WOMAD

Bloque

From Colombia, United States

Bloque are an eight-piece Colombian band who bring together styles and sounds that are seemingly incompatible but which together fuse into a hard-edged dance groove that they like (wuth tongues in cheeks) to call "psychotropical funk meets neurotic cumbia.” This is where rural rhythms meet urban beats, roots blends with rock, old with new.Guitarist and songwriter Ernesto Ocampo found himself with a huge hit on his hands in Colombia after working on a TV series and album about Rafael Escalona, the king of vallenato, an accordion-based style that thrives on Colombia's Caribbean coast. Ocampo wanted to follow up this success with something tougher and more modern, and put together a new group with his flatmate, singer Ivan Benavides. With keyboards, drumsand bass at its core, the band added extra percussion from Alex Martines and brought in Mayter Montero on gaita, the Caribbean coast's reed instrument which also forms a major part of Toto La Momposina's sound. This band eventually became Bloque de Busqueda, and their debut album reached the office of David Byrne and his Luaka Bop label. "Sometimes I hear something completely new,” he said. "It sounds like peoplespeaking, articulating their own identity, a mixture of global and local culture. Bloque is just amazing.” US critics agreed with Byrne, and their debut US album, Bloque, was a major critical success while live shows in New York and LA were also well-received.Some of the band are from the countryside, some from the city, and they can play cumbia or vallenato rhythms as well as anyone, but top them with lyrics that address the problems of urban living. Lines such as "My electricity was cut off/I haven't paid the rent” are hardly standard fare in cumbia or vallenato - their antecedent is the blues, or thestreet-speak of Lou Reed. It all goes to make Bloque an authentic fusion band, speaking the language of both old and new Colombia.