Kosmopolítēs

How global do you like to take your grooves? Mexican DJ Danochilango and Colombian singer and musician Mambe style themselves as a ‘Scandinavian duo,’ partly as a nod to their adopted Denmark, but perhaps mainly because their approach to music is about as rootsy as IKEA or ABBA. Their musical schtick is a mad mélange of son jarocho, favela punk, reggae, Colombian gaita, Bollywood, tribal, dub... the list goes on. And on. What holds all the fusions, pastiches and quotes together is raw energy and spunky rhythm. The shift from the opening rap blast of ‘Raza’, featuring a Mozambican singer who goes by the name Gata Misteriosa (Mysterious Cat); to a cover of Mexican folk song ‘La Llorona’, an unholy blend of retro synth and even more retro marimba; to a gleefully cheap and cheerful cumbia titled ‘Cumbia Jeringonza’ is a bit like being on a very fast gap-year bus ride. Where were we yesterday? Where were my ears ten seconds ago? This anti-earnest duo might repel purists and conservatives, but this is the sound of our planet when it's parting rather than weeping over lost immigrants and burned trees. Messy, meshy, myriad, manic.