Argentina\u2019s Pedro Canale is Chancha Via Circuito, a decorated veteran of the digital cumbia revival, and El B\u00faho (\u201cThe Owl\u201d) is Rodney Perkins, a British-born peregrine (apologies for the ornithological reclassification) and, with Agust\u00edn Rivaldo, partner in the Shika Shika label. This EP on the worthwhile Wonderwheel imprint finds the two prominent producers of savvy tropical grooves embarked on four interesting excursions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOruga\u201d and \u201cMurga del Viento\u201d are a couple of creaky, cryptic cumbia crawlers, shuffling across the floorboards of a haunted riverboat adrift down some tributary of the Amazon that God has surely forsaken. One imagines Werner Herzog and Gabriel Garcia Marqu\u00e8z in the corner, playing cards with la Llorona herself. On a lighter note, the enchanting \u201cEl Mago Georges\u201d moves like a nimble monkey through the sun-dappled rainforest canopy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final track, \u201cUna Pulgada de Silencio\u201d, places the earnest vocals of Argentine folk singer Gus Goncalves over a dragging, dub-soaked trip-hop beat and synths a bit similar to Andean pan flutes. Nice enough, but not quite in keeping with the truly evocative preceding tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n