Andean Dub – Capitol K

It’s here! Finally the one album I’ve been anticipating the release of is here (I wish I wasn’t so late at getting to it). It’s Capitol K’s sure to be opus Andean Dub. I’ve written about Capitol K last March in “Digital Cumbia Starting With The Capitol K.” Since then he’s been finishing up his long awaited album Andean Dub. Inspired from his experiences on tour in South America. Coming from a Lo-Fi guitar driven electronic music into the realm of digital cumbia makes for a very unique approach. I first got wind of his unique digital cumbia sound via Will Eede when he featured a track from him in his mix “Mapuche” about a year ago. Since then I’ve been a junkie to his sound.

Let’s get into it already shall we…

From the very beginning Capitol K draws us in with Celestial, soft, sweet and short it introduces the listener to the emotional experience soon to be had. The cumbia digitalness starts strong right away from Yo Tarzán, tú Jane all the way through to the end. Capitol K (Kristian Craig Robinson) performs all the live instrumentation with additional synths and voices from Cibelle Cavalli Bastos. Writing credits also go to Kristian entirely except with “Yo Tarzán, tú Jane, Cumbiatronic & 7th Charango ” which were written by Kristian and Cibelle Cavalli Bastos.

Huayno is a really cool synth adaptation of “Ya No Puedo” by Gisela Lavado featuring live bass.  There are also a couple of samples used. First White Steal contains a sample of Magnetic Warrior by Archie Bronson Outfit and second is Cumbia Millipides containing a sample of “Princesa” by Chancha Via Circuito.

Andean Dub is filled with sonic surprises, some pleasant and ethereal and some more aggressive like with White Steal. There is a lot of Andean huayno influence throughout and is especially strong in the title track Andean Dub. Here Capitol K has managed to bring a strong and effective digital Andean cumbia experience from the traditional Andean sounds into the age of electronic music.

The outro is a beautiful salute to the huayno and cumbia that helped inspire the tracks on the album.

If you prefer more traditional means of downloading then you can also buy the album from iTunes.