and big bands that dominated traditional cumbia; modernism had reached Amazonia. Remote cities such as Moyobamba and Tarapoto had no studios but their local heroes found their way to Lima to record. The results are all instrumental, although there are plentiful shouts and exhortations keeping the beat alive, and the party swinging on tracks such as Humo En La Selva by Los Invasores de Progreso. Nicely packaged vintage fun.

The lopsided, scratchy rhythms of cumbia, the music of Colombia and Peru, have enjoyed growing popularity in recent years, be it via antique recordings or slick, electro updates, many of them from Argentina. On Perú Selvático, pop archaeology explores some of cumbia’s most distant shores, specifically those of the upper Amazon in the 1970s, where towns hundreds of miles from the capital, Lima, spawned their own variations on the genre. Central to many of its 18 tracks is the twang of surf guitar, by then a bygone fad in its California birthplace but still hugely popular across swathes of South America. (Currently, much the same sound is being championed by Los Bitchos, a chi-chi female four-piece from London.)

The sonic novelties of electric guitar, squeaky Farfisa organ and proto-synths replaced the accordions and big bands that dominated traditional cumbia; modernism had reached Amazonia. Remote cities such as Moyobamba and Tarapoto had no studios but their local heroes found their way to Lima to record. The results are all instrumental, although there are plentiful shouts and exhortations keeping the beat alive, and the party swinging on tracks such as Humo En La Selva by Los Invasores de Progreso. Nicely packaged vintage fun.