Regardless of language or geography, the label’s mission is to bring inspirational new music to a world audience.
Words by Karl Johnson
Today we take a look into the exciting independent music scene of Colombia, in particular the cities of Bogotá and Medellín. Our deep dive into the new sounds of the Andean region arrives via the Indie del Sur label compilation, which offers an insight in the Colombian indie scene in 2021. The label are rightly quick to mention that this is not what the music industry calls “Latin Music”, but rather a “journey through the sounds of bedroom pop, party indie, dream pop, cyberpunk, avant-garde rock, shoegaze and other styles.” Each song on the compilation was released this year, including our pick from the compilation, KLAN-DESTINO by Babelgam.
Babelgam‘s addictive grooves straddle the off-kilter feel of cult NYC act ESG, or more modern outfits such as Gustaf or Shopping, riding the waves of groove and angular guitar lines through ice-cool vocal deliveries. KLAN-DESTINO offers an immersive electronic edge as the track pushes its boundaries and shuffles into dance territory, echoing the charm of band-led, late noughties dance-rock. Starting out as an art project in Bogotá in 2017, Babelgam soon morphed into a fully fledged band, with the aim of attempting to describe the “Cachaco’s pain” – cachaco being the term for those who live in Bogotá. Their lyrics are jam-packed with combative content, a sonic rebellion against machismo, corruption, post-truth and homophobia.
Check out the 10-track compilation in full on Bandcamp here.
hardofhearingmagazine.com 