Search - Radio Zumbido :: Ultimos Dias Del Am

Original Pirate Radio, Lock Down Tu Aereo

punchjimmywalkerinhislips | Boca Raton, FL | 10/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this is the solo debut from guatemalan Juan Carlos Barrios (ex-Bohemia Suburbana guitarist), who fuses stylin' guitar, bass, and drum structures with traditional latin instruments, occasional electronic flourishes, and fleeting snatches of field recordings for a primarily instrumental winner that feels as simultaneously personal and in-the-world as the album's central AM Radio conceit.the songs range from rolling-percussion town square fiestas to lonely cries from desert villages (the latter felt most poignantly in the bent-string guitar wail of "livingston buzz"), but all tracks are united by recurring bits of radio dial static--romanticizing the all-but-gone heyday of far-flying AM radio freedom--making every song feel like a late-night Amplitude Modulated transmission from alien mariachis that you've tuned in by accident, and that will be drowned out by top 40 Frequency Modulated noise all too soon.if you're lucky enough to stumble across the phantom waves of Radio Zumbido... sincerely: DO NOT TOUCH THAT DIAL!!!"

Meat Beat Manifesto en Espanol

A. Johnston | San Francisco, CA USA | 11/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is just perfect. From beginning to end, it never lets up. It may be too loop-based in spots, but if you like dirty beats and totally seamless production with a chewed-up flavor, this is a flawless album.



There's nothing "clean" on this album and yet is never slips off the tracks or becomes garbled. Samples are layered on samples with extreme precision and the sense that you're listening to a broken Mexican radio through the wall of a Tijuana motel is incredibly immersive.



This is the most original Latin-flavored electronic album ever recorded in my opinion. Whether you like industrial music, turntablism, drum-n-bass or club music, this should satisfy your needs."

Dirty,grimy,lo-fi latin beats. absolutely FULL of atmosphere

D. O'Sullivan | 12/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Firstly, I've got to take the last reviewer to task here. Overall his review is OK. I agree with most of what's said, but to say that the main track, the jewel in the crown of this album, to say that it is the only song that 'stretches a bit' on an otherwise good album says to me that this boy hasn't really got what this album's about at all!!!



I refer to the track no. 7, Lo-Fi Chicken Bus. Lo-fi indeed, with a relentlessly chugging downtempo latin beat, overlayed with simply incredible atmospherics and textures, this track is a JOY and the main reason I got the album (I has heard it on a compilation)!!! Also, track 1, El Hampa is a GEM and track 6, to a lesser extent... The rest are good, but repetitive. (in fact its all quite repetitive, may not be everyone's plate of nachos and guacamole)... but for me, when I came across "Lo-Fi Chicken Bus" it was like another musical door had opened for me... letting me see just how moving and atmospheric and downright GROOVY the blending of latin music with modern production techniques can be... a classic!



Hopefully with his next album R.Z. can find a bit more consistency but even if he doesnt I hope he can manage to find some grooves which move me as much as those of El Hampa and Lo-Fi Chicken Bus. I look forward to it... :)

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