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Bomba Estéreo 

Tropical bass lines meet hip-hop cadences, psychedelic guitars and dubby electronic loops? Bomba Estéreo's "electrocumbia" could only originate in Bogotá—it's urban folk music from the Colombian 'hood. The band began as a studio project of engineer/bassist Simon Mejia, gelling into an incendiary unit with the addition of vocalist Liliana Saumet. Her raw, nasal vocal and street pixie quality, not unlike Andrea Echeverri of Colombian alt-rockers Aterciopelados, propelled Bomba's retro grooves into hypnotic, bouncy trance. Sprinkling pirated English into her Spanish rhymes, Saumet employs the ancient art of cumbia singers from her coastal hometown, mixing the vibe of Totó La Momposina with Belgium's Technotronic. Mejia's instinctive programming draws on unhurried, bass-heavy street dances, the lesser-known champeta as well as cumbia. With this duo at its core, the full band includes drums and guitar. Amplifying Colombia's folk traditions for a new generation, Bomba Estéreo proves just how elastic those rhythms are, with international on-ramps added via rock, hip-hop, reggae and dub. The important thing? Like a strong wind over the Tacoma Narrows, it will set your torso to resonating.—Sylvia Pfeiffenberger