V/A :: Future Sounds of Buenos Aires (ZZK/Waxploitation)

Although clearly “urban sounds,” the countryside encroaches on the city as rural styles are batted around like a cat with a ball of yarn.

A tour of the latest environmental windfall from Argentina conducted in powerful data bursts. The ZZK label in Argentina, home of “digital cumbia and reggaeton” exfiltrates a jungle of the latest leftfield beat music in a tight but rollicking compilation. Although clearly “urban sounds,” the countryside encroaches on the city as rural styles are batted around like a cat with a ball of yarn. Imagine the Gotan Project or Bajofondo on bennies. Or after sharing a plate of hash brownies, depends on the tune.

In a different context, you might even find the folk styles a little corny. But Future Sounds of Buenos Aires achieves true sonic fusion. Frikstailers launches the album with the healthy herky-jerk of “Guacha.” A band with the unlikely name of The Peronists provides the most unassuming but affecting moment mid-album with its warm, twanging “Mi llegagda tu llegada nuestro descanso,” such a bold contrast to the delightfully over-digitized “Se pixelo el vinito” it preceeds. Fauna is hilarious and more straightforward, entertaining ditties by La Yegros (the only female on the label) and El Remolón sit comfortably alongside Tremor´s African highlife guitar shot through with a thousand volts, Mati Zundel´s Cajun beer-battered polka, and dubstep bomp by Daleduro. “Cumbiatron” is precisely what the portmonteau says, a label-defining hybrid with a mock stern demeanor by King Coya. Future Sounds of Buenos Aires puts an already inviting city more prominently on the bit map.

Future Sound of Buenos Aires is available on ZZK/Waxploitation.